More should be done to enhance sidewalk accessibility, disabled rights advocates said yesterday at a hearing at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
“There are more than 16 government agencies that are free to ‘rape’ or trample over sidewalks, but we cannot find a unified government agency responsible for approving things,” Access for All in Taiwan project manager Chen Ming-li (陳明里) said, adding that regulations technically mandate a sidewalk width of 1.5m, but lack of space often leads that to be shrunk to 90cm, potentially creating problems for wheelchairs.
“When wheelchairs are opened up, they take up more than 68cm, so where are they supposed to go if some agency adds a light pole or a traffic light control box to a narrow band of pavement?” Chen said.
A lack of government action and slow progress were common themes from those who testified at the Internal Administration Committee hearing convened by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智).
“Over the past 30 years, I have been hit by cars three times,” said Liu Yi-yun (劉逸雲), a Republic of China Spinal Cord Injury Victims Association consultant who uses a wheelchair.
“As an electric wheelchair does not count as a ‘vehicle’ under traffic laws, I am actually liable if I am hit while going down a street instead of the sidewalk, but the problem is that sometimes I cannot use the sidewalk,” Liu said.
Parents Association for the Visually Impaired secretary-general Lan Chie-chou (藍介洲) called on government agencies to level pavements inside building arcades and reduce the number of arcade stairs, adding that blind people face huge obstacles crossing roads because of the absence of traffic lights with audio signals.
“People often assume that my guide dog can tell me when the signal turns, but the reality is that dogs are color blind. I have to pay attention to what I hear and order him to take me across the road when it sounds safe,” he said, adding that he has been trapped in the middle of the road numerous times after misjudging the situation.
Taiwan Institute of Landscape Architects president emeritus Monica Kuo (郭瓊瑩) called for a portion of the NT$880 billion (US$29 billion) “Forward-looking Infrastructure Construction Project” announced by Premier Lin Chuan (林全) last week to be allocated to improving accessibility.
“The NT$1.5 billion [budgeted by the Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency for accessibility] might sound like a lot, but after you sprinkle it among all the nation’s townships and cities, it is just the remainder of budgetary scraps,” she said.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS