The government does not have a date for when heavy motorcycle riders would be allowed to access all freeways, as 60 percent of Taiwanese remain opposed to the proposal, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday.
Debate over the issue was reignited after bikers’ rights advocates submitted a proposal on the government’s online Public Policy Online Participation Network Platform, asking the Freeway Bureau to set a specific time line for when heavy motorcycles would be allowed on all freeways.
It has been 12 years since the government passed an amendment to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) in 2011.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
“Motorcycles are prohibited from driving on freeways, with the exception of large heavy motorcycles with a engine displacement of 550cc or more, which may operate on some sections of freeways and at designated times by the MOTC,” the act now states.
However, the bureau has yet to announce which freeways are accessible by heavy motorcycle riders.
“Bureau surveys also found 70 percent of respondents do not know heavy motorcycle riders are legally allowed to access freeways. This shows that the bureau neither actively raised public awareness about the regulation nor planned to open freeways to heavy motorcycle riders,” the proposal by bikers’ rights advocates said.
“This is a sign of bureaucratic inertia that has affected the rights of 500,000 riders who have licenses to ride heavy motorcycles,” the proposal said.
Taiwan has made itself a joke of a democracy for having not enforced a law that has existed for more than 10 years, it said.
As the number of people who seconded the proposal met the criteria for an official government response on Friday last week, the bureau is obligated to respond within two months.
“We have had extensive discussions about this issue with local government officials. Everyone feels that now is not the time. The way bikers ride causes interference on freeways, and Freeway Bureau surveys showed that 60 percent of the people in Taiwan are still against the proposal,” Wang told reporters before attending a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee.
“As the public has yet to reach a consensus on the issue, we have no time line” for enforcing the law, he added.
Separately, Wang said that the government would gauge the situation to see whether the number of cross-strait flights should be increased, after it announced that the ban on cross-strait group travel would be lifted on March 1.
Between Taiwan and China, there are 15 airports from which cross-strait flights operate on fixed schedules, and cross-strait charter flights are available at 13 airports, Wang said.
“The Civil Aeronautics Administration will discuss with airlines options for raising the number of cross-strait flights if there is a strong demand, [such as] turning some charter flight airports into ones that offer regular flights, increasing flights at the 15 airports where regular flights are offered or finding new airports to offer cross-strait flights. We will let the matter run its course,” he said.
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