Tue, Feb 06, 2024 page3

• Pedestrian safety act needed: rights group

  • By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
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  Members of Vision Zero Taiwan yesterday urged the Ministry of the Interior’s National Land Management Agency to introduce a draft pedestrian safety facility act that would have clear regulations regarding sidewalks and covered walkways along streets.

  All three main political parties should fully support the passage of the bill in the upcoming legislative session, the pedestrian rights group said.

  Although the Legislative Yuan last year enacted the Road Traffic Safety Basic Act (道路交通安全基本法), 2,759 people died in the traffic accidents from January to November last year, the group said.

  

  Members of Vision Zero Taiwan hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

  Meanwhile, the number of serious traffic accidents soared to a record-high 367,311 during the same period last year, up 28,897 from the same period in 2022, it said.

  The group attributed the rise of serious traffic accidents to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ decision in November to suspend the implementation of the penalty point system for illegal parking and other breaches of traffic regulations, which was not replaced by any contingency plan either.

  The government should aim to reduce deaths caused by traffic accidents by comprehensively reviewing road designs, transportation education and thoroughly implementing traffic regulations, the group said.

  “We also urge the National Land Management Agency to quickly submit its proposed version of the draft pedestrian safety facility act, so that it can be delivered to the upcoming legislative session for deliberation after the Executive Yuan reviews and approves it,” it said.

  Alliance chairwoman Chen Kai-ning (陳愷寧) said that the draft act can be improved.

  First, sidewalks should be installed on roads that are 8m in width or wider. Roads that are less than 8m in width should have marked sidewalks and curbs to designate the transition. Streets or alleys that are too narrow to have sidewalks or marked sidewalks could be accessed by pedestrians and motor vehicles, but pedestrians should have right of way, she said.

  Second, the central government should stipulate fundamental principles for public facilities that are allowed to be placed on sidewalks, as this would prevent local governments from overcrowding sidewalks with utilities, making them inaccessible to pedestrians, Chen said.

  Third, temporary walkways that are set up near construction sites or while roads are being maintained should be identical nationwide and take into account the needs of all pedestrians, including parents with baby strollers and physically challenged people, she said.

  Fourth, while the draft act categorizes covered walkways or private properties along roads as part of the space designated for pedestrians, sidewalks should still be built, Chen said.

  “Improving covered walkways takes way too much time and would be difficult to implement given often vague details of the improvement projects proposed by local governments. It would not serve the best interest of pedestrians,” she said.

  Taiwan Motorcycle Riders Association secretary-general Liu Cheng-chien (劉成謙) said that the government should ban car drivers from using window film that is too dark, as drivers cannot see motorcycle riders and pedestrians at night.
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