The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has expanded its road safety outreach initiative to senior citizens after data showed that 40 percent of people killed by road accidents were aged 65 or older.
MOTC Deputy Minister Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯) said the public information campaign currently utilizes 1,586 certified volunteer instructors.
Road accidents killed 1,709 people in the first seven months of this year, or eight people per day, a sharp rise from the average number of people killed per year over the past few years, he said.
About 75 percent of those who were killed were pedestrians or motorbike riders, he said, adding that 60 percent of the fatal incidents occurred at intersections.
To address this problem, the ministry has expanded the national safety traffic month program to urge the public to be vigilant when traveling through crossroads, he said.
Drivers should stop their vehicles and check the road for pedestrians before turning slowly around corners, while pedestrians should stop, listen and watch for vehicles, he said.
As senior citizens are less likely to attend road safety classes or use the Internet, the ministry’s outreach program is to focus on face-to-face interactions, he said.
Instructors are to visit community activity centers and motor vehicle offices, and talk to seniors across the nation, including those residing in remote communities, he said.
The ministry has run the volunteer road safety instructor program in partnership with the Ministry of Education and local governments since 2011, he added.
Volunteer instructor Wu Ming-chang (吳明璋) said that people often try to cross a street when there is not enough time left or did not notice vehicles that were running a red light in time.
Vehicles moving in pedestrian’s blind spot — including right-turning vehicles to the front and left-turning vehicles to the rear — are also a source of potential danger, he said.
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