The government aims to better protect pedestrians by expanding the distance between pedestrian crossings and vehicle stop lines, Ministry of Transportation and Communications officials said.
The revision to the Regulations on Establishing Traffic Signs and Indicating Lines (道路交通標誌標線號誌設置規則) was proposed after Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told lawmakers it would be a national shame if pedestrians were hit by motor vehicles while walking on pedestrian crossings.
The revision would widen the gap between crossings and vehicle stop lines from the current width of 1m to 3m, to 2m to 3m.
Photo: CNA
Ministry officials said they aim to complete the revision of the regulations in June and begin inspecting local governments’ compliance by the third quarter.
A ministry survey found that pedestrian crossings and vehicle stop lines at most localities are separated by at least 1m, but some are less than 1m apart.
If vehicle stop lines are too close to pedestrian crossings, pedestrians would feel pressured when crossing the streets, while drivers of trucks or other large vehicles might not see pedestrians crossing in their blind spots, the ministry said.
Studies from the Institute of Transportation, the ministry’s think tank, showed that the distance between pedestrian crossings and vehicle stop lines is 1m to 3m in Japan, 2m in Sweden, 2m to 3m in South Korea, 3m in Singapore and the UK, while the US has a minimum of 1.2m.
Highways and Road Safety Deputy Director-General Huang Yun-kui (黃運貴) said that all local governments must follow the revised regulations once implementation starts.
Every locality would be asked to identify intersections where pedestrian crossings and vehicle stop lines are less than 1m apart and submit plans to address them before the end of this year, he said.
Aside from random inspections conducted by the ministry, people can also report localities that do not follow revised regulations, he added.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS