Statistics from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) showed yesterday that a total of 1,718 people died in traffic accidents between January and October this year, a decrease of 6 percent compared with the same period last year.
The number of injured passengers, meanwhile, rose by 5.7 percent to 195,656.
The ministry periodically conducts statistical analyses of traffic accidents to gauge the effectiveness of efforts to improve road safety.
Aside from the total number of deaths in a given time period, the ministry divides accidents causing passengers deaths into categories A1 and A2. Accidents listed in the A1 category are those leading to the death of passengers on the spot or within 24 hours, whereas those in the A2 category caused death after 24 hours.
The ministry focuses more on the accidents in the A1 category.
The ministry also examined the causes of A1 traffic accidents occurring from January to October. Statistics showed that motor scooter riders caused 727 traffic accidents, which accounted for 44 percent of all A1 accidents. They were followed by drivers of small passenger vehicles, who were to blame for 27.4 percent of all A1 accidents.
They were also the top two causes of A1 traffic accidents in 2007.
When analyzing the death of passengers by the kind of vehicles they were operating, those riding motorcycles were most vulnerable in traffic accidents.
Approximately 1,360 motorscooter riders died in A1 category accidents.
About 22 percent of the victims in the A1 category accidents were aged 70 or above, the most in any age group. They were followed by those aged between 25 and 34, who accounted for approximately 15 percent.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS