The government is to investigate all accidents involving vehicles equipped with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), regardless of fatality numbers, Taiwan Transportation Safety Board Chairman Lin Shinn-der (林信得) told the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday.
Lin was to brief the committee on the board’s performance in the past year, but lawmakers expressed concerns about the increase in traffic accidents on freeways caused by ADAS-equipped vehicles crashing into the back of construction vehicles.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) cited data from the Freeway Bureau, saying that 279 freeway traffic accidents had occurred from 2021 to September this year, involving rear-end collisions with freeway construction vehicles, 140 of which were caused by ADAS-equipped vehicles.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Of the 140 accidents, 60 occurred when the system was activated, Chen said.
Given the significant rise in accidents caused by ADAS-equipped vehicles, the board should learn from the US and Japan and stipulate regulations governing automated vehicle use, Chen said.
DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said that the board would only launch investigations into incidents on highways or freeways when they involve the deaths of three or more people.
However, US officials would investigate the spontaneous combustion of electric vehicles, regardless of whether they led to fatalities, Lin Chun-hsien said, adding that the board should re-examine its investigation criteria.
Taiwan currently does not have 100 percent self-driving vehicles, only ADAS-equipped vehicles, Lin Shinn-der said.
“Some car dealers or owners brag that their vehicles are at level 2.5 of driving automation as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers, are closer to level 3, or that their vehicles are in level 3, but the US government requires level 3 self-driving cars to be operated in designated areas only. Only level 2 automated cars are available in Taiwan. People should not confuse these two levels, which would endanger lives,” he said.
As more ADAS-equipped vehicles are involved in freeway collisions, an ad hoc team has been established to investigate this accident type, regardless of whether they lead to fatalities, he said.
“The investigation would look into how the vehicles were operated, vehicle designs and environmental factors that might lead to accidents,” he said, adding that results could make both automakers and consumers aware of safety issues.
Lin Shinn-der said that the board would need to recruit more investigators to meet rising demand.
The SAE defines six levels of driving automation, ranging from 0, or fully manual, to 5, which means fully autonomous. Level 2 vehicles are ADAS-equipped vehicles, in which vehicles can control both steering and acceleration or deceleration, but humans must sit in the driver’s seat and can take control of the car at any time, while level 3 vehicles have “environmental detection” capabilities and could automatically make informed decisions, such as accelerating past a slow-moving vehicle.
However, drivers of level 3 vehicles must remain alert and ready to take control.
‘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
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS