Taipei City Government is to strengthen measures to clamp down on motorists who fail to yield the right of way to pedestrians starting in November as Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) vows to create a safe and friendly environment for pedestrians.
The right of way given to pedestrians is already protected by law and motorists can be fined between NT$1,200 and NT$3,600 for failing to give people on foot the right of way in accordance with Violations of Road Traffic Regulations (道路交通管理處罰條例). However, the law has rarely been enforced since the initial campaign was launched years ago.
In Taipei, the city government restarted the campaign in 2009 when hosting the Taipei International Deaflympics. According to the information from Taipei City’s Department of Transportation, the traffic police have reported on 3,132 violation cases so far this year.
As part of the latest efforts to ensure the right of way for pedestrians, Hau yesterday instructed the department to promote the campaign throughout next month and dispatch more traffic police to clamp down on motorists violating the law starting in November.
“Taipei should make the campaign that gives the right of way to pedestrians part of the city’s culture and create a friendlier environment for pedestrians,” he said at Taipei City Hall.
In November, the department is to dispatch more traffic police to the city’s 120 intersections where the most traffic accidents occur, such as Yanping N Road, Roosevelt Boulevard Chongqing S Road and Hengyang Road, and install surveillance cameras in a bid to clamp down on motorists who fail to give pedestrians the right of way.
Director of the city’s traffic police division Dennis Huang (黃勢清) said the division is to also clamp down on pedestrians who fail to walk on zebra crossings or who cross the streets on red lights. Such offenses could warrant fines of NT$600.
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