Penalties for minors driving without a license are too lenient to pose any deterrence, resulting in an average of 40,000 cases of unlicensed driving per year, the Jing Chuan Child Safety Foundation said yesterday, after a 15-year-old crashed into an eatery in Taipei, killing three people.
The young driver, surnamed Tseng (曾), illegally drove his grandfather’s sports utility vehicle and crashed into a corner shop eatery near the Donghu (東湖) traditional market in Neihu District (內湖) on Thursday evening, killing three people and injuring two.
Tseng was brought to the Shilin District Court’s Juvenile Court Division on charges of involuntary manslaughter.
Photo copied by Cheng Ching-yi, Taipei Times
Police ruled out the possibility of Tseng driving under the influence after lab results of his blood and urine samples returned clean.
The Juvenile Court Division yesterday ruled that Tseng should be detained and sent to the Agency of Corrections’ Taipei Juvenile Detention House.
In a news release, the foundation said that underage driving without a license is an offense most often committed in cities and counties outside the six special municipalities.
Foundation statistics showed that 33.7 percent of these cases of minors driving without a license is to commute to school, 29.4 percent to work and 31.1 percent influenced by peers or other causes.
Current penalties only consist of fines and the confiscation of license plates of the vehicle involved, and do not include measures to restrict the personal freedom of offenders, the foundation said.
The lack of oversight, difficulty proving such offenses and failure to issue greater penalties for repeat offenses have caused the public to be more than willing to push their luck in terms of driving or allowing others to drive without a license, it said.
The foundation urged the government to examine how other countries deal with such offenses and adopt more severe penalties.
As offenders are mostly juveniles who are repeat offenders, the foundation suggested examining methods used in the rehabilitation of people with addictions, and employing legal methods or providing counseling to help correct such behavior.
The foundation suggested that corrective measures should include parents and peers, as these people can exert more influence over juveniles, and hopefully prevent future offenses.
The foundation also urged smaller cities and rural townships to explore ways to provide public transportation to address the root cause of unlicensed driving.
Taiwan yesterday expelled four China Coast Guard vessels that entered Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Lienchiang County (Matsu) shortly after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced the start of its “Joint Sword-2024B” drills around Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a statement that it had detected two China Coast Guard ships west of Nangan Island (南竿) and another two north of Dongyin Island (東引) at 8am yesterday. After Chinese ships sailed into restricted waters off Matsu shortly afterward, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch deployed four patrol vessels to shadow and approach the vessels, it said. The incidents pushed up to 44 the number
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
The government has issued a deportation order for a Spanish fugitive, ordering him to leave the country within 10 days, as he is wanted by European authorities for allegedly operating a car rental scam. National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials yesterday said Salvador Alejandro Llinas Onate, 48, had been notified that he must leave Taiwan, as he was wanted for committing serious crimes. The Spaniard has been indicted by Italian prosecutors for allegedly leading a 30 million euros (US$32.74 million) car rental scam and setting up a fraudulent company in Trento, Italy. The deportation order is based on Article 18 of
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in