The National Police Agency yesterday said that police officers who take pictures of traffic violators from unauthorized locations will be disciplined.
The new regulation, which became effective on July 1, allows police officers to take pictures of traffic violators from any point within the "road area," including bridges, pedestrian overpasses and road shoulders. Alleged traffic violators can appeal if they believe that the pictures of them were taken improperly.
If the appeal is won, then the police officer taking the picture may be disciplined.
"To be honest, there is no such thing as `taking pictures from a hidden location' because we ask our officers to wear uniforms all the time and be in a standing position when they are carrying out their duties on the streets," said Ho Kuo-jung (
"If you do not violate traffic rules, then you will not have to worry about any tickets, punishment or anything else," Ho said.
In related news, the agency has issued the results of a crackdown against traffic violators on the first day of the implementation of stricter traffic rules.
According to the figures, 10,951 motorists, motorcyclists and scooter drivers were pulled over for violating traffic laws. Of these, 4,984 motorcyclists and scooter drivers were fined because they did not follow the "two-stage left turn" rule.
For motorcyclists and scooter drivers to complete a left turn, they must cross an intersection twice -- a process that requires them to wait for two signal changes.
Another 2,900 motorists were photographed by police officers and received tickets along with their pictures.
The tickets netted more than NT$8 million.
The agency said that most motorists were ticketed because they parked vehicles in motorcycle or scooter-only zones, in front of traffic-signal stop lines or pedestrian crossings, or made illegal U-turns or changed lanes across parallel white lines.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,