Starting today, people looking for someone to drive their car after having one drink too many can now use the ibon machine at 7-Eleven convenience stores.
The service is now available at 4,800 7-Eleven stores nationwide.
To access the service, customers must click on the substitute driver service icon on an ibon machine and enter their cellphone number. Within 10 minutes, Taiwan Taxi Co will send a cab and along with a substitute driver to the convenience store where the customer has placed the request. The substitute driver will drive and park the person’s car at an agreed-upon location.
The basic charge is NT$1,000 for a travel distance within 10km. Taiwan Taxi will calculate the additional cost for travel distances exceeding 10km. For customers in the latter category, the substitute driver will explain the additional cost first and will only provide the service when the service charge is agreed upon.
In cases where a customer abuses the service or calls off a deal on several occasions, he or she will be placed on blacklist.
To encourage usage of the system, people who call upon the service from today until Aug. 30 will have a chance to win a NT$1,000 gift certificate at 7-Eleven stores, a voucher for a substitute driver service within 10km and other gifts.
The service is part of the Ministry of Transportation and Communication’s campaign to reduce drunk driving.
Statistics from the ministry’s Road Traffic Safety Committee showed that the number of drunk driving violations dropped from 705 in 2006 to 387 in 2008. However, it remains one of the main causes of traffic-related fatalities and injuries.
While some cab services are already providing substitute driver services, service quality has come under fire following a series of accidents.
Actor Lee Luo (李鑼), for example, was reported to be in a dispute with a substitute driver after the driver had a traffic accident while driving Lee’s car.
Meanwhile, several new government policies are scheduled to take effect on Thursday. Motor vehicles, including cars or motorcycles, will be required to have energy efficiency labels that clearly display annual gas consumption volume, energy efficiency levels and other information.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all