Drivers and motorcyclists using handheld mobile phones or electronic devices while on the road face fines of NT$3,000 and NT$1,000 respectively after the legislature approved a series of amendments to the Act Governing the Punishment of Violations of Road Traffic Regulations (道路交通管理處罰條例) yesterday.
The updated regulations also increased the penalties for drunk-driving offenses.
The legislature approved the amendments with almost no objections, with lawmakers expressing their concern over road safety following a recent series of fatal car accidents involving drunk or distracted drivers.
The new amendments forbid the use of any handheld device — such as cellphones and handheld computers — which impede safe driving, including when stopped at a red light. It covers dialing or talking on a cellphone or computer and connecting to the Internet.
The old regulation only prohibits drivers and motorists from dialing or speaking on handheld cellphones when they are driving.
More people are addicted to their smartphones and use them even when in control of a vehicle, said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), one of the lawmakers who proposed the amendments.
“The [amended] legislation has clarified the definition on the violations, leaving no gray area in law enforcement,” Lee said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津), the Transportation Committee convener, said increased cases of drunk-driving had alarmed lawmakers, which prompted the series of amendments.
Last month, the mother of an eight-year-old girl was killed after being hit by a drunk driver in Greater Kaohsiung and her grief-stricken husband died several days later.
The amended legislation doubles the suspension period of driver licenses for those drunk drivers with passengers under the age of 12 in their cars.
Punishment for drivers who trespassed railroad crossing would be also doubled, increasing from a fine between NT$6,000 and NT$12,000 to one between NT$15,000 and NT$ 60,000.
Currently, drunk-driving is punishable by up to two years imprisonment or a fine of up to NT$200,000, while the maximum sentence for causing a death while driving drunk is seven years.
“The objective of the amended legislation is to raise public awareness of the negative impact of driving while intoxicated,” Yeh said.
Lawmakers have recently discussed new punishments for drunk-driving, including a proposal to recategorize deaths caused by drunk-driving as homicide instead of manslaughter.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
RSS