The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday asked the government to establish an independent transport safety agency to investigate accidents following the nation’s deadliest freeway bus crash last month.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) and Lee Kuen-tse (李昆澤) proposed the formation of the agency at a committee meeting, at which Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) was asked to brief members on how the ministry is handling the aftermath of the Feb. 13 crash that killed 33 people on a ramp connecting the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (National Freeway No. 5) to the Formosa Freeway (National Freeway No. 3) in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港).
Before the briefing, committee members observed a minute of silence for those killed in the crash.
Chen said that the Aviation Safety Council investigates air accidents and is the only agency that probes crashes on the nation’s transport systems.
He said that an independent and credible national transport safety council should be established to investigate major transportation incidents.
The government should not pass the buck whenever something unfortunate happens, Chen said.
“In the past, drivers killed in accidents were often blamed,” Lee said. “However, in cases where the driver survived, the vehicles became the cause. This is why people do not trust the results of investigations.”
The US, Canada and Australia have agencies such as the one proposed, Lee said, adding that officials overseeing transport systems should not be investigating accidents.
Hochen seconded the suggestion to form an independent agency.
The investigation into the crash in Nangang was directed by the Ministry of Justice, Hochen said.
Chen and DPP Legislator Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清) said that the ministry should install rolling barriers — a device developed in South Korea to soften collisions with guardrails — at the site of the Nangang crash.
Hochen said that the transportation ministry would spend six months reviewing the possibility of installing rolling barriers on freeways, but its top priority was to reinspect the Nangang crash site.
The transportation ministry is to reconsider the signs indicating the corner and enhance reflective traffic signs, Hochen said.
The committee passed 16 motions proposed by lawmakers. One of the key motions was that the nation’s 5,157 tour buses that have been in operation for more than 10 years should undergo slope tests.
Buses that fail the slope tests would be banned from operating on mountain roads 500m above sea level, the motion says.
Other motions included requiring the installation of electronic stability systems on large passenger vehicles, which should be completed by Jan. 1 next year, and the completion within a year of legislation to regulate independent tour bus owners doing contract work.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
RSS