The Taipei City Government is considering monetary rewards for drivers whose dashboard camera footage aids the municipality in determining responsibility for accidents or apprehending hit-and-run incidents.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) suggested the measure during a meeting in September, saying that he hoped city residents could help resolve traffic incidents.
Any footage clearly capturing a traffic accident that helps resolve a case might be rewarded with NT$1,000, NT$3,000 or NT$5,000 for minor accidents, major accidents and accidents resulting in deaths respectively, the city government said on Saturday.
However, footage provided by the parties involved in an accident will not be eligible for such rewards, as they are legally obliged to provide all evidence, it added.
The Taipei City Police Department will accept any video, including from cameras mounted on helmets, or even from cellphones mounted on scooters, the city government said.
However, Article 31 of the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) states that it is illegal to hold a mobile device while driving and the police regard phone stands on scooters as equivalent to using a phone while driving.
The Kaohsiung Police Department’s traffic division said it had already implemented a reward system as early as 2013, offering NT$600,000 for crucial clues to solve cases involving death, NT$200,000 for major accidents and NT$3,000 for minor accidents.
The New Taipei City Government said it had no intention to follow Taipei’s lead on the issue.
New Taipei City Traffic Bureau Secretary-General Wu Kuo-chi (吳國濟) said that video footage is not the only available evidence, as additional information, such as on-site records and recorded statements by the parties, should be considered.
Taichung Traffic Bureau Director Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) said the city would also not be implementing such measures.
However, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said the municipality was still debating the feasibility of introducing a similar policy and had not yet reached a decision.
Tainan Deputy Mayor Lee Meng-yan (李孟諺) said that for the time being, the security cameras across the city are sufficient for Tainan police to obtain footage of accidents.
National Chiao Tung University professor Huang Tai-sheng (黃台生) said he was in principle supportive of the measure proposed by the Taipei City Government.
Encouraging the installation of cameras and recorders, while limiting the footage to traffic accidents, is a good thing and the rights of other residents would not be violated due to the policy’s restrictions, he said.
Additional reporting by Yeh Kuan-yu, Hsieh Wu-hsiung
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS