Lawmakers yesterday urged the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) to work with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to regulate online sales of so-called “miraculous self-driving devices,” which they said could compromise road safety.
TTSB Chairperson Lin Shinn-der (林信得) was invited by the legislature’s Transportation Committee to give a briefing about the agency’s performance in the past fiscal year.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) raised concerns about hazards that could be caused by “miraculous self-driving devices,” which drivers can purchase online for NT$300.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) is designed to relieve drivers’ burden, not to replace drivers, Hung said, adding that it has been proven that misusing ADAS could lead to traffic accidents.
Drivers are told that they must still place both hands on the steering wheel even when using ADAS, but the device can simulate the experience of hands on the steering wheels and essentially encourages drivers to remove their hands, making it a public hazard, Hung said.
Sales of the device continue despite the ministry warning sellers that it might contravene the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), Hung said.
The board should work with other government agencies to regulate the device and ban drivers from using them, he said.
Lin pledged to discuss the issue and possible solutions in one month with the transport ministry, the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Taiwan does not have a 100 percent autonomous driving system yet, Lin said, adding that cars in Taiwan have mostly auxiliary driving systems.
“We have investigated accidents related to the use of ADAS and published suggestions for improvement last year,” Lin said.
The Freeway Bureau has also posted reminders of the limitations of the automatic assisted driving system on electronic display boards on freeways, he said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS