Activists to take to the streets for traffic safety Sunday, May 25

Activists to take to the streets for traffic safety Sunday, May 25

2025-05-22

Civic groups are taking to the streets this coming Sunday for traffic safety, marching from the Legislative Yuan to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei. The rally comes following the Sanxia car crash that killed three people, including two 12-year-olds. They’re calling on the government to retrain all drivers, lowering the age at which senior drivers must renew their licenses, and to improve traffic infrastructure.

Yu Li-wei
Student Pedestrian Union
We cannot remain silent anymore. Our retraining program for seniors’ license renewal only asks simple questions like the driver’s year of birth, what the date is, whether they have colorblindness. There aren’t any road tests or written tests.

NGOs say they do not wish to see anything like the recent Sanxia car crash ever again. As such, the transport ministry must take action to redesign road infrastructure, tighten drivers’ eligibility to obtain a license and improve retraining programs. It should also incorporate traffic calming designs in residential areas. They’re taking to the streets this coming Sunday, marching from the Legislative Yuan to the transport ministry.

Wang Chin-chien
Student Pedestrian Union
We’ve contacted the Ministry of Transportation and Communications over the years, and they tell us they’re only responsible for licensing measures. But over the 30-plus years, they haven’t improved upon the licensing regime.

The activists say since the government stopped accepting public reports of minor traffic violations, too many unfit drivers have been left off the hook. They also say that they’re not asking that older adults be prohibited from getting behind the wheel, but that they should have to take sufficient tests so as to ensure they can quickly react to dangers on the road. They hope that the number of terrible road users can be kept down so kids no longer have to fear for their lives on the streets.

Hou Chun-liang
National Federation of Teachers Unions
There’s huge traffic flow before school starts and after classes end. Did our road design and space design take this into account? There could be technology-assisted enforcement and speed bumps, which were mentioned earlier. The most important thing with areas near schools is traffic calming. It’s been so many years already, but still we only have volunteers standing guard, which is not based on any law whatsoever.

Luna Chen
Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance
We have three major proposals: to retrain all drivers, lowering the age at which senior drivers must renew their licenses, and to improve traffic infrastructure.

Calls for road safety reform began as early as 1993, but after 32 years, much remains to be done. Worse still, Taiwan was even branded a “pedestrian hell” only four years ago.

Liao Hsien-hsiang
Lawmaker (KMT)
There must be changes with license holders’ retraining and license renewal, but the transport ministry still hasn’t done anything.

Tiunn Ngalim
Lawmaker (DPP)
In the past 20-plus years, many countries are slowing implementing human-oriented street design, because they’ve realized that individuals are the most vulnerable on the streets, and children even more so.

Lawmakers across the political spectrum are also standing out, since traffic safety is not mere ideology but concerns real lives. All the points raised by activists today could be formally considered and activists hope that real improvements can come after the rally this Sunday.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#roadrage #sanxia #carcrash #traffichell #pedestrianhell #三峽車禍