Older people should switch to safer modes of transportation, after the number of older people killed in scooter crashes this year jumped nearly 22 percent from last year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said on Monday.
In the first three months of the year, there were 93,044 traffic accidents, with 746 people killed and 123,487 injured, Road Traffic Safety Committee Executive Secretary Wu Mu-fu (吳木富) told a monthly briefing in Taipei on traffic safety data.
There were 2,101 fewer accidents, 34 fewer people dead and 3,769 fewer injured than in the same period last year, Wu said.
Photo courtesy of New Taipei City Transportation Department
However, scooter accident fatalities edged up 2.7 percent to 460, compared with 448 last year, he said.
Of the 460 people who died in scooter accidents, 161 were aged 65 or older, up 29 people, or 21.9 percent, from last year, Wu said.
Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taoyuan, Changhua County and Pingtung County had the biggest increases in scooter fatalities among older people, committee data showed.
Most of the fatalities resulted from side collisions, followed by collisions in intersections, the data showed.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kuo-tsai (王國材) encouraged older people to stay safe by taking public transportation whenever possible.
Older people living in areas without convenient public transportation should consider switching to light electric motorcycles, which travel at a top speed of 25kph, he said.
People aged 75 or older, who must renew their driver’s license every three years, are encouraged to consider turning in their license, Wang said.
Department of Railways and Highways Director Lin Fu-san (林福山) said that an increasing number of older people are driving without a license, as many continue to drive even after their driver’s license is not renewed.
If a roadway has enough scooter traffic to warrant it, local governments should install dedicated left-turn traffic signals, instead of having all scooter traffic make a two-stage left turn, Wang said.
The ministry recognizes the need for new traffic management after analyzing the accident data, Wang added.
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