The Tesla Model Y and Honda CR-V secured five-star safety ratings after being evaluated by the Taiwan New Car Assessment Program this quarter, the Vehicle Safety Certification Center said yesterday.
The program, which is funded by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, evaluates the safety of some of the best-selling vehicles in Taiwan by conducting collision tests using cars procured from retailers by secret buyers.
Results of the collision tests are made public each quarter.
Photo: CNA
This quarter’s report was the first time that the program evaluated an electric vehicle, Department of Public Transportation and Supervision Director-General Lin Fu-shan (林福山) said.
After the Honda CR-V previously secured a three-star rating, the Japanese manufacturer voluntarily underwent the test again and paid for the expenses after upgrading the vehicle, Lin said.
The program is to test the safety of the Tesla Model 3 next year, he said.
The Tesla Model Y scored 97 percent in adult occupant protection, 89 percent in child occupant protection, 78 percent in pedestrian protection and 79 percent in safety assistance, while scores for the Honda CR-V in the four categories were 97 percent, 89 percent, 75 percent and 69 percent respectively, the report showed.
Although Tesla Model Ys sold in Taiwan are equipped with a speed assist system, the system cannot process speed limit information conveyed by some traffic signals in Taiwan, such as a warning sign telling drivers to keep below 40kph due to foggy conditions, the center said.
The Honda CR-V’s safety rating was elevated to five stars from three because it upgraded safety equipment by including driver and front-seat passenger knee-protection airbags, front-seat passenger seat belt reminder devices, rear-seat side-chest-protection airbags, rear-seat belt-reminder devices and seat-belt shoulder height position adjusters, the center said.
Aside from the Tesla Model Y, the center said that it is to test the Honda HR-V, the Nissan Sentra, the Toyota Vios, the Lexus RX, the Hyundai Custin and the Toyota Town Ace, as well as the Hyundai Tucson and MG HS.
The center so far has tested the Toyota Corolla Cross, the Toyota RAV4, the Toyota Corolla Altis, the Toyota Sienta, the Ford Kuga, the Toyota Yaris, the Nissan Kicks, the Lexus NX, the Honda FIT and the Nissan X-Trail.
People can view the complete test results at www.tncap.org.tw.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software