Joyriding gets a red light

Taipei City Councilor James Wei (魏憶龍) yesterday called on Taipei City Police Headquarters (台北市警局) to draw up a plan to aggressively crack down on a resurgence of joyriding and team up with Peitou and Shihlin precincts in conducting such raids.

Joyriding used to be popular in Taipei about four or five years ago, when most joyriders enjoyed the thrill of the fast lane on the long and straight Tatu Road in Peitou District.

Now they have their eyes set on Paikala Boulevard on Yangmingshan, heading toward Matsao (馬槽), a hot spring village on the border of the Peitou and Shihlin districts.

Showing a videotape filmed last Saturday by his assistants, the New Party's Wei yesterday told reporters that joyriding has enjoyed a resurgence for at least six months.

"People gathering on one side of the curved road cheer for the motorists either speeding or doing tricks on their motorcycles, automobiles, pick-up trucks and taxicabs. Most have their mufflers removed, some do crowd-pleasing but dangerous stunts and some even clash with the spectators," he said.

According to Wei, the activity gets really wild between 2am and 3am, and the joyriders don't seem to be worried about interference from the cops.

One young man, wearing a baseball cap and covering up half his face, spoke bluntly to the camera when asked by one of Wei's assistants about joyriding.

"Police? They're a bunch of useless morons, man. They only have the guts to watch us having fun, but don't have the balls to bust our ass," he said.

The three high-ranking police officers invited to yesterday's press conference indicated that the video of the joyriders was the first they had seen of such large-scale activities.

After watching the film, Kuo Ying-hsiang (郭迎祥), deputy director of the Taipei City Police Headquarters, asked for a copy for further study and authorized the Taipei Traffic Police Corps (TTPC, 交通警察大隊) to take charge of coordinating the Peitou and Shihlin precincts.

Lu Pi-tsung (呂碧宗), director of TTPC, pledged to aggressively mount crackdowns and spot-checks on motorists traveling on Paikala Boulevard, and said he did not rule out the possibility of teaming up with the Taipei County Police Department to conduct such raids.

Peitou Precinct Chief Kwo Hsien-tuan (郭顯莊) said his personnel will extend their 11pm to 3am patrol hours through to dawn.

"I'm confident that we have the capability and determination to tackle the problem," Kuo said.

Despite the efforts initiated by the precinct, he said, there is still room for improvement.

According to Kwo, the precinct mounted a series of large-scale weekend crackdowns on joyriders starting July 1. As of the end of September, it had staged a total of 17 raids and mobilized 104 police officers, with more than 300 tickets issued to motorists for either having their mufflers removed or speeding.