Pedestrian Rights Campaigners Plan Protest

TaiwanPlus News

After a deadly week on Taiwan's roads, pedestrian rights campaigners are set to march through Taipei on Sunday to pressure the government to act. They have the backing of lawmakers from all three major parties.

Transcript

00:00驾照回訊放水!

00:02驾照回訊放水!

00:04Outside the legislature, campaigners and lawmakers gather in collective anger.

00:08It's been three days since a driver slammed into a busy intersection in New Taipei,

00:12killing three people and injuring 12.

00:15The cause of the crash is still unclear,

00:17but there are suggestions the driver's age, 78, may have been a factor.

00:21What is known is that the driver was able to renew his license earlier this year without problems,

00:26despite having hit another pedestrian in the past.

00:29While the nation is still in shock, campaigners here say the crash has just won

00:33in a long string of tragedies on Taiwan's roads, including a similar deadly crash in Tainan on Tuesday.

00:39They say road safety is so bad that it's even made the news abroad,

00:42with CNN calling Taiwan a pedestrian hell in 2022.

00:46They say it's time to do something to turn this around.

00:49So on Sunday, they're marching through Taipei to demand government action.

00:53The government is moving.

00:55The transportation ministry is lowering the age of mandatory license renewals from 75 to 70, among other rule changes.

01:02But these activists say this renewal process is still too easy and could easily miss people who can no longer drive safely.

01:09They just ask you how simple you have been born.

01:12How many years?

01:13How many years?

01:14How many years?

01:15How many years?

01:16These are all very simple questions.

01:17Just simple questions.

01:18No simple questions.

01:19There's no way to read or read.

01:21There's no way to read or read.

01:22It's just like the driver's license on the road.

01:24And some of the speakers say in action on reforming the license renewal system spans decades,

01:29even though reports and public hearings have pointed to the need for change.

01:33In 1993,交通部就第一次提出了駕照回訓必要性的報告.

01:38我想說的是,駕照回訓並不是交通上的新議題,而是一段長達32年的改革路.

01:45從1993年,交通部首次提出駕照回訓必要性的報告開始,

01:50歷經了五任的總統,到今天還沒有完成.

01:54Five lawmakers from all three parties with seats in the legislature have come to give their suggestions.

02:00From the Taiwan People's Party, these include changes to traffic rolls and signage,

02:04and the central government making order out of scattered local efforts at improving road safety.

02:09學校旁邊的設置,各個地方政府其實在學校旁邊都做了非常多的努力,

02:14但是沒有統一的規範的話是沒有辦法強制或者是給予更多的懲罰。

02:21The main opposition Guomindang representative says license renewal should depend on the ability to drive safely, not just age.

02:28And he criticized the transportation ministry's reform plans.

02:31我們看到交通部似乎只為了回應社會的一個期待來做出一個調整.

02:37它也並沒有從科學化、數據化告訴大家為什麼是從75改到70,是一個感覺嗎?

02:44And voices from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party included calls for lower speed zones around schools.

02:49And to be more forceful about taking away licenses when needed.

02:54我也認為我們現在應該要更積極地來去把這些曾經有照示或是違規的記錄的這些駕駛者,

03:01我們應該要有一個預警系統,並且主動關懷.

03:05那如果他們沒有執行,我們應該要有一個退場機制.

03:08As lawmakers aired their ideas, the activists here put forward three demands that will be the focus of Sunday's march.

03:14第一點是我們要全面建立回訓制度。

03:17第二點是我們高齡駕駛的回訓要改革。

03:20第三點是我們的交通工程要改善。

03:23They hope to put pressure on the government to meet these demands,

03:26so that preventable traffic deaths they say have tarnished Taiwan's reputation will be a thing of the past.

03:31Scott Huang and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.

03:34一件事是我們的交通工程要招致你。

03:41謝謝大家的確診。

03:42請坐這次。

03:43比我們、こ市多努力。

03:46我們六三二三三四四歷。

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