Starting today, people looking for someone to drive their car after having one drink too many can now use the ibon machine at 7-Eleven convenience stores.
The service is now available at 4,800 7-Eleven stores nationwide.
To access the service, customers must click on the substitute driver service icon on an ibon machine and enter their cellphone number. Within 10 minutes, Taiwan Taxi Co will send a cab and along with a substitute driver to the convenience store where the customer has placed the request. The substitute driver will drive and park the person’s car at an agreed-upon location.
The basic charge is NT$1,000 for a travel distance within 10km. Taiwan Taxi will calculate the additional cost for travel distances exceeding 10km. For customers in the latter category, the substitute driver will explain the additional cost first and will only provide the service when the service charge is agreed upon.
In cases where a customer abuses the service or calls off a deal on several occasions, he or she will be placed on blacklist.
To encourage usage of the system, people who call upon the service from today until Aug. 30 will have a chance to win a NT$1,000 gift certificate at 7-Eleven stores, a voucher for a substitute driver service within 10km and other gifts.
The service is part of the Ministry of Transportation and Communication’s campaign to reduce drunk driving.
Statistics from the ministry’s Road Traffic Safety Committee showed that the number of drunk driving violations dropped from 705 in 2006 to 387 in 2008. However, it remains one of the main causes of traffic-related fatalities and injuries.
While some cab services are already providing substitute driver services, service quality has come under fire following a series of accidents.
Actor Lee Luo (李鑼), for example, was reported to be in a dispute with a substitute driver after the driver had a traffic accident while driving Lee’s car.
Meanwhile, several new government policies are scheduled to take effect on Thursday. Motor vehicles, including cars or motorcycles, will be required to have energy efficiency labels that clearly display annual gas consumption volume, energy efficiency levels and other information.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS