I’ve talked before about how horrible Taiwanese people are behind the wheel and on the road. This post is dedicated to lawyers and judges and people making and interpreting the laws, as they are not far behind and, in this case, apparently leading the pack of morons.
From The China Post, with a nod to Michael Turton and his excellent blog.
What happened was a drunk driver on a scooter was speeding down the road and ended up running into the back of a LEGALLY and SAFELY parked truck. He died from the accident and his family began seeking compensation from the owner of the truck. Since you’re reading this on the blog, you know what happened:
The report said the primary cause for the accident was that Sun himself was riding the motorcycle with alcohol levels exceeding the legal limit and thus failed to pay attention to the situation ahead.
But the panel also ruled that Huang Chien-shin, the pickup truck owner, should also be held responsible.
The experts blamed Huang for “parking the vehicle at a spot without adequate lighting” as well as for “his failure to turn on vehicle lighting or use a reflecting device as a warning sign.”
Based on the verdict, which identified Huang as the secondary cause for the accident, Kaohsiung police turned Huang to the prosecutor’s office for further probing, for involuntary manslaughter.
If convicted in a subsequent court trial, Huang will be required to serve a sentence of three to six months and provide monetary compensation for Sun’s family in a separate civil lawsuit.
So a guy parks his truck legally on the side of the road. He isn’t responsible for the lighting of the street, nor is he legally or morally obligated to go out to his car and turn on his lights all night so that other motorists can see it, yet he’s at fault?
The fact that this is even going to court is absolutely insane, yet it is run-of-the-mill as far as Taiwanese driving laws go. As Michael Turton has commented,
It’s way past time something was done about the practice of (1) not enforcing traffic laws (2) handing down insane accident verdicts (3) sending people to jail because they “caused” a death in a traffic accident for which they were not responsible (I can name many examples) (4) putting uneducated and unlicensed drivers on the road (5) the general attitude toward safety in Taiwan.
Perhaps the KMT leadership would actually like to start reforming traffic laws and cutting down on the number of accidents and deaths on the Taiwanese roads. Even though Miss Expatriate and I drive everywhere (we don’t own a scooter), I’m still deathly afraid whenever I have to get on the road. I know I’m a good driver and Miss Expatriate is as well, yet there are so many idiots out there on the road, you can never expect when one of them is going to do something stupid and possibly cause you harm.
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