TAIPEI (TVBS News) — To reduce traffic accidents and improve pedestrian safety, the Taiwanese government passed an amendment to the "Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act" on April 14.
The amendment includes an increase in fines for drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians from NT＄3,600 to NT＄6,000.
Currently, around 3,000 people die in traffic accidents each year in Taiwan, with 400 of those fatalities being pedestrians.
Over the past decade, the number of pedestrian deaths in Taiwan has risen by 9%, leading some foreign media outlets to criticize the country as a "living hell for pedestrians."
Compared to neighboring countries, Taiwan's traffic accident rate is nearly twice as high as South Korea's, five times as high as Japan's, and almost six times as high as Singapore's.
To address this issue, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has proposed several principles for improving pedestrian space, such as expanding sidewalks at intersections, retracting crosswalks by three to five meters, and improving nighttime lighting for primary and secondary roads.
Experts also suggest that general inspections of all intersections in Taiwan are necessary, and the government should work to unify and standardize roads nationwide.
Administrative departments must improve the poor road environment as soon as possible, or the public will continue to live in a "hell for pedestrians."
