The Taipei City Government is turning a blind eye to foreigners committing traffic violations, a New Party city councilor said yesterday, demanding that the city start collecting the NT$14 million (US$420,000) in unpaid traffic fines that foreigners have accumulated.
New Party Taipei City Councilor Hou Kuan-chiung (侯冠群) said the Taipei City Transportation Department and the city police were letting traffic violations among foreigners slide owing to a perceived language barrier and the difficulty of collecting fines from foreigners.
The city government should put more effort into cracking down on traffic violations by foreigners, he said.
“It is not fair for local citizens that foreigners can get away with traffic violations because of our police’s indulgence,” Hou told a press conference at the Taipei City Council.
“Even when the police do issue tickets to foreign violators, it’s unlikely that anyone would make the effort to collect the fines,” he said.
The Taipei City Police Department’s traffic division recorded 10,874 traffic violations involving foreigners from 2005 until last year. Of the NT$27 million in fines imposed on the violators during that time, NT$5.6 million remains uncollected, bringing the total since 2002 to NT$14 million.
Hou showed a copy of a ticket that was mailed to his Taipei address from the US two weeks after he was caught speeding in California. He was asked to pay a US$908 fine via check or credit card.
“I admire the police officer who issued me the ticket because he was doing his job. I hope our police department will learn from the California police department and collect the fines regardless of the difficulties,” he said.
Chen Shao-hsu (陳少旭), a division chief at the Taipei City Police Traffic Department, denied giving foreign violators special treatment.
Chen said the traffic police sought the assistance of the foreign affairs police whenever necessary.
Chang Chi-hsiung (張積雄), a division chief at Taipei City’s Traffic Adjudication Office, said the office has been working with the National Immigration Agency to collect unpaid fines from foreigners.
In cases where the violators have left the country, the office asks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help determine their overseas address so that the ticket can be mailed to them, he said.
Hou asked the transportation department to inform foreign drivers about Taiwan’s traffic rules to reduce the number of violations.
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