The government, teachers and parents should jointly address the increase in casualties among children riding electrically power-assisted cycles (EPACs), the Jin Chuan Child Safety Foundation said yesterday.
The foundation last year recorded 234 news stories covering accidents involving children and teenagers, 79 of which were traffic accidents.
According to the news reports, 133 children and teenagers died or sustained injuries in the 79 traffic accidents, while a majority of the traffic accidents involved motorcycles.
Photo: Ting Yi, Taipei Times
The foundation compared the number with the data recorded on the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ road safety information platform and found that from 2020 to last year casualties among children and teenagers who operate EPACs or mini electric two-wheeled vehicles has continued to increase.
EPACs are mainly pedal-powered and supplemented with electricity. Their top speed is 25kph, and users are recommended to wear a safety helmet, based on their definition in the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例).
Mini electric two-wheeled vehicles are mainly powered by electricity, have no pedals and look like an electric motorcycle, and have a top speed of 25kph.
While no driver’s license is required to operate mini electric two-wheeled vehicles, a driver’s license plate, insurance and helmet is required. Except for EPACs, which can be used by people aged 18 or older to carry young children, other slow vehicles cannot be used to carry others, the act states.
Although those under the age of 14 are not allowed to operate or be carried by a mini electric two-wheeled vehicle, nearly 200 children and teenagers sustained injuries while illegally riding such vehicles, foundation executive director Hsu Ya-jen (許雅荏) said.
Those under the age of 14 are legally permitted to operate EPACs, but the number of casualties has doubled in the past three years, with 111 underage people dying or being injured last year, an all-time record, she said.
Hsu urged the government to create designated lanes for EPACs or lanes that can be accessed by pedestrians and EPACs.
Parents and teachers should also educate children about how to safely operate EPACs, including how to ensure that they are safe to ride and the traffic regulations they should follow, she said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS