The Taipei City Government is offering subsidies of NT$1,300 for scooter driving lessons in a bid to lower accident rates.
The Taipei Department of Transportation said that the policy, which would not be limited to city residents, was due to a high rate of scooter accidents.
In addition, those who pass the exam at one of the six city-approved training facilities would not need to pay fees for roadside parking for one month, to encourage people testing for their license to do so at driving education facilities, the Taipei Parking Management and Development Office said.
Photo: CNA
Last year, scooter accidents comprised 28,000 out of 33,000 A2-type incidents in the city, defined as causing injury, or people involved passing away after 24 hours, the department said.
There were 62 A1-type incidents recorded — a category defined as causing a person to pass away within 24 hours — of which 35, or more than 20 percent, involved scooters, it said.
Accident rates for those attending scooter safety classes were 1.96 percent, compared with 4.88 percent for those who tested without taking the course, the department’s statistics showed.
Traffic Division Director Yeh Chih-hung (葉志宏) said that the Directorate-General of Highways has approved subsidies for 2,050 applicants, but the Taipei City Government would also provide funding and would accept all applications.
People who are eligible for the subsides should apply before Dec. 8, Yeh said.
The Taipei City Government is adding the Huafeng, Binjiang and Dahu driver education facilities to the list of government-approved facilities, Yeh added.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
RSS