A man in Tainan has been cleared on charges of public insult after giving the middle finger during a road rage incident, as judges deemed the gesture was made “briefly to express negative feelings.”
In last week’s ruling at the High Court’s Tainan branch, judges acquitted a driver, surnamed Cheng (程), for an incident along Tainan’s Nanmen Road in September 2023, when Cheng had spotted a place to park his car in an adjacent lane.
Cheng slowed down his vehicle to go into reverse, to back into the parking spot, but the car behind followed too closely, as its driver thought Cheng was going too slow in blocking the road, and honked several times, the ruling said.
Photo: Wang Chieh, Taipei Times
Cheng said he could not back up to park, as the other vehicle was close behind, so he got out, walked to the other car and shouted something in anger, then gave the middle finger next to the front seat window.
Public prosecutors charged Cheng with “public insult” under Article 309 of the Criminal Code.
Tainan prosecutors said that video surveillance showed Cheng raising his middle finger, saying that it was a deliberate action to malign the other driver, and not just a simple expression of emotion, and therefore should be punished.
Cheng in his defense alleged that he reacted to the other driver’s provocation, who made the gesture first, and he only did so in response. Judges examined video of the scene, showing Cheng making the gesture, but could not determine if the other driver had done so first.
In a ruling by the Tainan District Court, it said that although the middle finger has a negative connotation, it was “becoming more prevalent, as a common way of expressing negative emotions.”
“The court cannot deem it an insult, based only on this gesture, and should adjudicate by taking into account what was said, and overall actions taken at the scene,” it said.
“The complainant did honk the horn, believing the car in front was too slow, leading to the dispute. Therefore the complainant had initiated the dispute, while the defendant’s action was a person’s emotional response, as commonly found among the public, and should be afforded more tolerance,” the first ruling said.
After an appeal, the High Court upheld the acquittal, saying that the defendant “did not deliberately insult any particular underprivileged groups.”
“It was a brief response to express a negative feeling during a dispute on the road, and was not for insulting another person’s honor, nor did it exceed the tolerance level for society,” it said.
The ruling is final.
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