Owners of electric bicycles would be required to register their bike, obtain a license plate and buy insurance before using public roads, as revisions to traffic rules covering the bikes took effect yesterday.
The revisions to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰) designate e-bikes as “mini electric two-wheel vehicles” that cannot be operated without a license plate.
E-bike owners would have to formally register their vehicle and purchase at least three years of compulsory automobile liability insurance at a cost of at least NT$1,358 for a newly purchased bike. Previously bought vehicles can be operated with shorter insurance coverage. Bikes purchased within the past year, for instance, would require two years of coverage for at least NT$971.
Photo: Huang Liang-chieh, Taipei Times
For e-bikes purchased before Nov. 1, owners would have a grace period of two years to register and buy insurance.
There are about 200,000 e-bikes in Taiwan, and owners who fail to register them would be subject to fines of NT$1,200 to NT$3,600 and be barred from using them.
The minimum age for riding an e-bike is 14. Riders must wear a helmet and the speed limit is 25kph.
E-bike riders are also forbidden to carry passengers, make unauthorized modifications, or ride them on sidewalks or regular bike lanes, except in riverside parks.
The new regulations came after an increase in the number of crashes involving e-bikes and concerns that they pose a heightened risk to minors, lawmakers have said.
Experts have said that the new legal status for e-bikes would also clarify what owners would be eligible to if their bike is stolen and help the vehicles find a market niche.
Ko Chun-pin (柯俊斌), chairman of the Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association’s motorcycle manufacturing division, said the government might provide subsidies for e-bikes as part of its campaign to promote environmentally friendly vehicles.
Taiwanese firms manufacture a combined 80,000 to 100,000 e-bikes each year, with about 80 percent of them being sold to migrant workers, Ko said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
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
RSS