The Department of Railways and Highways displayed yesterday a set of new stickers that will be issued to owners of large-size passenger vehicles after the vehicles have passed mandatory safety inspections.
The five round stickers, each having a diameter of 10cm, feature items that will be examined during the inspections -- dynamic braking, tilting, fire safety, vehicle superstructure and passenger seats.
Department director general Yin Cheng-peng (
Yin said that stickers must be applied on the inside of the windshield and to the right of the driver's seat.
"The new stickers serve as a useful reference for consumers," he said. "They will also encourage manufacturers to start producing vehicles that meet those inspection rules."
A series of tour bus accidents in the past year brought the safety of large-size passenger vehicles into question.
Last October, a tour bus carrying Chinese tourists fell into a valley in Nantou County, killing six people and injuring 14.
Two months later, another tour bus flipped over in Meiling (梅嶺), Tainan County, killing two and injuring 23.
In June, a tour bus fell off Yangte Boulevard (
While the cause of the latest accident was believed to be brake failure or human error, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has since formulated stricter laws regulating the operation of tour buses or other large-size passenger vehicles.
For its part, the Department of Railways and Highways began applying in July some of the vehicle inspection standards stipulated by the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
Basing itself on the year the majority of heavy vehicles were produced, the department finalized the standards and the timeline by which these will need to be implemented.
The department said that all the inspections must have taken place once a bus is fully equipped with all the necessary facilities.
By January, large-size passenger vehicles across the nation must all be able to handle a tilting angle of at least 28 degrees. By December next year, all heavy vehicles must also have passed fire safety and vehicle superstructure tests.
For the vehicle superstructure test, a rollover test on the complete vehicle will be conducted.
By next year, every large-sized passenger vehicle will be required to have passed a dynamic braking test and by 2009, safety belts must have been installed on every passenger seat.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
PROMOTION: Travelers who want a free stopover must book their flights with designated travel agents, such as Lion Travel, Holiday Tours, Cola Tour and Life Tours Air Canada yesterday said it is offering Taiwanese travelers who are headed to North America free stopovers if they transit though airports in Japan and South Korea. The promotion was launched in response to a potential rise in demand for flights to North America in June and July next year, when the US, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to jointly host the FIFA World Cup, Air Canada said. Air Canada offers services to 13 of the 16 host cities of the tournament’s soccer games, including Toronto and Vancouver; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Dallas; Houston;
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