Hundreds of bikers yesterday protested next to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications building in Taipei, demanding that all freeways be open to heavy motorcycles and that their riders be allowed to park in parking spaces meant for cars or lighter motorcycles.
Protesters also demanded that the ministry amend Article 99 of the Road Traffic Security Rules (道路交通安全規則) by eliminating the ban on motorcyclists operating on inner lanes and the requirement that motorcycle riders perform a two-stage turn when turning left. It has been more than 10 years since the legislature passed the amendment to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) to allow heavy motorcycles on freeways, but the ministry has kept delaying implementation, event organizer Yang Po-chieh (楊博捷) said.
“Throughout the years, deaths and injuries caused by heavy motorcycles on expressways have been extremely low. However, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said the government would not consider any change to the policy about heavy motorcycles until the public is assured about their safety, based on bikers’ performances on expressways.
Photo: CNA
“He simply reiterated the statement that was made by ministry officials 16 years ago,” Yang said. “This shows the ministry stipulated its policy based on its discriminatory stereotypical image of bikers, and nothing has changed in the past 16 years,” he added.
Heavy motorcycle riders should be allowed to choose whether they want to park in parking spaces for cars or light motorcycles, so long as they do not block traffic, Yang said, adding that such a task should be handled by the central government, rather than by local governments.
Formosa Motorcycle Rights Association director Huang Po-yue (黃柏岳) said the ministry has been implementing discriminatory policies against motorcyclists.
“On the surface, Article 99 of Road Traffic Security Rules bans motorcyclists from accessing the inner lanes for the safety of motorcyclists. However, it actually exposes them to risks of running into vehicles that double park, doors that swing open unexpectedly, or vehicles that swerve in and out of traffic. They could also be run over by large vehicles due to the difference of radius in inner wheels,” he said.
Requiring motorcyclists to perform a two-stage turn to the left at intersections — in which they need to first pull into a marked waiting area next to pedestrian crossings on the right side and wait for the green light — would often cause riders to be hit by other vehicles driving through intersections, Huang said.
In a statement, the ministry said the Freeway Bureau had twice tasked the Chinese Institute of Transportation to evaluate behaviors of heavy motorcycle riders when they drive on Freeway 3A and Expressways 64, 74 and 88.
The institute found that heavy motorcycle riders lacked an awareness of safe following distances to the vehicles in front of them and safe separation distance when trying to overtake other vehicles, the ministry said.
The bureau conducted public opinion polls 10 times from 2013 to this year, in which 60 percent of respondents opposed opening freeways to heavy motorcycles, the ministry said.
“This shows that heavy motorcycle riders need to change the public’s perceptions of their behaviors and win public approval by giving the impression that they are friendly and law-abiding road users. As such, we will wait until the public reaches a consensus on the issue to enforce the law,” it said.
In most counties, a parking space for a regular motorcycle is about 2m long and 1m wide, but 93 percent of the heavy motorcycles are longer than 2m, it added.
“The Road Traffic Security Rules have allowed heavy motorcycles to park in parking spaces for cars or reserved parking spaces for heavy motorcycles. If local governments want to increase more reserved parking spaces for heavy motorcycles or allow heavy motorcycle riders to park in parking spaces for regular motorcycles, they can submit their plans to launch trials to the transportation ministry,” it said.
The requirement to perform a two-stage turn to the left should not be completely eliminated, it said.
“The current regulations have already authorized local governments to lift the need to make a two-stage turn to the left under certain situations, and some local governments have already allowed motorcyclists to ride on inner lanes or make a left turn directly from there. Our survey also showed that 80 percent of motorcyclists should still be required to make a hook turn when turning left,” it added.
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