the jimmymac attack!

I imagine that driving styles and habits are a bit different in various parts of the world. Many things can contribute to driving habits. Obviously the number of vehicles on the road will be a factor. The condition of the roads is a big factor. The weather plays an important role. I think that culture and language and even philosophy of life also play a part in the driving habits in a city. It has been quite interesting to observe the drivers in Taiwan as opposed to North America. In both places there is a lot of traffic but I've noticed some real differences. In North America road rage has become a serious problem in the last fifteen years. People have begun to just crack from the excesses of stress and pressure caused by driving in cities. People sometimes literally get out of their cars and attack each other or chase other drivers in their vehicles. I'm sure there are some stressed and aggravated drivers in Taiwan also but it seems road rage is not as big a problem. There seems to be a much more tolerant and fluid approach to driving. In America you are right or wrong. You have the green light or you don't. People with a green light think it is their god given right to go forward and blast their horns if anyone is in the way. In Taiwan the driving is more like an ebb and flow of cars going forward, then giving way to another and so on. In America the main goal is to get from A to B as fast as you can, by the shortest route. And often the shortest route is grid-locked because everyone has the same idea. In Taiwan I think the highest priority of drivers is not A to B. The highest priority is to not hit anyone or get hit. Not because of fear of accidents but because it would be inconvenient to be in an accident. So I also get the impression that there are surprisingly few accidents considering the multitude of vehicles. Throughout the day in Taipei there are thousands of little encounters where drivers play a subtle game of chicken. Who will give? Who will push through? For example drivers do not change lanes. If you want to go over a lane or two you just start to drift into it. Another driver will slow or speed up or drift over also. Or maybe the other driver will not give and you will have to retreat. This constant give and take goes on all day. Drivers do not make left turns. Again you enter the intersection and drift toward your intended direction. In North America a driver is supposed to wait for a gap in traffic and make a left turn with cars following each other. If this approach were taken in Taiwan drivers would always have to wait for the light to change. So instead the drivers creep more and more through the turn until they have a chance to go when they judge the oncoming traffic will not hit them. It's not a gap but rather just a slower oncoming vehicle or someone slowing to turn also. Or just a slower, less aggressive driver who will then have to give way to the vehicle turning. And there is no horn honking, or there seldom is. And drivers do not turn in orderly single file. If the first driver is too slow a second or third vehicle will turn around him or cut in on the inside. The whole effect is a kind of weaving of traffic with cars going here and there and in and out. And through it all are the inumerable scooters and motorcycles which also drift and sway and go up, down, in and out. But the motorcycles go in every direction. They do not just drive down the street. First they drive down the sidewalk to the street, then they drive across the street and the wrong way down a one way street. Then they go down an alley... and drive into the living room of their apartment if they live on the ground floor. No kidding.