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.
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.
‘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 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
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
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