Taipei’s Department of Transportation announced the city’s top 10 accident hotspots for last year, with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) proposing that authorities consult the so-called “Internet army” before taking any formal action to reduce road accidents.
The hotspots are where the frequency and severity of accidents were highest, with busy arterial roads constituting most of the hotspots, department safety division head Chen Kuan-lung (陳冠龍) said.
The intersection between Zhongshan N Road and Civic Boulevard topped the list for two years in a row, while the intersection between Zhongxiao W Road and Zhonghua Road stayed in the top three for the second straight year, according to the department.
Photo: Kuo Yi, Taipei Times
Roadworks at the two locations had contributed to the high accident rates, but the situation would presumably be improved as construction is completed, the department said.
Collisions between scooters and cars made up the majority of traffic accidents, with motorists the most liable to be injuries, Chen said.
Motorists contributed to 54.2 percent of traffic incidents, while pedestrians were next with 32.5 percent.
The department is looking for a way to reduce the use of scooters in the city and encourage people to use public transportation instead, Taipei Transportation Commissioner Chung Hui-yu (鍾慧諭) said.
Ko said civic participation could be introduced to the government’s decisionmaking process by way of a government Web site where hotspot information could be disclosed and citizens could voice their suggestions online.
“Advice by road users will flood in two weeks after the data is made public,” he said.
The “Internet army” — usually perceived as being ruthlessly critical of the government — could be used as an aid to city government decisionmaking instead, he said
Referencing the Hawthorne effect — a psychological theory assuming that individuals can improve an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed — Ko said that drivers would exert more caution if the hotspots were kept under constant observation and supervision.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai