A traffic camera at the Sianglan section of Provincial Highway No. 9 has photographed an average of 1,500 speeding drivers a month, resulting in NT$20 million (US$690,000) in annual revenue for Taitung County, officials said.
According to a salesperson who works at a convenience store across from the Taitung County Government building, about half of the traffic tickets paid at the store are attributable to the camera in Sianglan (香蘭). The store processes more than 10 traffic tickets a month from that particular camera, the salesperson said.
The county’s police bureau said that because the Sianglan section of the highway is particularly wide and straight, drivers are more likely to experience a lapse of concentration on it. Over the past five days, two people have been killed in separate accidents on that section of the highway, the bureau added.
The establishment of a 70kph speed limit and the installation of the traffic camera were part of an effort to improve safety.
The measures have also resulted in an average of 1,500 tickets being issued a month, each for NT$1,800. The speeding tickets have become a major source of annual revenue — about NT$500 million — and are second only to licenses for sandstone mining.
However, drivers appear to view the traffic camera as a menace, as evidenced by an average of three acts of vandalism a month.
Angry drivers caught speeding used to vent their anger by breaking the glass on the camera, but with it now protected by bulletproof glass, they have resorted to spray painting or taping over the lens, local police said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
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
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS