Illegally parked cars and police failing to yield for a pedestrian in Taichung.
MOTC head Wang GuoCai:
「一個人過馬路我不擔心，但要保護另一個人時，我真的會緊張。」
“Crossing the road by myself I don’t worry, but when protecting another person I feel very nervous.”
Google translated:
It’s not like Wang Guocai has never experienced how hellish Taiwan’s roads are.
On weekdays, he drives and is the highest official in charge of transportation in Taiwan; on holidays, he walks and pushes his grandson’s stroller across the road.
“I don’t worry about a person crossing the road, but when I have to protect another person, I really I’ll be nervous.”
Wang Guocai said that as the Minister of Transportation, I want to reduce the number of deaths as soon as possible, so enforcement is urgent; but when a professional driver has his license suspended for two months and livelihood problems arise, I can also adjust and not shorten the enforcement time so quickly. .
After strict counting started on June 30 last year, the results were quickly seen. Law enforcement was strictly enforced in July, August, and September. The number of deaths in August and September was more than 60 fewer than the same period last year. But after a few months, drivers started getting noisy, and it felt like the Department of Transportation had gone too far. There is also a lot of public dissatisfaction. Some people say that picking up children will also be deducted, and stopping to buy breakfast will also be demerited.
Wang Guocai strives to find a balance between public safety and public grievances, and recently proposed a new rule that minor violations will not be recorded or reported.
Making this kind of decision is also a battle between heaven and man. If we continue to reduce the number of people by 60 per month, we can reduce it by 10% in one fell swoop. Although people say that law enforcement is “the government grabbing money,” it is really effective.I decided to relax and take notes, but I couldn’t sleep and received a lot of objections. It was really a battle between heaven and man. Given these two options, I would rather continue to strictly enforce the law because life is too important.
The amendment to “No points or reports for minor violations”, the maximum fine for minor violations is NT$1,200 or less. What are the items included?
Article also shows the main reasons licenses were suspended. Turns out illegal parking isn’t the top one. It’s speeding.
In order from the top: speeding, highway violations, illegal temporary parking, running a red light, and traffic violations for not properly changing lanes or turning.
The article also mentions how many licenses were suspending from June 30th last year to March 6 this year. 16,312 drivers had their licenses revoked, of which 2,173 are professional drivers. There are 450,000 professional drivers in Taiwan which works out to less than 5 out of 1000.
Then following this it states that pedestrians are also to have the responsibility to not use their phones…despite many of the issues being drivers running red lights, speeding, not slowing down at uncontrolled intersections etc…
Google translated:
But other drivers will be afraid. They will be nervous when they remember 6:08 and are afraid of driving. This requires a balance, and we also need to correct driving habits, such as developing the habit of stopping at intersections, slowing down, and walking. Pedestrians walking and using their phones also have a responsibility.
Question: The foreign traffic concept is that pedestrians are the most vulnerable, and other passers-by have the obligation to protect pedestrians, instead of requiring pedestrians to be careful of vehicles. But you don’t seem to think so?
Answer: That is a completely humanistic society, but we have not reached there yet. Last time I said, “Children should wave slightly when crossing the road,” and I was scolded. We have not yet reached a completely humanistic society, which is very dangerous!
Question: Many pedestrians are hit even if they are concentrating on crossing the street. If the government publicizes that “pedestrians should wave when they see a car,” in the future, if an accident occurs to a pedestrian, it may be blamed on the “failure to wave” rather than the vehicle’s inattention.
Answer: You should be punished if you hit a pedestrian. But we are still a car-based society. We have not yet reached a human-based society, so we tell pedestrians not to do anything. Pedestrians are the biggest, which is very dangerous.
I’m worried about the car. It’s very important at this stage for pedestrians to wave at cars and look at the car instead of using their cell phones.
Living in Taipei, I often feel that the situation is not as bad as often portrayed in threads like this, but then I realize that Taipei is much better than other cities. I find driving in Tainan and Taichung rather stressful.
This guy dares to equate the “livelihoods” of professional drivers with the “livelihoods” of DEAD PEDESTRIANS as though they’re two unavoidable evils. Wang Guo Cai is criminally incompetent, and he has blood on his hands. I hope he faces public ridicule for the rest of his professional life.
Speed cameras have doubled/tripled during the past year. However so have the apps/tools to detect them. I’m currently running one locally made app that hasn’t missed a camera yet. Supposedly a bunch of folks pissed at all the cameras started the app and they are extremely well at keeping it updated in realtime with all the speed traps, cameras etc…
Still no enforcement the of reckless driving on the highways though and in my opinion is the reason the highways are so damn dangerous. Unless you get caught by a camera you will not get caught.
Use your dashcam to report dodgy driving, I’ve always found the highway police to be extremely professional in their response to reports, unlike many of their streetlevel counterparts…
So no adjustment for population? If so, that’s wild. That means Taiwan is 5 times worse than Japan.
Again, self admittance that he has no plans to do his job and is not competent to do so. If you want to improve the traffic situation this guy is straight up telling you he is not going to do it. So get someone else in there, no need to debate this stuff, we need someone who actually wants to fix it not put the poor little taxi drivers first. I wouldn’t trust him to look after my kid either.
Dedicated bike path in Tainan is constantly used by scooters. There are very clear signs at the entrance indicating it is for bicycles only, no scooters allowed. According to the precinct supervisor they have already issued 265 tickets from last year to now for scooters riding on dedicated bicycle paths. Fines can be from 600-1800.
Injuries is almost 10 times more. Good job Taiwan
Wow , already 265 . I bet if you just stand there for a day you’ll get a bigger number. 
How many of you remember this story. Happened just a few years ago but it’s in the news again.
The guy who hit 3 pedestrians, killing one and severely injuring the other 2 (high school girls) and blamed the pesestrians and called himself a survivor in this incident.
He tried to settle with the families but they didn’t want to.
He previously had also tried to argue that he was driving under 50km/h, maybe the pedestrians were using phones, they dodged the wrong way! Well.he was found to be driving over 80 in the city.
He considered that he should first compensate 2.4 million yuan and try his best to make up for the damage, and commuted the sentence to 2 years and 10 months in prison.
Google translated article.
A man surnamed Jian (39 years old), known as the “King of Dedong Drag Racing” in Taipei City, crashed into two female high school students and a woman who were crossing the road in March 2022, killing one and seriously injuring two others. During the court session a few days ago, Jian Nan still argued that he had “no reaction time” and “the woman who died tragically did not die because of him”, blamed three passers-by for walking out suddenly, and even threatened that “if he is really sentenced to a heavy sentence, he is willing to sign for euthanasia”; Shilin District Court In the first instance, Jian Nan was sentenced to 4 years in prison for negligent homicide. On appeal, Jian Nan changed his plea and pleaded for a suspended sentence, and settled with the victim and his family for 2.4 million yuan. The High Court changed the sentence to 2 years and 10 months on the 29th.
On the evening of March 18, 2022, while driving through the second section of Shidong Road and Zhiyu Road in Beishi, Jian Nan hit three pedestrians who were crossing the zebra crossing at high speed, causing a 65-year-old woman surnamed Xie to die of serious injuries, and two 17-year-olds. A female high school student suffered a broken bone and was sent to the hospital. Local residents pointed out that there is often a car racing near the accident scene. Netizens concluded that the driver named Jian who caused the accident was the famous “Dedong Racing King” in the Tianmu area.
During the first instance trial in Shilin Court, Jian Nan insisted on denying the crime and temporarily presented 5 videos as new evidence in court. When the videos were played, he argued that “when we were driving on the road, there were no pedestrians on the zebra crossing. It was pedestrians who suddenly walked out.” “I would rather die than hit them”, “I was not speeding”, “There are 13.5 meters of brake marks on the road, which is equivalent to 45 kilometers in hours”. He emphasized that the woman surnamed Xie did not die because of him. He even said that he had taken After getting my driver’s license, I have always yielded to pedestrians. I only failed to wear a seat belt and parked illegally on the roadside.
Jian Nan also wanted to play a video of the past courteous pedestrians to show his good driving behavior, but the disorderly behavior was stopped on the spot by the presiding judge. Jian Nan went on to brazenly say, “I am one of the survivors of this incident,” “The lawyer asked me to plead guilty, which I think is unfair,” and “I was sentenced to a heavy sentence and tortured to death.” These outrageous remarks Everyone present was dumbfounded.
The family members of the deceased surnamed Xie believed that Jian Nan had no remorse. The testimony stated that Jian Nan once said, “Who told them to dodge backwards? If they dodge forward, they would not be hit.” They even questioned whether the deceased was using his mobile phone while walking. He completely wanted to Shifting the responsibility to others, the attitude is very bad, and the judge is asked to impose a harsh sentence. The family members of the murdered female high school student also believed that the car accident caused permanent injuries to the child and suggested a harsher sentence.
In the first instance, the judge of Shilin District Court sentenced Jian Nan to 4 years in prison on the basis that the driver of the car failed to give priority to pedestrians when passing a pedestrian crossing and was negligent causing death.
During the second trial of the whole case, Jian Nan suddenly admitted his guilt and offered a settlement of 1.8 million yuan to the family of the woman who was killed, and a settlement of 300,000 yuan each to the two injured high school girls. However, neither the victim nor her family members were willing to settle. The High Court found that Jian Nan was driving at least 80 kilometers per hour in the city and therefore caused the accident. He considered that he should first compensate 2.4 million yuan and try his best to make up for the damage, and commuted the sentence to 2 years and 10 months in prison.
Even if his claims are true that he was “only” going 45 km/hr upon approaching the crosswalk, it’s still waaaay too fast!
When approaching an uncontrolled crosswalk, you’re supposed to slow down and look at both sides of the crossing to make sure nobody is about to cross before proceeding.
265 in a year is less than one a day. Try doing 50 times that and people will stop. And it will only take half a day from one single officer.
Post from Taiwan Vision Alliance.
Google translated:
[Amending the Immunity for Minor Offenses Bill] Successfully fought for a public hearing in the Legislative Yuan!
In response to the amendment to the bill that cancels reporting points for “1,200 yuan” minor crimes, the Legislative Yuan will hold a public hearing next Wednesday (4/3). At that time, the alliance will reiterate our position in safeguarding pedestrian safety. We hope that all members will listen. Our demands.
Thank you very much to everyone who came to participate in the Taiwan-wide flash mob on March 17 and the parade on March 23!
Because you stepped forward, the officials heard the voice of the people, and the committee members who supported humanistic transportation had support. Through repeated letters, visits, and lobbying for the bill, we finally won one of our main demands. 1 “#Legislative Yuan should hold a public hearing.” Thanks to our partners along the way for their support, solidarity and continuous advocacy, all sectors of society have gradually paid attention to pedestrian issues. We will do our best to defend this battle and never allow such a bill that endangers safety and infringes on the vulnerable to be passed casually!
The Zero Pedestrian Death Promotion Alliance has never deliberately suppressed the rights of cars and motorcycles or antagonized other road users as reported online. On the contrary, our members include professional drivers, delivery people, freight warehouse unions, etc. Everyone #downloaded Behind the car are also pedestrians, and what we focus on is how to #improve the overall road environment in Taiwan.
We have repeatedly emphasized that there is indeed room for adjustment in the reporting and demeriting system. However, the current laws and regulations have originally given the police the power to “substitute reporting for minor crimes by persuading them” in certain circumstances. Last year, in response to the needs of professional driving, the law was revised to “cancel demeriting points for getting on and off passengers and goods”. ", and this revision of the law has not been fully communicated with the public, there is no “#safety hazard” analysis and evaluation of each open project, and there is no planning of “#supporting measures” and “#improvement plan” after the opening, and it has been rashly repeated. It is unacceptable for us to significantly back down on law enforcement without improving the fundamental problems through road design.
Before traffic engineering and education are complete, law enforcement still plays the role of protecting traffic order and safety. Perhaps many people in Taiwanese society hate the so-called “reporting masters”. Some people are not happy about being reported when they park in the arcade in front of their homes. Some people find it inconvenient to not be able to pick up and drop off passengers at intersections. Others are dissatisfied when they are reported by non-police personnel.
But how do the more than 3,000 people who die in traffic accidents express their “unhappiness” every year?
We hope that when the government discusses transportation policy, it can see the needs of different groups, instead of letting the policy become a “pendulum” swinging back and forth, thereby #intensifying civil opposition.
The cause of mutual suspicion and tension is neither us nor any right-of-way group, but the Ministry of Transportation’s inconsistent policy direction, which is changed day and night. The surprise notice was deliberately issued at 16:59, leaving everyone at a loss as to what to do and making it difficult to communicate and cooperate.
I hope that such a chaotic, hasty, and confrontational Daojiao practice will be the last. After this lesson, the administrative department is invited to bring together various types of road users, professional drivers, transportation unions and other groups to discuss Taiwan’s traffic problems, improve traffic policies, and move towards #VisionZero. Stop deliberately operating Civil antagonism is destroying people’s lives from top to bottom.
Please also continue to pay attention to next week’s public hearing and protect the safety of Taiwan’s roads together!Picture/Text Luo Yi, Chen Kaining
Seems Kaohsiung will start removing sidewalk parking for scooters in some areas and instead of putting scooter parking on sidewalks, which big surprise, encourages people to drive on sidewalks will start making more parking bays for scooters. Estimated that 2,000 parking space in roadside parking bays will be available by the end of the year.
In Yilan’s Jiaoxi sidewalks on the old street are taken over by stores and illegally parked vehicles. Pedestrians are forced into the road. Been like this for a long time. Jiaoxi police responded to complaints before saying they would do checks and what not, but in the news a person complains that the police have done nothing. Of course after being in the news the police finally go around and issue a few fines.
I was browsing through a Hong Kong subreddit today and came across a thread about yielding to pedestrians in Hong Kong.
To my surprise, the replies there are the complete opposite of what we see here in this thread. Everybody says to do as the locals do, and yield to vehicles even though the law states that pedestrians have the right of way.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, I also said the same thing in my very first reply in this topic. I guess I am a true HongKonger.