The government should crack down on illegal electric bicycles and scooters, the non-profit Consumers’ Foundation said on Friday, citing research on the potentially dangerous speed of the vehicles.
Electric bicycles and lightweight electric scooters have gained popularity as they do not require registration and riders do not need licenses, the foundation said, adding that as many as 40 percent of them can reach speeds exceeding the legal limit of 25kph for non-licensed two-wheelers.
Some consumers also purchased legal electric vehicles and modified them to reach higher speeds, it said.
Photo provided by the Consumers’ Foundation
“If the government does not step up efforts to confiscate these illegal electric vehicles, they could become a danger to consumers’ personal safety,” the foundation said.
In a spot check last month of 12 vehicles sold on auction Web sites and online retail platforms, the foundation found that five of the vehicles reached speeds exceeding the legal limit, it said.
Two of them reached 60kph, similar to fuel-powered motorcycles with engines between 50cc and 250cc that require white license plates, it said.
The foundation also found numerous video tutorials and online articles on the modification of electric bicycles, for example to remove factory-installed speed limiters, it said, adding that a traffic accident with a modified vehicle might be fatal.
Under stipulations of the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), people who exceed the 25kph speed limit can be fined between NT$900 and NT$1,800.
The number of accidents involving electric bicycles and lightweight electric scooters in 2018 almost doubled from 2014, but police were still at odds over how to handle traffic violations involving the vehicles, which occupy a “fuzzy space” between bicycle regulations and regulations for heavier two-wheelers.
However, as the vehicles pose an alternative for those without a license or those who are attracted by their low cost — such as elderly people, young people and migrant workers — there is a pressing need for the introduction of clear regulations, the foundation said.
For example, the government could introduce insurance or license requirements that include a written test, as known from regular motorcycle license tests, it said.
This would ensure that riders are familiar with traffic rules, the foundation said, adding that the government must also hold retailers accountable for informing people about the dangers posed by the vehicles, especially if modified, and the importance of sticking to the traffic rules.
RISK FACTORS: ‘We hope people can cooperate and endure it ... it is possibly the very important last mile,’ Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said Taiwan’s COVID-19 restrictions and mask regulations are to remain the same next month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The center reported 42,112 new local COVID-19 cases and 85 deaths, saying that the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has dropped to a new low this month. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that the center is keeping COVID-19 restrictions and mask regulations the same due to the local virus situation, and an increase in the number of imported cases of the new Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2, among other risk factors. Easing
TRAVEL CONFERENCE: Representatives from the two countries exchanged views on how to increase tourist numbers, with one identifying individual travel as a trend Taiwan and South Korea aim to increase the number of tourists traveling between the two countries to 3 million, government and tourism industry representatives said at a conference in Hsinchu City yesterday. The annual event was attended by Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯); Tourism Bureau Director-General Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰); Taiwan Visitors Association chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭); South Korean Representative to Taiwan Chung Byung-won; Yoon Ji-sook, an official at the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; and Korea Association of Travel Agents chairman Oh Chang-hee. Global tourism is expected to soon rebound to between 55 and
DAMAGE CONTROL: The KMT in a statement called the Taiwan Strait ‘international waters,’ after Alexander Huang said China had the right to claim it as internal waters Lawmakers and experts yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) envoy to the US Alexander Huang (黃介正) of acting as China’s stooge, after he said that Beijing has the right to claim waters beyond its maritime territory as its exclusive economic zone and that the US has no legal basis to assert that the Taiwan Strait is an “international waterway.” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said in an online post that most of the world considers the Strait an international waterway, adding that this is important for safeguarding Taiwan. “We have seen US warships transiting through the Taiwan Strait.
The Taichung District Court yesterday sentenced to nine years in prison an unlicensed judo coach who caused the death of a seven-year-old student after slamming him onto the ground more than a dozen times. In its decision against the coach, a man surnamed Ho (何), the court cited his lack of remorse for using excessive force against an inadequately trained child and his failure to reconcile with the parents for his role in their son’s death. Speaking on behalf of the boy’s mother, Taichung City Councilor Jacky Chen (陳清龍) said the family would appeal to a higher court. Prosecutors said that Ho on