The Average Speed Enforcement (ASE) system has been implemented at the 4.7km-long Siaoma (小馬) section in Taitung and the 2km Shueilian (水璉) section of the Hualien-Taitung Coastal Highway (花東海岸公路) since Sept. 1.
This was in response to eight deaths and more than 70 injuries caused by car accidents within three years, all of which were due to speeding offenses at the Siaoma section and at the Shueilian section.
The highway is 168km long. I could have arrived at Hualien driving at a normal speed within three hours.
However, earlier this month, it took three-and-a-half hours to drive to Hualien to visit a friend on a weekday. More time was required not because I was a “Sunday driver,” but because I was afraid of being caught speeding.
In addition to many fixed and portable speed-measuring devices, the two new ASEs had me on tenterhooks while driving, as I was afraid of unintentionally committing wallet homicide.
Setting an ASE system at the Shueilian section has little effect on drivers, as the section is a mountain road and the ASE system there only covers 2km.
Nonetheless, the full length of ASEs at the Siaoma section is 4.7km with a speed limit of 50km per hour.
Therefore, passing through the section in 5 minutes, 37 seconds is breaking the law, resulting in the offending driver being fined NT$1,200. In my opinion, this seems to be “excessive law enforcement.”
With seven cars following behind, I turned on an app that can detect ASEs, but it kept sending speeding notifications instead, which resulted in me repeatedly applying the brakes.
The speed limit of 50kph is so slow that four of the drivers behind me lost patience and increased their speed, crossing the double yellow lines and cutting other drivers off. Comically, I found two of them pulled over before the terminal point, presumably so that they could pretend not to have arrived so quickly. I assume the other two ended up with tickets.
The Highway Bureau has continued to use “low speed limits” and “ASEs” as a method to decrease traffic accidents and casualty rates, with the belief that “slowness” equates safety.
However, this approach not only overlooks the traffic situation in different places, but also ignores drivers’ frustration with regards to “unreasonable speed limits,” which might tempt many to start speeding whenever they found a loophole, increasing the risk of accidents.
Although the Siaoma section is a meandering road, there are no residences or forks along it. Installing ASEs on a 4.7km stretch is unreasonable, not to mention the low traffic volume during normal hours, with traffic jams only occurring over long weekends.
Most drivers using this section would be the staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations, faculty members and government officials commuting from Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) to Changbin Township (長濱) for work.
The setting of an ASE system not merely troubled residents but also seemed to be a rip-off.
ASEs were meant to reduce illegal driving, but safe drivers have suffered from the “collective punishment.”
Consequently driving has become a strange and unusual punishment in itself.
Was the ASE installation implemented for the safety of public driving or just for the benefit of bureaucrats in comfortable offices with nothing better to do than devise a lazy policy from their simple mindsets?
Shiao Fu-song is a lecturer at National Taitung University.
Translated by Chien Yan-ru
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
The US Department of State has removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” in its updated Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, which instead iterates that “we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait.” This shows a tougher stance rejecting China’s false claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Since switching formal diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China in 1979, the US government has continually indicated that it “does not support Taiwan independence.” The phrase was removed in 2022
US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have each given their thoughts on Russia’s war with Ukraine. There are a few proponents of US skepticism in Taiwan taking advantage of developments to write articles claiming that the US would arbitrarily abandon Ukraine. The reality is that when one understands Trump’s negotiating habits, one sees that he brings up all variables of a situation prior to discussion, using broad negotiations to take charge. As for his ultimate goals and the aces up his sleeve, he wants to keep things vague for
RSS