Backseat passengers in sedans could soon be required to wear seatbelts after the Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said it had completed an amendment to the Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road Traffic Regulations (道路交通管理處罰條例) last week.
The proposed amendment says that those who fail to abide by the new traffic regulations would be fined NT$1,500 when driving on regular roads or between NT$3,000 and NT$6,000 when driving on freeways or expressways.
-The ministry’s Department of Highways and Railways -director-general, Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯), said the amendment would be sent to the Executive Yuan for approval. If it is approved, it will be forwarded to the legislature for review.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
According to Chen, the ministry will execute the regulation in two stages once the amendment is passed.
Adults will first be required to wear seatbelts when sitting in the back once the ministry has spent one to three months informing the public about the change.
Since 2004, the ministry has required parents to install child safety seats when traveling with children under the age of four. The new amendment sets regulations on children who are above the age of four.
Chen said that parents with children who are between four and 12 years of age or between 18kg and 36kg will need to install booster seats as well. They are only exempt from following this rule if regular seatbelts fit the children perfectly.
“If seatbelts are placed too close to the children’s necks or heads, then parents will need booster [seats] in their cars,” he said.
Booster seat specifications must follow CNS11497 standards issued by the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection, he said.
Chen said the ministry will spend six months to one year promoting the requirements for child passengers in cars.
The issue of backseat seatbelts has been under the media spotlight since Nora Sun (孫穗芬), a granddaughter of Republic of China (ROC) founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), was severely injured in a car accident earlier this month.
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chao-lung (陳朝龍) first proposed the amendment to Article 31 in 2006 after Shaw Hsiao-ling (邵曉鈴), the wife of Jason Hu, who was campaigning for re-election as Taichung mayor at the time, was critically injured in a car crash on a freeway near Tainan.
The amendment was passed at its third reading in the legislature, but it was dropped after other legislators proposed reconsidering the bill.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS