A road accident in Taipei earlier this month that killed US neuroscientist Bruce Bridgeman occurred because he was apparently confused by traffic on Renai Road, police said yesterday.
Taipei Medical University said that the accident happened on the morning of July 10 and that Bridgeman had been scheduled to visit the school to give a speech.
Following a preliminary review of footage taken from a bus’ video recorder, Chang Yu-hao (張育豪), head of the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division, said that Bridgeman was crossing Renai Road when he was struck by an oncoming bus, apparently because he was minding traffic to his left, but did not see the bus, which was coming down a bus lane to his right.
Photo: Screen grab from the Web site of the University of California, Santa Cruz
The accident could have been due in part to trees planted on the road, which could have obstructed Bridgeman’s view, Chang said.
Bridgeman was rushed to hospital, but died of an intracranial hemorrhage, Chang said.
He said that traffic on Renai Road, which has as many as eight lanes, was different from that on other arteries in that cars can go only one way, but buses travel both ways, which could have confused Bridgeman and led to the mishap.
The bus belonged to Taipei Bus Co (台北客運) and the case is being investigated to work out the liabilities connected to the accident, Taipei Public Transportation Office Chief Secretary Yang Ching-wen (楊清文) said.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that the accident showed that the traffic signs on Renai Road could be improved.
Ko said that since most traffic signs are in Chinese, Bridgeman probably did not realize that some buses were going in an opposite direction to the cars.
“We need to figure out ways to let foreign visitors understand the signs, even though they are in Chinese,” Ko said.
University of California, Santa Cruz, where Bridgeman was a professor emeritus, said that Bridgeman was on a speaking tour of Asia with his wife at the time of the accident.
He was an internationally renowned researcher of neuroscience and spatial orientation.
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Friday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
RSS