As early as March next year, drivers in vehicles on freeways where rear seat passengers are not wearing seat belts will be fined NT$3,000 (US$92) to NT$6,000.
The measure, which passed its third reading in the Legislative Yuan yesterday as an amendment to Section 31 of the Road Traffic Management and Punishment Law (道路交通管理處罰條例), was sponsored by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Tsiao-long (陳朝龍).
close encounter
On the way to an election campaign event in May last year, Chen's car smashed into a telegraph pole.
"I wasn't wearing a safety belt because I mistakenly thought that sitting in the back seat is safer," Chen said. "If I had been, I would not have suffered such serious damage to my face or shattered my leg."
Since then Chen has campaigned to regulate the mandatory use of seat belts in the rear seat of cars.
The existing laws already require seat belts to be used for the driver and front-seat passenger of the vehicle.
Hu's accident
Chen's amendment was stuck in the legislature's procedure committee until the car crash earlier this month in which Taichung Mayor Jason Hu's (
Hu and Shaw were also on their way to a campaign event, and Shaw was sitting in the rear and not wearing a seat belt.
"I'm very sorry for Shaw's injuries," Chen said. "But her accident made this amendment a priority for lawmakers and it passed into law very smoothly."
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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