The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday dismissed a media report that said Taiwan has the highest rate of traffic fatalities among the world’s developed countries.
Hsieh Chao-i (謝潮儀), executive secretary of the Road Traffic Safety Committee, said one of the committee’s division chiefs had provided incorrect statistics in a presentation to a forum on Wednesday.
Hsieh gave reporters the latest statistics from the International Road Federation on motor vehicle fatalities in several countries: On average, the number of deaths per 10,000 vehicles in China was 7.92, 3.77 in Canada, 2.52 in France, 2.44 in Singapore, 2.38 in Hong Kong, 1.71 in the US, 1.57 in Italy and 1.56 in Taiwan.
“She [the division chief] volunteered to attend the forum, but she simply cited the wrong information,” Hsieh said.
Hsieh said it was inappropriate to compare the traffic fatality rate in Taiwan with that in European countries and Japan because they do not have as many motorcycles as Taiwan.
“Some of the countries in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, may also have high death rates,” Hsieh said. “But these countries do not have databases on traffic accidents.”
American Institute of Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton said on Tuesday that eating US beef was safer than riding a motorcycle in Taiwan when defending the safety of US beef.
A story published in yesterday’s Chinese-language United Daily News quoted the statistics provided by the division chief of the Road Traffic Safety Committee to back Stanton’s point.
The story said 60 out of 100 traffic accidents in Taiwan were caused by motorcycles, 1.6 times higher than in France.
In 2007, 2,573 persons died in traffic accidents in Taiwan, with 64 percent of fatalities involving motorcycles and scooters.
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