From today, to gain a driver’s license, applicants must pass a road test in addition to a written test and an off-road test.
Previously, applicants for licenses to drive light vehicles were only required to pass a written test and a simulated road test at an off-road course.
The new rules stipulate that successful applicants must gain a minimum of 85 points in a written exam and 70 points in the road and off-road tests.
The new rules also emphasize safe driving habits and require test-takers to check their surroundings, tires and underneath their vehicles before they commence their journeys.
They must also look to see if there are any people or vehicles behind them before they start the test, the new regulations stipulate.
Failure to follow any of the stipulated conditions results in a 32-point penalty, which means that the applicant automatically fails.
Under the new rules, applicants who fail to fasten their seat belts, use their indicators before changing lanes or making a turn, or open their car doors properly on entry and exit, also incur a 32-point penalty.
The road test has been in place since March last year on a trial basis, but is now to become mandatory.
The Directorate-General of Highways on Saturday said that driving on road markings, which also results 32-point deduction, was the most common mistake drivers made in the road test during the trial period.
The second-most common mistake was failing to properly open car doors and the third was failing to signal when turning, it said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
RSS