Starting in October, police will crack down on motorists who drive below the speed limit on the inner lanes of highways and expressways, the government announced recently.
According to an announcement on Friday by the Road Safety Commission of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), the amended Road Traffic Management and Punishment Law (道路交通管理處罰條例), which took effect at the beginning of this month, stipulates that highway or expressway motorists operating their vehicles below the required speed on the inner lanes will be fined NT$3,000.
If the action leads to congestion, motorists will be penalized between NT$6,000 and NT$12,000.
The National Police Agency (NPA) said that the minimum required speed on highways will be below 80kph. On expressways, on the other hand, motorists will be fined for driving below 70kph.
Currently, 13 expressways in the nation are regulated by standards set for national highways.
Ho Kuo-rong (
Ho said the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau will finish installing approximately 300 traffic signs at the side of feeder roads before October to remind highway motorists about the enforcement of the new policy.
The National Highway Police Bureau has said previously that the police will use radar guns to identify slow drivers.
Meanwhile, the commission reported last week that a total of 2,988 traffic accidents occurred last year as a result of drivers failing to follow traffic signs and signals, a nearly 20 percent increase compared to 2004.
Its analysis showed the increase was also shown in accidents caused by drivers not paying attention to the traffic situation in front of them (16.71 percent), making illegal turns (14.34 percent) and failing to yield to vehicles which the right of way (9.77 percent).
City buses led to an average of 1.45 accidents for every million kilometers, followed by individually-owned vehicles (1.19) and small-size commercial vehicles (0.83).
Traffic accidents last year that led to deaths or injuries increased 13.55 percent compared to 2004.
RSS