Taiwan recorded 1,368 traffic deaths in the first half of this year, down 4.7 percent from a year earlier and 12.8 percent compared with 2023, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said yesterday.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯) told a news conference that the figure was the third-lowest on record, behind 1,275 deaths in 2020 and 1,360 in 2018.
Pedestrian fatalities also fell to 173, the second-lowest since 2021, when 162 deaths were recorded, while fatalities among motorcyclists, drivers, young and elderly people all declined, he said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
By city, Tainan recorded the highest number of deaths at 168, followed by Kaohsiung with 152 and Taichung with 133. Tainan also posted the largest year-on-year increase, rising by 39 deaths, while Miaoli County added 16, and Keelung and Chiayi City added six each.
MOTC official Wu Tung-ling (吳東凌) said most of Tainan’s increase was linked to small vehicle crashes and elderly victims, with 30 percent of self-collision cases caused by driver fatigue or inattentiveness.
Separately, the Legislative Yuan has given preliminary approval to amendments that would toughen penalties for unlicensed driving.
Fines would be raised to NT$36,000 for motorcycles, NT$60,000 for cars and NT$80,000 for large vehicles, with the maximum penalty imposed for a second offense within 10 years.
Repeat offenders would also face additional fines of NT$12,000 for motorcycles and cars, and NT$24,000 for large vehicles.
Vehicle owners would be penalized at the same level as drivers, with license suspensions of three months for a first offense, six months for a second offense within 10 years and one year for three or more offenses.
Cases of unlicensed driving have fallen 9.8 percent since penalties were first raised in June 2023, the ministry said.
However, incidents involving unlicensed drivers last year still resulted in 523 deaths and 38,637 injuries, it said.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
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