As from June, children under the age of four or weighing under 18kg travelling in cars will be required to be seated in a child-safety seat secured in the back seat or drivers could be fined NT$500, the Committee of Traffic Safety Supervision said yesterday.
However, due to an overwhelming amount of feedback on the new policy, the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC) made a few exceptions to the rule just weeks before the regulation is to be implemented nationwide.
According to a ministry press release, an exception will be made for families with at least three children under the age of four. Because most cars are unable to accommodate more than two safety seats in the back seat, the ministry said that it would be acceptable if the oldest of the three did not use a safety seat.
The ministry will also make exceptions for parents who choose to accompany the three children in the back seat, disregarding regulations limiting the number of passengers in the back seat to three.
"We made these exceptions because it is difficult to fit three car seats in the back seat, but also because many cars do not have enough seat belts to accommodate three car seats," said Lee Long-wen (
In addition, families driving cars manufactured in Taiwan before 1991, when the government began requiring that manufacturers install seatbelts in all cars, will be exempt as well.
However, the exceptions to the car seat regulation have brought about criticism that unwarranted leniency does not bring about child safety.
The Jing Chuan Child Safety Foundation asked why the safety of the third child in the back seat or the children of families owning cars manufactured before 1991 was not a matter of concern, if the ministry was really serious about child safety.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS