The Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which is supposed to be in charge of traffic safety, although that seems to be left to chance in most places, recently made a few amendments to the Road Traffic Security Rules (道路交通安全規則).
The first one is that foreigners no longer have to reapply for a driver’s license every time their Alien Resident Certificates expire, returning to the old system that foreigners’ Taiwanese driver’s licenses will now be valid for six years, just like those for Taiwanese.
That’s a step in the right direction for the ministry, but what’s more important is enforcing that motorists have licenses in the first place. What’s to stop foreign motorists from just driving without a license, given that the police normally let them off with a warning or just wave them away without checking as soon as they realize they’ve pulled over a foreign national?
A second rule change is that motorists are no longer allowed to have multimedia devices running when their vehicles’ engines are turned on. Somebody at the ministry must have recently taken a taxi ride that made him or her realize how dangerous it is to drive and watch soap operas or ball games at the same time.
Again, this regulation isn’t going far enough. What’s to stop a driver from turning on small LED screens in or over their dashboard so that they have something to watch when stopped at one of the numerous 90-second traffic lights? Police are so busy directing traffic that they can’t be asked to pay attention to this detail. The new fine will likely make motorists a little more cautious about how they go about using multimedia devices, but it won’t stop the practice altogether.
The key, like with all traffic rules, is enforcement. If a rule is not enforced, few people will follow it, even if it is for their own good.
Talking on cellphones was banned more than a decade ago and enforcement was strict initially. Today, drivers can be seen attempting maneuvers that need at least two hands on the wheel while using one hand to hold their cellphones up to their ears. More MRT and bus commuters and pedestrians use earphones with their cellphones than motorists do.
Another example is the right of way given to pedestrians. At a crosswalk where a motorist has a green light and a pedestrian has a walk signal, the motorist is supposed to wait for the pedestrian to cross the road before turning right across his path. This is actually a law and a motorist can be fined if he doesn’t give people on foot the right of way.
However, outside the initial campaign launch years ago and periodic refreshers when there has been a particularly gruesome accident drawing widespread media attention, this law, like many other related laws, is rarely enforced. It’s not uncommon to see police standing idly by as a motorist steps on the gas to get to a crosswalk a split second earlier than someone on foot so he can get through the light first. All too frequently there are near misses or accidents because of drivers’ impatient attitudes and misplaced sense of entitlement.
Another example of rules not being enforced is when taxi drivers almost kill people on scooters to catch a fare who inconsiderately hails the taxi without regard to anybody else on the road. Rules and fines have been discussed to address this situation, but it seems that nothing will stop taxi drivers from recklessly pulling to the side of the streets from the far left lane unless they are forced to do so.
Changing regulations to relax rules or create fines for improper behavior is meaningless if there is no enforcement to back up the rules. Police are trying to address this, but they rely too heavily on speed cameras and spot checks, while ignoring reckless driving and selfish behavior. Until these are addressed, using Taiwan’s streets will always have that third-world feel of risking one’s life at every moment.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under