Autonomous vehicles are in the spotlight, although officials expect few roadblocks when investigating crashes involving such vehicles, the Transportation Safety Board said on Wednesday as it launched a safety study.
At a session of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, Democratic Progressive Party legislators Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) and Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) asked board chairman Young Hong-tsu (楊宏智) whether Taiwan has a mechanism to regulate autonomous vehicles and prevent crashes involving them.
Lee asked whether the board has the technology and resources to investigate such crashes, as autonomous vehicles are very different from standard gas or electric vehicles.
The government lacks comprehensive regulations for driverless vehicles, Chen said, adding that the board is also keen to help establish a disaster-prevention mechanism to address battery fires in electric vehicles, including buses.
The development of autonomous and electric vehicles has triggered discussions worldwide about the hazards — potential and realized — they pose, he said, adding that the board in June discussed the issues with overseas experts in a videoconference.
“We have simulated how investigations should proceed into crashes involving autonomous vehicles, so we should have no problem completing such a task,” Young said.
“We also hope to be involved when the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications conduct tests of autonomous vehicles,” he said.
The board would focus on studying autonomous vehicle safety in the next few years, as well as standard assembly methods for tour buses and the management of construction sites along railway lines, Young said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS