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Government may cancel 550cc fast-lane privilege

Riders of motorcycles under 550cc protest outside the Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

The Department of Railways and Highways said yesterday it was considering amending traffic regulations to ban large motorcycles from traveling in fast lanes or on expressways because of frequent violations. The department has allowed motorcycles of 550cc and above to travel in fast lanes and expressways since November.

Citing statistics from the National Police Agency (NPA), the department’s director-general, Hsu Chun-yi (�?h), said that 900 violations by large motorcycles were reported between November and May.

Statistics also showed that speeding accounted for a majority of the violations, with 651 citations.

The relaxed policy has led to the death of five people and injured 109, the statistics show.

“We said at the beginning that we would evaluate the policy after implementing it for at least a year,” Hsu said. “If the results are negative, we may amend the regulations and withdraw these rights. We have to take care of the public safety.”

As of June last year, there were 20,013 large motorcycles on the road. Of those, 17,017 exceeded 550cc. The remainder fell between 250cc and 550cc.

To differentiate between these motorcycles, owners of the former category have red license plates, while those of the latter are issued yellow plates.

The department made the statement after 200 motorcyclists staged a protest in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday afternoon.

The protesters were yellow license plate owners, who said that they were entitled to have the same rights as those holding red license pates.

In a statement issued yesterday, the protesters said that there are 6,000 motorcycles that are between 250cc and 550cc.

“Rights of yellow license plate owners are not clearly defined in the law,” the statement said.

They also said in the statement that they hoped the ministry and the Taipei City Government would open up fast lanes and expressways to motorcycles with yellow license plates.

Toward the end of the rally, the protest’s leader, Chen Li-yun (陳豊運), handed a formal petition to a ministry representative. As he submitted the petition, protesters collectively revved up their engines to show their support.

The ministry also issued a statement in response, saying that the city and the county government has the right to decide whether they want to open up expressways for large motorcycles.
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