An inflow of traffic from Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) has caused Minquan E Road in the neighboring Songshan District (松山) to become a hot spot for severe accidents, Taipei Police Department data showed.
From January to August, police recorded 142 traffic accidents leading to death or injury along the road, making it the route with the greatest number of severe accidents in the city, the data showed.
Minquan W Road — infamous for the “waterfall” of scooters that builds up during the morning rush hour in the eastbound direction — had the second greatest number of severe traffic accidents, 138 in the January-to-August period, the data showed
The third greatest number of severe accidents occurred along Section 5 of Zhongxiao E Road, where 131 incidents happened during the first eight months of this year, it showed.
Overall, the number of traffic accidents in the city involving scooters was greater during the eight-month period than it was during the same period last year, the data showed.
A total of 17,916 incidents were recorded, compared with 15,798 incidents over the same period last year. As a result of those incidents, more than 18,000 people sustained injuries — some fatal, the data showed.
During rush hour, many Neihu residents cross Minquan Bridge toward Songshan District, which causes a bottleneck for traffic and leads to accidents, said a researcher from National Chiao Tung University, who asked not to be named.
Similarly, Taipei Bridge in the morning rush hour becomes as a bottleneck for traffic entering Taipei from the western side of New Taipei City, the researcher said.
Of those injured or killed in scooter accidents in the first eight months of the year, 5,900 — or 33 percent of the total — were aged 18 to 25, the data showed.
“Many young people ride scooters at an excessive speed, even though they lack experience. In many cases, younger riders make sudden turns without using turn signals and end up crashing into someone,” the researcher said.
The top three causes of traffic accidents are failure on part of the riders to pay attention to the road, failure to yield to other motorists as required by traffic laws and improper lane changes, the researcher said.
“Riders should maintain a safe distance from cars. Riders in Taipei are often too close to the cars in front of them and have no time to react to sudden situations,” Taipei Police Traffic Division Captain Lin Kuang-hsien (林洸賢) said.
Lin urged riders to use turn signals at all times and to use their mirrors to pay attention to the traffic behind them when making turns and lane changes.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS