Hundreds of motorcycle owners gathered in Anping (
The motorcycle tour kicked off with more than 500 heavy-duty bikes roaring from Taipei on their way to Tainan. Hundreds of other motorcyclists from various parts of the country joined them on the way.
"It's great. We've been waiting for this moment for decades," a high-spirited female motorcyclist was quoted by cable news network TVBS as saying.
By law, large-size motorcycles are defined as those equipped with a cylinder capacity of 550 or above.
Besides the right to drive on expressway, heavy-duty bike owners can turn left directly without having to pull over first to the right on an intersection to wait for the green light. They can also park in spaces reserved for sedans.
However, the policy allowing large-size motorcycles to operate on expressways nationwide, which took effect on Thursday, was not welcome news to some.
Karen Tseng (
"The traffic is only going to get worse with all these motorcycles on the road," she said.
Tseng was also against allowing heavy-duty motorbikes to use parking spaces for cars since it was already difficult for car owners to find parking spaces.
Joanna Hsu (
"If owners of large-size motorcycles were required to park in spaces designed for scooters, their motorcycles would not fit in and would take up two to three spaces for scooters instead," she said.
Hsu also expressed concern that some large-size motorcycle owners might think they could enjoy the privileges of both scooter and car owners.
For example, some large bike owners are likely to continue weaving their way through the traffic like scooters do, or may choose to stop at designated areas for smaller bikes while waiting for the light to turn green, she said.
Chen Li-yun (
He said he had heard complaints from other motorists.
He said one woman called and complained that she was so intimidated by so many large motorcycles on the road that she hit a rail on the side.
Residents living close to Taipei's Huanhe Expressway (環河快速道路) have also complained that they cannot sleep at night because of the noise from these large motorcycles, Chen said.
Owners of large motorcycles must learn to respect other motorists on the road and to exercise self-discipline.
"In the next six months, everything we [motorcyclists] do is going to be examined through a magnifying glass," he said.
"Everyone must be constantly reminded of his responsibility and follow the code of ethics for drivers," Chen said.
"If the Ministry of Transportation and Communications decides to take back our right, we will not have any ground to appeal if we continue to behave badly," he said.
Additional reporting by DPA
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS