Expedient helmet rules
The article “Lawmakers give initial approval to bike helmet rule” (April 30, page 3) discussed increased penalties for violations. It provided ample details on changes in the number of accidents and injuries involving electric bicycles, but nothing on the number of citations issued or fines levied. A few numbers are bandied about, but most of them are not relevant.
The reader is left with the impression that the members of the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee have no information about how often fines are levied or that they believe that fines will scare people whether the laws are enforced or not.
That is a cheap political expedient that benefits no one.
In a previous letter, I mentioned one instance in which changes in fines did not work until fines were enforced. I have also seen benefits from increasing enforcement, but not changing fines.
In the early 1960s, when I moved to Boston, the city was troubled by illegal parking, with double and even triple parking making some areas difficult to navigate. The issue of poor enforcement was raised and the rebuttal was that the police had much more pressing needs than enforcing parking violations.
After a lot of debate, the level of patrolling for parking violations was boosted by allocating the funds generated by fines to pay for the additional personnel. Once the enforcement started, it took about a month to virtually eliminate double parking.
The Taipei Times article refered to “riders” rather than “drivers.” If the Mandarin characters refer to anyone riding a bicycle, we should ask whether they really expect a three-year-old helmetless passenger to pay a fine? Making the person operating the vehicle responsible for the fine would be simpler. On the other hand, if the proposed amendment is to be limited to drivers, there needs to be information provided on how many are using such vehicles without a helmet.
In the 14 years I have lived in Taiwan, I have become convinced that a large majority of motorcycle users not protected by helmets are children between the ages of two and seven standing in front of the driver. They risk serious damage to their face and skull from sharp breaking or impact. I see no provisions being made for such incidents of parental neglect.
Most people grasp the handle bars while operating such vehicles rather than having fingers on the brakes. A delay in applying the brakes in an emergency can be catastrophic. A law that requires the driver to cover both brake levers would preclude people texting or holding cellphones while driving.
I once witnessed a middle-aged man endeavoring to keep control of his bicycle while trying to use his cellphone in his right hand and hold a cigarette in his left hand. After weaving all over the two-lane road and nearly hitting several pedestrians he stopped when the bicycle hit a curb.
Emilio Venezian
New Taipei City
PRC propaganda published
The April 30 online edition of the New York Times had a large banner for the China Daily, a publication of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Although large advertising banners are common, this was blatant propaganda for the PRC, hailing a new dam in Laos. Its fatuous self-praise for Chinese benevolence in helping local people was typical of PRC writing and was obviously a part of their recent push to put a velvet glove over the fist of its Belt and Road Forum.
If PRC propaganda has penetrated the New York Times, what is the situation in Taiwanese media?
Timothy Baker
National Dong Hwa University, Hualien
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