The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said it would hold discussions on whether fines for pedestrians breaking the law should be increased.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) made the remarks after Platform Driver Alliance spokesman Well Lee (李威爾) criticized the ministry’s policy of fining drivers NT$6,000 if they refuse to yield to pedestrians.
Lee said that the policy, which was implemented on June 30, was unrealistic.
Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
Wang said that there were issues with pedestrians breaking traffic laws and the ministry is looking into raising the fine from the current NT$500.
Wang said the ministry hopes to push through amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) to help protect motorists and pedestrians.
Taiwan has been dubbed a “pedestrian hell” as people are often injured when crossing the street.
The ministry said it is working with the National Police Agency to introduce measures that would reduce accidents, focusing primarily on construction, education, oversight and enforcement.
In terms of enforcement, police issued 39,754 tickets to motorists from May 1 to June 30, up 434 percent from the 7,443 tickets issued during the same period last year, ministry data showed.
As for illegal parking on sidewalks, 267,508 tickets were issued, 31.27 percent more than the 203,787 issued a year earlier.
Penalties for failing to yield to pedestrians at crossings without lights increased 163.76 percent, rising to 11,558 from 4,382 in May and June last year.
There were 15,280 tickets issued for illegal obstruction of roads, up 62.59 percent from the 9,398 tickets issued a year earlier.
The ministry said that of the 3,699 pedestrian lights it plans to add this year, 2,881 had been installed as of June 30, while 33.4km out of a planned 113.9km of sidewalk improvements had been completed.
It said it had also improved the streets around 66 schools out of the 799 school projects planned for this year, and had completed 1,163 signage improvement projects out of the 5,241 planned.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
PLANE HIT: The Israeli military said it shot down an Iranian Air Force fighter over Tehran, while an Iranian warship sank off Sri Lanka, with no cause known The US and Israel yesterday hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on the fifth day of the war with Iran. Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces, while the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel, and across the region. Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the center of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted. With fighter jets roaring overhead, those still in Tehran looked anxiously to the skies. One man, who ran a clothing shop,
Taiwan pineapples are to be exported to the US for the first time later this year, after the US yesterday announced importation requirements, the Ministry of Agriculture said today. The US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service yesterday published a draft of requirements to import Taiwanese pineapples, with a 62-day comment period, the ministry said in a news release. The US maintains strict requirements for imported fresh fruit, it said. The ministry’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency applied to export pineapples to the US in 2020 and has since cooperated with the US to provide all the necessary information and reports, it
RSS