On July 18, a delivery van ran into a young couple walking on a crosswalk at an intersection in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊). Sadly, the woman was killed in front of her male companion.
In the wake of the accident, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) announced that his ministry plans to extend the legal regulations concerning large vehicles that do not yield to pedestrians: Drivers would not only be fined for not yielding on pedestrian crossings, but also at intersections where there are no signs forbidding crossing.
In addition, the ministry intends to improve the design of roads and ensure that traffic laws are enforced more effectively.
France also used to have the problem of drivers not stopping at crosswalks to allow pedestrians to cross.
However, the French government introduced legal amendments and improved the law enforcement environment, which gradually created a culture in which vehicles yield to pedestrians.
One aspect of France’s legal framework is the definite preference given to pedestrians when deciding liability for accidents.
France’s road traffic law, the Highway Code, stipulates that drivers must yield to pedestrians who are crossing the road, or who clearly indicate that they intend to cross, or who are in an area in which pedestrians have priority.
Drivers must stop and give way to pedestrians under such circumstances. Drivers who fail to respect pedestrians’ priority may be fined up to 750 euros (US$883) and have their driving license suspended for three years or more.
However, the real key factor is the principle, when dealing with traffic accidents, that if a vehicle hits a pedestrian, no matter whether the pedestrian is crossing the road in accordance with regulations or not, the driver will definitely be held liable and must pay compensation.
Furthermore, the driver may also be indicted for not controlling their vehicle properly.
France’s regulations are designed to encourage early payment of traffic fines and to penalize those who delay payment.
For example, when police officers issue tickets for traffic offenses, they can impose an on-the-spot fine of 135 euros that must be paid within 30 days, otherwise the fine is automatically increased.
On the other hand, the fine is reduced by 30 percent if it is paid on the spot or within 24 hours. Drivers who are photographed breaking the law and receive a penalty notice later on must pay the fine within seven days, or the fine is automatically increased.
For example, a fine that was originally set at 90 euros would be increased to 135 euros if is not paid within seven days and 345 euros if it is not paid within one month.
Key to France’s establishment of a culture of vehicles yielding to pedestrians are the direct and indirect costs of not yielding.
Taiwan would do well to consider France’s system of determining liability in traffic disputes and its system of gradually increasing outstanding fines. Such measures could improve traffic safety in Taiwan just as they have in France.
Chiu Bing-yu is studying for a doctorate in city planning.
Translated by Julian Clegg
With each passing day, the threat of a People’s Republic of China (PRC) assault on Taiwan grows. Whatever one’s view about the history, there is essentially no question that a PRC conquest of Taiwan would mark the end of the autonomy and freedom enjoyed by the island’s 23 million people. Simply put, the PRC threat to Taiwan is genuinely existential for a free, democratic and autonomous Taiwan. Yet one might not know it from looking at Taiwan. For an island facing a threat so acute, lethal and imminent, Taiwan is showing an alarming lack of urgency in dramatically strengthening its defenses.
As India’s six-week-long general election grinds past the halfway mark, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s messaging has shifted from confident to shrill. After the first couple of phases of polling showed a 3 percentage point drop in turnout, Modi and his party leaders have largely stopped promoting their accomplishments of the past 10 years — or, for that matter, the “Modi guarantees” offered in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for the next five. Instead, making the majority Hindu population fear and loathe Muslims seems to be the BJP’s preferred talking point. Modi went on the offensive in an April 21
The people of Taiwan recently received confirmation of the strength of American support for their security. Of four foreign aid bills that Congress passed and President Biden signed in April, the bill legislating additional support for Taiwan garnered the most votes. Three hundred eighty-five members of the House of Representatives voted to provide foreign military financing to Taiwan versus only 34 against. More members of Congress voted to support Taiwan than Ukraine, Israel, or banning TikTok. There was scant debate over whether the United States should provide greater support for Taiwan. It was understood and broadly accepted that doing so
I still remember the first time I heard about the possibility of an invasion by China. I was six years old. I thought war was coming and hid in my bed, scared. After 18 years, the invasion news tastes like a sandwich I eat every morning. As a Gen Z Taiwanese student who has witnessed China’s harassment for more than 20 years, I want to share my opinion on China. Every generation goes through different events. I have seen not only the norms of China’s constant presence, but also the Sunflower movement, wars and people fighting over peace or equality,