A group against drunk driving on Thursday slammed Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) for a rise in drunk-driving-related deaths in the municipality.
According to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Taichung reported a 54.9 percent increase in deaths caused by driving under the influence (DUI), which is 11 times more than the national average of 4.9 percent increase, Taiwan Against Drunk Driving (TADD) said in a news release.
The spike in fatalities in Taichung represented the highest number of DUI deaths and the largest percentage increase among Taiwan’s special municipalities and counties, it said, adding that 612 people were killed in drunk driving incidents in the municipality.
Photo: CNA
Taichung has been one of the the top three regions on the list of DUI fatalities almost every year except for the 2019 to 2021 period during which it ranked fourth, TADD secretary-general Kao Shu-chen (高淑真) said.
The rising DUI death toll in Taichung, which increased for five consecutive months this year, suggests a significant failure of the local government in enforcing anti-DUI measures, Kao said, adding that the city had “stopped caring about stopping drunk drivers altogether.”
The overall increase of drunk driving fatalities in Taiwan also reversed the national trend of fewer DUI deaths from 2014 to last year, the TADD said.
Ending the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and higher-than-normal summer heat have perhaps played a role in the rise of fatalities by increasing social drinking and encouraging car use, it said.
Taoyuan’s 506 DUI fatalities were the second-highest number in the nation, it said.
Drunk-driving fatalities in Yilan County showed a 21.5 percent decrease, and Tainan had 76 less fatalities, which represented a 17.7 percent decrease, it said.
Yilan and Tainan are the two jurisdictions that have made the biggest progress in dealing with drunk driving in the country in the January to May period, TADD said.
REPORT: Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining loitering munitions matching the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 or the Anduril Altius-600, ‘Foreign Policy’ said Taiwan is seeking US-made kamikaze drones in an apparent concession to pressure from Washington to focus on asymmetric capabilities to defeat or deter a Chinese attack, Foreign Policy said in a report on Wednesday. Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions or other devices with similar capabilities, it said, citing four sources familiar with the matter commenting on condition of anonymity. The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed for attacking ground troops, while its larger sibling, the Switchblade 600, could be used to destroy tanks and entrenched troops. Ukraine has utilized both systems extensively in its fight against
Police officers yesterday morning apprehended the prime suspect of a triple homicide case, after raiding the suspect’s hideout in Taichung. They transported the suspect to New Taipei City for questioning and recorded his statement last night. The suspect, identified as a 24-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), is believed to have used his hands to strangle his wife, surnamed Chen (陳), 29, along with his three-year-old son from a previous marriage and his wife’s mother, 69. The three dead bodies were wrapped in blankets when they were discovered inside their apartment in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) on Saturday. Chang was holding a
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight