An electric-scooter rider was left stranded near the top of the 3,275m Wuling Pass on Saturday after his batteries died.
The rider was eventually rescued by a police officer on patrol, the Hualien County police said.
The rider, surnamed Wu (吳), had already crossed Provincial Highway 14A’s highest point after setting out from Taichung, but was forced to turn back just a few kilometers into his descent into Hualien due to a road closure, police said in a statement.
An officer surnamed Lin (林) found a helpless-looking Wu stranded with several kilometers still left to climb to the summit of the Wuling Pass. With the nearest battery-swapping GoStation located at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Qingjing Farm about 36km away, Lin drove Wu and his two Gogoro batteries to a nearby bus station.
Wu boarded a bus at about 10am on Saturday, before returning to his scooter with fully charged batteries at about 2:15pm and resuming his journey, police said.
Police said Wu was the third Gogoro rider this year to be found stuck near the top of the Wuling Pass due to dead batteries, adding that he had been lucky because a seasonal bus was running.
In a previous case in February, when no such service was running, the stranded person had to wait almost five hours before police were able to get him back on the road.
A pair of Gogoro batteries have a maximum range of about 55km on the steep climbs of the Wuling Pass, but there are nearly 109km separating battery-swapping GoStations on the two provincial highways, 14A and 8, that cover the route.
Police called on electric-scooter riders to appeal to the Taiwan-based Gogoro to build extra GoStations along the scenic route to prevent similar strandings.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face