More than 12,000 children were injured or died as a result of traffic incidents last year, the third consecutive year that the number of child casualties rose in Taiwan, a National Audit Office report showed.
Last year’s 393,882 traffic incidents resulted in 2,950 deaths, including 366 pedestrian fatalities, the report showed.
That figure falls short of government targets to reduce road casualties and pedestrian deaths by 5 and 7 percent respectively compared with 2023, the study showed.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government
Total deaths fell 2.41 percent, or 73 people, while pedestrian deaths dropped 3.68 percent, or 14 people, still higher than the goals set in a national road traffic safety plan the Cabinet approved on Feb. 7 last year.
In August 2023, the Executive Yuan approved a pedestrian safety policy framework and invested NT$40 billion (US$1.34 billion) over four years in a bid to reduce pedestrian casualties by 30 percent by 2030.
The highest number of traffic fatalities within 30 days of a traffic incident was in Kaohsiung at 311, followed by Taichung at 288, Taoyuan at 287, Tainan at 277 and New Taipei City at 269, the report showed.
Except for a drop in 2021, the number of child casualties in road traffic incidents has been steadily rising, from 8,705 in 2021 to 12,037 last year, it said.
Although a 2022 CNN article about Taiwan’s traffic situation and the viral Facebook group “Taiwan is a living hell for pedestrians” prompted the government to promote a number of road safety initiatives, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications must further work with local governments to implement more effective policies, the report said.
The ministry said it would continue to assist underperforming counties and cities by mobilizing government agencies and local authorities, while implementing policies specific to child safety.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
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