A total of 65 deaths occurred within 24 hours of a traffic accident last year in Taipei, the lowest rate in 20 years, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday.
That was a nearly 27 percent decrease from the 89 deaths in 2016, the agency said, but added that small vehicles, with 29 deaths, still caused the greatest number of fatal accidents.
Only about 2 percent of the fatal accidents were caused by drunk driving, the agency said.
Photo: CNA
Of the 65 people that died, 30 were motorcycle riders or passengers, 28 were pedestrians, three were car drivers or passengers, three were cyclists and one was a truck driver or passenger, it said.
Last year, motorcyclist deaths were spread across three age groups: 18 to 25-year-olds (five people), 40 to 49-year-olds (seven people) and 50 to 59-year-olds (five people), the agency said.
In previous years, more than 70 percent of motorcyclist deaths were concentrated in the 18 to 25-year-old group, it added.
Pedestrian deaths were concentrated among those older than 65 (20 people), the agency said, adding that deaths in the car driver or passenger category and cyclist category did not show clear trends.
A total of 28,773 people were injured in the 37,690 traffic accidents that were recorded last year, the department said.
Last year, the department reviewed locations that easily led to accidents or deaths, but also mailed traffic safety pamphlets to the residences of those older than 75, the agency said when asked why the number of accidents had decreased.
The department said it also held forums targeting motorcyclists in the 18 to 25-year-old group at colleges and universities.
It also implemented an ad hoc law enforcement plan to strengthen the use of speed cameras and mobile speed controls for motorcycles at times and locations that motorcyclists were likely to cause accidents, it added.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications uses deaths within 30 days of traffic accidents, rather than deaths within 24 hours, as the standard for its statistics on fatalities and injuries caused by traffic accidents.
The numbers for the whole of last year are still being calculated, the department said, but added that from January to October, 118 deaths occurred within 30 days of a traffic accident, which is still a decrease compared with the 161 deaths in 2015.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS