Fewer traffic offenses can be reported by the public under updated regulations passed by the legislature yesterday in response to public and police frustration over excessive reporting.
According to the new rules, only offenses with serious implications for public safety can be reported, such as driving without a helmet or double parking.
Reporting minor infractions, such as parking on road lines, would no longer be permitted.
Photo: Chang Hsun-teng, Liberty Times
The number of traffic offenses reported by the public has climbed to an unsustainable volume for police in recent years, many of which are retaliatory.
National Police Agency data showed that reports nearly quadrupled from 1.53 million in 2016 to 5.98 million last year.
About one-third of all tickets issued by police last year, or 4.4 million, were reported by citizens.
About 60 percent of these, or 2.23 million, were for parking on a road line marking.
In response, the Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) limiting the types of offenses that can be reported.
Now only 46 types of relatively risky infractions that are difficult for police to monitor can be reported.
Moving offenses include leaking or dropping cargo, or emitting a foul odor; driving without a helmet; lighting a cigarette or holding a phone while driving; dangerous driving or transporting dangerous cargo on high-speed roadways; excessive honking or flashing; illegal passing, U-turns or weaving between vehicles; running a red light or railway crossing; and blocking emergency vehicles.
They also cover a limited number of stationary violations, including parking in an intersection, pedestrian crossing or sidewalk.
Parking within 10m of a bus stop or within 5m of an emergency vehicle depot can also be reported, as well as double parking and parking in a priority space.
To prevent excessive reporting, the same vehicle can only be reported once every six minutes and once per block. The existing statute of limitations would remain, with a driver exempted if police fail to issue a ticket within seven days.
The limited list is only meant to ease over-reporting, but does not mean that other infractions cannot be ticketed, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
RSS