Sun, Nov 08, 2020 page3

• More severe road accidents in Taipei, police data show

  TRAFFIC BOTTLENECKS: Most accidents leading to injury or death happen during the morning rush hour and involve scooter riders, a researcher said

  • By Tsai Ssu-pei and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  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.
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