A Control Yuan member yesterday said he would initiate an investigation into why the number of foreign nationals injured or killed in traffic incidents has nearly doubled in the past few years, and whether government agencies’ mechanisms were ineffective in ensuring road safety.
Control Yuan member Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said in a news release that Taiwan has been described as a “living hell for pedestrians” and traffic safety has become an important national security issue.
According to a National Audit Office report released last year, more than 780,000 foreign nationals were legally residing in Taiwan in 2019, which grew to more than 850,000 people last year, an 8.5 percent increase, she said.
Photo: Taipei Times
However, data compiled by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) showed that while 6,213 foreign nationals were killed or injured in traffic incidents in 2019, the number grew significantly to 12,021 last year, an increase of 93.48 percent.
The rise in injuries or deaths from traffic incidents among foreign nationals in Taiwan is far greater than the increase in population, she said.
Most casualties are people from Vietnam, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations, and the majority of the traffic incidents occurred in urban areas where there are more migrant workers, such as Taoyuan and Taichung, she said.
It indicates possible deficiencies in the MOTC, the Ministry of Labor and local governments’ traffic safety promotion and incident prevention mechanisms, he added.
Data compiled by the National Police Agency showed that in the past few years, motorcyclist casualties accounted for more than 60 percent of all traffic incident casualties, she said.
The MOTC’s data also showed that the majority of traffic incidents involving foreign nationals last year involved motorcycles, she said.
Data compiled by the Highway Bureau in 2019 showed that people are more likely to commit a traffic violation within one year of receiving their driver’s license if they had never taken driving lessons, compared with those who had.
The statistics showed the importance of taking driving lessons, Yeh said, adding that the Highway Bureau in 2019 initiated a motorcycle driving lesson subsidy program to enhance road safety and support young people, including foreign nationals, in taking driving lessons.
However, only 7,146 foreign nationals took motorcycle driving lessons between 2019 and last year, while 105,570 foreign nationals took the motorcycle driver’s license test without lessons, she said.
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