Legislators, children’s rights advocates and government officials have yet to reach a consensus over whether the government should cancel restrictions on the use of school buses, with some saying that an amendment to the Highway Act (公路法) was designed to benefit bus operators.
The amendment was proposed after the Ministry of Education placed restrictions on vehicles used to carry kindergarten and elementary-school students, requiring buses to have been in operation for less than 10 years or be replaced with new ones.
The regulations have created problems for many kindergarten operators, whose businesses have already suffered because of the nation’s declining birth rate, making them unwilling to pay more for expensive buses imported from overseas because of the 10-year rule.
Buses produced in Taiwan fail to meet the nation’s emission standards.
A proposed amendment to Article 63 of the Highway Act brought by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators on the legislature’s Transportation Committee secured preliminary approval.
However, due to the controversies surrounding the bill, lawmakers agreed in the plenary session on Friday last week to wait on further negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties.
DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said the ministry only regulates school buses according to the vehicles’ age.
She said the ministry does not take into account the vehicles’ body structure, durability and safety index, adding that this policy forces kindergarten and elementary schools to replace the buses that might have a service life of more than 10 years.
This would make the education providers less willing to spend extra money buying durable and solid buses, prefering to turn to cheaper, less-durable vehicles instead, creating a less safe transport option for students, Yeh said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said the act affects the safety of hundreds of thousands of children.
Ko said the age of a vehicle is the most fundamental requirement for buses used to carry children, adding however that the age factor is not the best way to manage school buses or the only criterion to gauge the safety of a vehicle.
The government should not take the matter lightly, as buses carry children who are unable to react quickly to emergency situations most of the time, Ko said.
Jing Chuan Child Safety Foundation executive director Lin Yue-chin (林月琴) accused lawmakers of proposing the amendment to curry favor from bus operators, adding that lawmakers should consider the consequences of using unsafe buses.
The ministry said it needs to ascertain whether the Highway Act is applicable in the regulation of school buses, as it also stipulates an age limit for buses with authorization from the Protection of Children and Youth Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法).
The ministry said it had consulted legal experts, who said that setting an age limit for school buses is necessary, as the passengers are preschool or school-aged children.
However, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that one cannot equate the age of a vehicle with its safety.
It said schools could choose the best bus company to work with based on multiple factors if the government lifts the restrictions on the use of the motor vehicles based on their age.
The factors could include the records of the bus company’s drivers, its buses used to carry children and its management of operations, it said.
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
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS