A survey from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) showed yesterday that 70 percent of the respondents said they do not wear helmets when riding a bicycle.
However, the survey also showed that about 70 percent of the respondents said the government should create laws requiring bicycle riders to wear helmets.
The ministry began conducting the survey last November to better understand the use of bicycles nationwide. It was the ministry’s first national survey on bike use.
PHOTO: CNA
The survey was completed on Monday with 9,236 respondents aged 12 and over. The results were analyzed at a confidence level of 95 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percent.
The survey found that 51 percent of the respondents have ridden bicycles within the past six months. Among them, about 27 percent said they ride bicycles every day. Based on that percentage, the ministry estimated that the nation has a biking population of about 10.3 million.
Approximately 60 percent said they ride bicycles for pleasure or recreation purposes. Only 12.5 percent reported they commute by bicycle.
Among those commuting by bike, 42 percent reported they started doing so two years ago. The ministry said this may reflect cycling’s recent popularity in Taiwan.
In other news, the ministry yesterday finalized its plan to facilitate home-bound traffic over the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday. The National Freeway Bureau decided that toll-free hours for both northbound and southbound freeway lanes will be between 12am and 7am this weekend, as well as from April 3 to April 5.
Some travelers are expected to return home a week early to avoid traffic. Both the Taiwan Railway Administration and the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp have increased train services between April 2 and April 6.
Domestic airlines have also raised the number of flights departing for Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration has also prepared for increased flights and ships and even asked for the assistance of military ships and freighters in case flights are halted or delayed by thick fog.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
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Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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