TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Video surfaced on Sunday (Aug. 27) of a road rage incident in Taitung showing a Taiwanese driver with a baseball bat confronting a German scooter rider who had allegedly given him the middle finger, while police have opened an investigation.
According to the Taichung County Police Bureau, a 35-year-old German national identified as Christian and his girlfriend were each riding scooters from Taitung to Hualien at around 2:20 p.m., when a white pickup driver surnamed Chang (張) came up from behind and wanted to pass them.
Christian did not let Chang pass. Video uploaded to Reddit by Christian, which has since been deleted, shows Chang eventually passing Christian in another lane and then swerving into his lane, which causes Christian to honk at Chang.
Chang then stops his truck in front of Christian and his girlfriend, forcing them to pull over to the side of the road. Chang gets out of the vehicle with a baseball bat, upset over Christian allegedly giving him the middle finger, and the two begin to argue.
Chang brandishes bat. (Christian video screenshot)
A Taitung County Police Bureau representative told Taiwan News that police arrived at the scene and took the two to a police station. Police said the two agreed not to file charges against each other at the station.
According to Taitung County Police, after the video of the incident appeared on social media, they opened an investigation into Chang for committing obstruction of personal freedom (妨害自由). Chang was cited by ETtoday on Tuesday (Aug. 29) as saying that Christian allegedly gave him the middle finger first.
Police confirmed to Taiwan News that Chang is planning to sue Christian for public insult (公然侮辱罪). Both legal actions have been referred to the Taitung District Prosecutors' Office for investigation.
Bat seized from Chang by police. (Taitung County Police Bureau photo)
