People whose driving licenses have been revoked for more than three years would be required to take driving lessons again before applying for a new license, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
The new road safety rules are to take effect on June 30 following amendments to the Road Traffic Security Rules (道路交通安全規則), the Regulations on Taking Tests for Drivers Permanently Prohibited from Applying for a New Driver’s License (受終身不得考領駕駛執照限制重新申請考驗辦法) and the Regulations Governing Automobile Driver Training Schools (民營汽車駕駛人訓練機構管理辦法).
The amendments have been introduced following public outrage after a 78-year-old man last year caused a fatal accident in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽).
Photo: CNA
The reforms are aimed at enhancing the driver’s license examination system, the driver retraining mechanism and elderly driver management, the ministry said, adding that phased measures began to be implemented this year, with the goal of reducing road traffic deaths by 7 percent every year.
People whose driving license has been revoked or who are banned from taking the driver’s license examination for three years or more would have to undergo driver training again, Department of Public Transportation and Supervision specialist Michael Chao (趙晉緯) said.
Those who fail to finish training at a driving school would not be allowed to take the examination and get a new license, he said.
Highway Bureau data showed that on average, about 5,000 motorists and 5,000 motorcyclists every year were deprived of their driving license and prohibited from taking a license exam for three years or more, he said.
Current regulations allow such offenders to take the examination after the penalty is completed, Chao said.
However, as road safety regulations continue to be revised and updated, they should learn about the latest regulations by receiving training again, he said.
Under the new regulations, motorists who did not finish training to get a new license would face higher fines: NT$36,000, up from NT$18,000, for motorcyclists; and NT$60,000, up from NT$36,000, for car drivers.
In related developments, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday said it was working with the transport ministry to restrict people with a history of drug use from holding a driver’s license, aiming to take a preventative approach against drug-impaired driving.
The proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) would include heavier fines and collective punishment for passengers in vehicles driven by drug-impaired drivers, the interior ministry said.
The push comes amid growing public concern over a recent spate of drug-driving accidents, including a crash on May 4 that killed two and injured another two caused by a man driving under the influence of narcotics.
Drug-impaired driving cannot be treated the same as drunk driving, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said.
The MOI hopes to adopt a preventative approach to the issue, and it will continue to coordinate with the transportation ministry on restricting drug offenders from driving, she said.
On Monday last week, the two ministries discussed penalizing passengers of drug-impaired drivers, Liu said, adding that the proposed amendments would soon be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review.
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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