The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday called on the Ministry of the Interior to promote legislation governing amusement ride rentals after seven people were injured by a ride in Hsinchu City last month.
A swing ride at the Big City Shopping Mall was suddenly accelerated by staff on April 1, injuring a boy who was flung off his seat and six adults who tried to rescue him.
The boy’s mother, surnamed Huang (黃), yesterday told a news conference at the NPP caucus office in Taipei that her son received eight stitches, adding that several passers-by, her husband and herself were also injured.
Following the accident, she found that the rental company that provided the ride had also supplied a go kart that caught fire in Hsinchu County in February, causing burns to 75 percent of the driver’s body, Huang said.
She urged the government to pass legislation governing amusement ride rentals, adding that she has filed a lawsuit against the mall.
“It has been more than a month since the accident, but the government has only reached out to us once, when the Hsinchu City Government told us by telephone that amusement ride rentals are not regulated by any law. They recommended that we reach a settlement with the rental company,” Huang said.
While preparing for the lawsuit, they found that the company is the biggest amusement ride rental firm in Taiwan and has supplied rides for various night markets, as well as Christmasland in New Taipei City, said Huang’s attorney Lien Yu-ting (連郁婷), who is running for Hsinchu County councilor in the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections.
“The Executive Yuan in August last year held a meeting to discuss ways to regulate amusement ride rentals, but the related ministries all tried to dodge their responsibilities,” Lien said. “It was not until after the swing ride accident that the Executive Yuan finally assigned the Ministry of the Interior as the regulatory authority for amusement ride rentals.”
So far, the ministry has held only one meeting on the issue and although it has said that it would draft legislation to govern amusement rides, no details or a time frame have been revealed, Lien said.
The company testified to a prosecutor that the rides were modified after they were imported from China, said NPP Hsinchu Chapter head Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智), who is also Huang’s attorney.
The company also told prosecutors that the equipment did not go through any distributors and had not been inspected or tested by any government agencies, he added.
It has been almost two months since the accident and the Legislative Yuan only yesterday reviewed a bill to regulate children’s playgrounds, NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said.
Until the bill is passed, local government should regulate amusement ride rentals according to the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法), he said.
They should also set down more detailed local regulations to protect the safety of children in playgrounds, he added.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS