The “child safety seat” and “silent buckle” — used to quieten car seatbelt alarms — are popular products. Manufacturers even boast of such products having passed national standard inspections.
The only problem? While the products may not be illegal per se, using them certainly is.
According to the Road Traffic Security Rules (道路交通安全規則), bicycles are barred from carrying passengers, and violators could face a fine of between NT$300 and NT$600, an official with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ Department of Railways and Highways said. However, in practice the police do not ticket violators and the public flouts the rules.
Photo: Tseng Hung-ju, Taipei Times
The legal authorities are at an even greater loss when it comes to disciplining the manufacturers of such unsafe products. They have their hands tied because of a lack of relevant regulations.
In the meantime, large numbers of parents continue to take their children to school or on outings in the safety seat, and are no doubt reassured that the seat has cleared a quality inspection.
Meanwhile, demand is rising for the “silent buckle,” retailers said.
In August last year the ministry made it compulsory for backseat passengers to buckle up, in a bid to reduce the death toll from road accidents.
A decade ago, the ministry made it compulsory for front-seat passengers to wear seat belts, and then decreed that automobile manufacturers must equip cars with a seat-belt reminder light or some kind of warning alarm, activated by a pressure sensor under the passenger seat, to persuade people to belt up.
However, by plugging in the silent buckle the seatbelt alarm is disabled and the annoying alarm tone, that would otherwise force passengers into buckling up, goes silent. Priced between NT$100 and NT$200, a driver can purchase a dozen of the devices for less than the price of a traffic ticket.
With the latest legislation requiring back-seat passengers to buckle up, sales volumes have increased by at least 30 percent, auto parts retailers said, adding that they have been busy replenishing their stocks to meet the growing demand.
Lin Fu-shan (林福山), head of the ministry’s Department of Railways and Highways’ supervision section, said the two products are in clear violation of the regulations, but there is no law to penalize producers of the illegal products.
Lin said that installing child safety seats on bikes is against regulations, but is mostly considered a trivial offense and is not reported. Violators usually only receive a warning instead of being fined, he said.
Translated by Stacy Hsu, Staff Writer
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS