The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday decided to postpone review of the amendment to the Highway Act (公路法) that will limit the age of large passenger vehicles to 12 years, saying the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) failed to provide adequate complementary measures to implement the policy.
The Directorate-General of Highways proposed the amendment after an accident in Tainan County’s Meiling Scenic Area (梅嶺) three years ago that killed 22 passengers. The tour bus in the accident had been in use for 18 years.
EXTENSION
The amendment requires bus companies to retire large buses that have been in use for 12 years. If the operator wants to extend their use, the buses will have to pass the safety tests given by the nation’s Automotive Research and Testing Center. The maximum extension that a bus can get is four years.
Lawmakers serving on the committee, however, opposed the amendment.
“If the amendment is passed, bus operators will stop buying buses that are more expensive and sturdier because they know they can no longer use these vehicles after 12 years,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said. “Instead, they will start buying vehicles that can only last about 10 years.”
Yeh said 90 percent of the nation’s large passenger vehicles use imported chassis, but the bodies of these vehicles are all made in Taiwan.
Only a few bus operators are willing to buy a fully imported vehicle, she said, with the price difference between the two types of vehicles ranging from NT$3 million (US$93,000) to NT$6 million.
Yeh said that some of the large passenger buses have been in use for more than 12 years but are still in top condition, while some of the newer vehicles have only been in use for five years but are no longer in good shape.
The 12-year vehicle age requirement does not have to apply to all vehicles, she said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) also disagreed with the proposed amendment.
STANDARDS
“The bottom line is what standards should we use to certify that these buses are safe,” Lee said.
Lee suggested the highway agency set different inspection levels for buses.
For example, buses that have been in service for 10 years should undergo inspections twice a year, while those that have been running for 15 years should be inspected thrice a year, he said.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said the ministry would draw up complementary measures within six months.
Meanwhile, the committee approved the amendment to the Highway Act proposed by Lee and 28 lawmakers that would allow motorists to have their vehicles inspected even if they haven’t paid their fuel surcharge fee.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS