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.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS