Taiwan’s road safety has been criticized for years, but recently international media described the situation as “a living hell for pedestrians.” Meanwhile, foreigners often praise Taiwanese as the greatest charm of the country.
Taiwanese frequently travel abroad. When visiting advanced countries, they are impressed by the organized traffic and road safety. Drivers and pedestrians strictly follow traffic signals. Even at intersections without a traffic signal, vehicles slow down and stop so that pedestrians can safely cross the road. After that, drivers drive away one by one in turn. Every vehicle waits in line without rushing to be the first.
Foreigners celebrate Taiwan’s people and cuisine, but they could hardly praise its traffic and road safety.
In an agricultural society, everything is arranged to fit a slow-paced order. In an industrial society with large cities, everything is dependent on law and order. In urban centers, that slow-pace order would not work.
In modern times, traffic signals symbolize the rules of law and order. When at an intersection, drivers are guided by traffic rules rather than virtues and traditions.
Taiwan developed from an agricultural society to an industrial society, and now even to a post-industrial one. Taiwan is no longer characterized by rural areas, but by urban life, and the relationships among Taiwanese are defined by anonymity and isolation, as suggested by urban sociologists. Before a modern system had been established in urban areas, cities in Taiwan were densely populated without cultural sensibility.
Law and order reflect political phenomena. The purpose of politics is to structure, with order, safety and justice being the three main components.
Under martial law, the minds and bodies of Taiwanese were controlled by the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) one-party regime. As they say, only 3 percent of the martial law order was capable of controlling people’s minds, but a more lasting effect is displayed by Taiwan’s traffic: Bigger vehicles bully smaller ones, while smaller vehicles bully pedestrians. The phenomenon has its origin years back.
“Taiwanese are the greatest charm of Taiwan” would only be true in the countryside of an agricultural society. After industrialization, people living in urban areas are not connected with each other, and that lack of connection has given rise to the chaos of traffic.
Taiwan’s urbanization happened alongside a deficient public transportation system. It is like a skyscraper built without elevators. Every home in the building would build its own electric ropeway cabin, just like Taiwan’s massive number of scooter riders on the road.
It is absurd that a mayoral candidate has become a mayor-elect by bribing the voters with scooters.
In the name of city planning, Taiwan’s urbanization has developed as a facade lacking adequate public transportation structure. Taiwanese are used to dealing with everyday traffic by helping themselves.
Even in a city with a mature metropolitan railway system like Taipei, scooter and motorcycle riders increase year by year. Central and local governments dare not do anything to handle the situation in a constructive way. We do not have enough government leaders, and there are too many politicos. A chaotic traffic situation implies a political catastrophe.
Taiwan is a lesser country. Cities are quasi-cities. The countryside has disappeared, while urban areas are half-developed.
The political catastrophe is a national issue and a local problem. It is embarrassing that Taiwan is called a “living hell for pedestrians.” Without its society firmly founded upon a modern order, Taiwan would not be considered a truly beautiful country.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Liu Yi–hung
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