From today, to gain a driver’s license, applicants must pass a road test in addition to a written test and an off-road test.
Previously, applicants for licenses to drive light vehicles were only required to pass a written test and a simulated road test at an off-road course.
The new rules stipulate that successful applicants must gain a minimum of 85 points in a written exam and 70 points in the road and off-road tests.
The new rules also emphasize safe driving habits and require test-takers to check their surroundings, tires and underneath their vehicles before they commence their journeys.
They must also look to see if there are any people or vehicles behind them before they start the test, the new regulations stipulate.
Failure to follow any of the stipulated conditions results in a 32-point penalty, which means that the applicant automatically fails.
Under the new rules, applicants who fail to fasten their seat belts, use their indicators before changing lanes or making a turn, or open their car doors properly on entry and exit, also incur a 32-point penalty.
The road test has been in place since March last year on a trial basis, but is now to become mandatory.
The Directorate-General of Highways on Saturday said that driving on road markings, which also results 32-point deduction, was the most common mistake drivers made in the road test during the trial period.
The second-most common mistake was failing to properly open car doors and the third was failing to signal when turning, it said.
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
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
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard