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.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of