Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands.
They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed.
The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner lanes when the conditions allow.
Photo: CNA
Formosa Motorcycle Rights Association director Lo Yi (羅宜) said lawmakers should repeal various restrictions on motorcyclists stipulated in Article 99 of the Road and Traffic Safety Rules (道路交通安全規則), and should reform driver training to prevent unsafe driving practices that endanger motorcyclists.
“The outer lanes of many roads are used by truck drivers to temporarily park to load and unload goods, so inner lanes should be accessible to motorcyclists,” he said.
Regarding the use of heavy vehicles on national highways, Lo said that the ministry has not produced data showing that the accident rate of large motorcycles on highways is higher than that of passenger vehicles.
The ministry often pits motorcyclists against drivers of passenger vehicles, but many riders of large motorcycles are also drivers who use vehicles to commute to work, he said.
The association chose to surround the ministry with passenger vehicles to show that the rights of both groups overlap, he said.
The ministry said that due to differences in road design and traffic flow characteristics at intersections, local authorities would still be allowed to evaluate and plan lane access for motorcycles and two-stage left-turn control measures based on local conditions.
“It is not reasonable to completely abolish the restrictions on motorcycles and the rules on two-stage left turns,” it said.
Regarding motorcycle access to national highways, the ministry said it had reviewed indicators of safety, orderly riding and rider behavior, and found that behavior had deteriorated over the evaluation period, especially in regard to awareness of safe distances between vehicles.
“There are shortcomings and the public is still not in favor of allowing motorcycles on highways. Therefore, we will wait for improvements and public support before considering opening up highways to large motorcycles,” it said.
Regarding driver training, officials are considering introducing short-term licenses for drivers and riders with repeat and serious traffic violations, it said.
Those whose driving licenses are more than one year old, and whose driving licenses have been suspended for less than one year, would be required to take road safety training and pay fines in accordance with regulations if they wish to continue operating vehicles, it said.
Pending no other serious violations, licenses would be reissued to those individuals in growing intervals — periods of one, two, three and then six years, it added.
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