With the help of a cutting-edge noise detection system, the Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection last week handed out 23 tickets to owners of modified vehicles that were photographed racing in the city at night.
Owners who had their mufflers removed must take the vehicles to designated motor vehicle offices for an inspection and would face a fine if problems are found.
News like this never fails to galvanize residents who are plagued by excessive vehicle noise, but authorities face issues maintaining the battle against the public nuisance, which is often associated with crime and reckless driving.
In January 2017, the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection announced that it would set up noise-triggered cameras in 10 areas commonly associated with street racing. The effort has long since petered out, and the capital’s streets have, for the most part, remained tracks for racers, who can be heard whizzing through the city late at night as if it were a Formula One venue, selfishly disturbing people’s sleep for a thrill. In addition to those 10 stretches, the activity is frequently reported in other parts of the city, including on Xinyi Road toward Elephant Mountain (象山), on Beian Road in the Dazhi (大直) area and on Tingzhou Road in the Guting (古亭) area.
The frequency and spread of the reports indicates lax or no law enforcement in the nation’s capital.
Local governments that have seemingly ditched the idea of battling street racing might argue that enforcement is time-consuming and difficult. The cameras need to be connected to a laptop, meaning department employees would need to be on site at night.
However, they should not give up, or the investment would go to waste, and they should not surrender to a few black sheep who are willing to annoy others.
For a policy to succeed, it needs to be promoted, and often requires sheer determination and decisiveness from leaders — for example, the kind demonstrated by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) in keeping African swine fever out of Taiwan.
However, neither Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) nor Taipei city councilors have adopted a tough stance on the issue.
As top officials such as Ko and Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) often talk about establishing a “Taipei-New Taipei City-Keelung-Taoyuan coliving sphere,” the environmental protection departments of the four cities could work to tackle the issue, just as Taipei earlier this month announced that it would adopt a policy introduced by New Taipei City to ban smoking in covered corridors in front of major convenience stores and coffee shops.
As governments often collaborate with the private sector, the battle against street racing would also present a niche for technology firms that could mass-produce noise-triggered cameras and bring down unit prices from the NT$190,000 that the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection reported paying.
Meanwhile, a small team could work in rotation throughout the week during fixed hours at night.
As with its bid to teach drivers to yield to pedestrians at intersections, it is time for the government to tackle street racing — another major source of complaints. Difficulty in enforcing the law is no excuse for inaction.
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