Traffic accident casualties involving taxis reached a five-year high last year, and marked the highest increase among any mode of transportation, Ministry of Transportation and Communications data showed.
There were 9,937 accidents involving taxis last year, resulting in 11,504 deaths or injuries, ministry data showed, accounting for 2.6 percent of all accidents and 2.3 percent of all traffic casualties.
It was a 11.9 percent increase over the 8,880 recorded accidents in 2021.
Photo: Taipei Times
The figures are the highest since 2017 among both taxis and all modes of transportation.
However, the rate of increase for accidents and casualties were highest among taxi-related incidents, jumping 11.9 percent and 12 percent last year respectively, compared with 4.9 percent and 4.7 percent overall.
The accident figure is consistent with an approximately 10 percent increase in taxi accidents annually from 2017 to 2020, the ministry said.
Most of the accidents last year involving taxis were caused by failing to pay attention to the front of the vehicle (14.2 percent) and failing to yield (13.8 percent).
They were followed by improper lane or direction changes (5.6 percent), improper left turns (4.7 percent) and improper U-turns (4.4 percent).
The number of registered taxis has also increased since 2017, rising from 87,604 to 90,458 last year, about 71 percent of which operate in northern Taiwan, ministry data showed.
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