A slew of new traffic regulations, mostly aimed at bicyles and other “slow vehicles,” took effect on Tuesday after the Legislative Yuan approved amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) in May.
Under the new rules, cyclists or people riding other “slow vehicles” who fail to yield to the visually impaired, including those carrying a white walking stick or with a seeing-eye dog, near a crossing or when making a turn, can be fined NT$2,400 to NT$7,200 (US$77 to US$232), double the previous amount.
Meanwhile, cyclists or people riding “slow vehicles” who fail to yield to the visually impaired on crosswalks or sidewalks can be fined NT$600 to NT$1,200, also double the previous amount, and those whose failure to yield causes injury or death can be fined NT$1,200 to NT$2,400.
Motorists who fail to signal before making a turn or changing lanes can be fined NT$1,200 to NT$3,600, an increase from the previous NT$900 to NT$1,200.
Electric bicycle riders who fail to wear a helmet can be fined NT$300, while a person riding an electric bicycle at more than 25kph can be fined NT$900 to NT$1,800.
People riding electric bicycles that have been modified without authorization can be fined NT$1,800 to NT$5,400 under the new rules.
People who obstruct traffic on roads face a fine of NT$1,200 to NT$2,400, while those who block a zebra crossing face a fine of NT$3,000 to NT$6,000.
People who obstruct traffic by stacking objects on a zebra crossing can be fined NT$3,000 to NT$6,000, and face a fine double that amount if the offense causes injury or death.
The fuel surcharge on tour buses has also been suspended for one year. It is estimated the new measure would save the average tour bus owner about NT$27,000 a year, benefit 16,357 vehicles and reduce government revenue by about NT$435 million, the ministry said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching