Taipei City Government has since 2012 been running a subsidy scheme for motorcycle and scooter training under which people can receive a subsidy of NT$1,300 when they take a course at a driving school and obtain a driver’s license. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ (MOTC) Directorate General of Highways (DGH) followed suit by adopting the same measure in 2019. Starting next year, the national quota for the subsidy will be 20,000 recipients. On Dec. 8, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je announced that, starting from next year, there would be no upper limit for the number of people eligible for the subsidy in Taipei, so as to improve the safety standard of scooter riders.
On Dec. 8 the DGH and the Taipei City Department of Transportation held a news conference about “training and licenses for general and heavy motorcycles” at the Taipei Driving School Alliance. Director Chiang Shu-jen of the DGH’s Taipei City Motor Vehicles Office said that there were 200,000 motorcycle and scooter accidents last year, accounting for 55 percent of all traffic accidents and nearly 60 percent of injuries, while causing the loss of many lives. According to research and analysis done by National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University on behalf of the MOTC, the risk of infringing traffic regulations is reduced by 30 percent for those who have taken part in motorcycle and scooter training compared to those who have not, and they have a 20 percent lower risk of getting involved in accidents, and this shows that formal instruction can cultivate riders’ correct driving behavior and their grasp of the concept of defensive driving.
Commissioner Chen Shyue-tair of Taipei City Government’s Department of Transportation said that 75 percent of motorcycle and scooter accidents in Taipei result in injuries and deaths, which is higher than the national figure, and a large proportion of them occur among young people between the ages of 18 and 25. Chen surmised that young people have a relatively high rate of accidents because they have just gained their licenses and do not have enough experience or safety awareness.
Photo: Tsai Ya-hua, Liberty Times Photo: Tsai Ya-hua, Liberty Times
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
台北市政府二○一二年起辦理機車駕訓補助計畫，民眾到駕訓班參加課程並取得駕照，享有一千三百元補助，交通部公路總局二○一九年跟進實施，明年全國補助名額為兩萬人；台北市長柯文哲十二月八日則表示，明年起台北市補助人數無上限，以提升機車騎士行車安全。
公路總局與台北市交通局十二月八日在大台北駕訓班舉辦「普通重型機車訓練教學暨考照」成果記者會，公總台北市區監理所長江樹人指出，去年機車事故多達二十萬件，佔所有交通事故百分之五十五，受傷人數佔比近百分之六十，機車事故造成許多生命流失。根據交通部委託陽明交通大學研究分析，參加機車駕訓比未受訓的人，違規風險減少百分之三十二、肇事風險降低百分之二十，顯示透過正規教育養成駕駛人正確行車行為與防禦駕駛觀念。
Photo from the Taipei Driving School Alliance Facebook page 照片擷取自大台北駕訓班臉書
北市府交通局長陳學台說，北市機車事故傷亡佔比百分之七十五、比全國高，集中十八至二十五歲年輕人，研判剛領駕照經驗不足，或安全觀念不足，因此肇事率較高。
（自由時報蔡亞樺）
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