Originally Posted by
iahphx
How difficult is the driving in Taiwan? I've read some horror stories, but others say it's okay. I'm thinking of renting a car at TPE to drive to Sun Moon Lake and Alishan, and then return it to Tainan. Public transit seems time consuming and hiring a driver is expensive. I have extensive mountain driving experience. I don't like driving in crazy foreign cities (like, say, Jakarta), but I can drive in normal cities. We've never been to Taiwan, so we really don't know what to expect.
It's not that bad. The two most difficult places I have run into are certain areas of Taipei where you need to know which lane to be in to turn right or left, in some stretches the central lanes go straight and you are not allowed to switch to the side lanes (called slow car lanes) which allow right turns. Taichung has one main road like this as well, but just the one. Most car navigation will indicate which lane to be in when it becomes important so you need to pay attention to which lane the navigation is directing you to. If you have driven in Melbourne before you have seen something like this. But unlike Melbourne, no streetcars in Taiwan.
The second difficult situation is mountain villages with inches of clearance on both sides of the car. Pray no one inside the buildings opens their door. But I don't think you'll end up in such a place with your itinerary.
I have been to Jakarta over 100 times, I would never drive there. It's not just the scooters, if you have the slightest accident as a foreigner you are in for a decent amount of trouble whether you are at fault or not.
Just follow the rules and practice defensive driving in Taiwan. Watch out for scooters some of who will illegally pass on the right or left when they can. Off the main roads yield and stop signs are not often used, they are painted on the road as you come to an intersection.
Having a car opens many more travel options outside the main cities. You can PM me if you have more specific questions.