The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) urged the public yesterday to report soot-emitting vehicles in order to help safeguard the nation's air quality.
EPA officials said that it had received 50,000 reports of soot-emitting vehicles in the first nine months of this year.
Among the vehicles inspected as a result of the reports, 5 percent were fined for failing to pass inspections two times in a succession.
The maximum fine for motorcycles that fail to pass the inspection is NT$6,000, while the fine for diesel-fueled oversized vehicles that don't pass is NT$20,000, officials said.
Figures released by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications showed that there were 6.75 million cars and 13.8 million motorcycles registered in Taiwan at the end of August, or an average of one car for every 3.4 people and one motorcycle for every 1.7 people, the officials said.
There were 568 vehicles per square kilometer, showing the strain on the environment, they said.
Hsiao Huei-chuan (
Diesel-fueled trucks normally emit black smoke and two-stroke motorcycles usually emit white smoke, and the soot they cause has been the largest source of pollutants found on trees and other foliage that line sidewalks, Hsiao said.
She said that a prize-drawing activity to encourage the public to report soot emission has entered its eighth year.
Hsiao said it is gratifying to see that the participation rate in teh program has gradually increased and that the ratio of vehicles failing the inspection has decreased.
Hsiao said that around 4,300 people are eligible to join a drawing for 1,127 prizes this year, including LCD televisions, digital video cameras, bicycles and digital cameras.
The names of the winners will be posted on the EPA's Web site at polcar.epa.gov.tw soon, she said.
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