Driver could be fined for using repurposed teapot as helmet

Driver could be fined for using repurposed teapot as helmet

2026-04-22

Residents in Nantou were surprised to see a scooter driver wearing an oddly shaped helmet. Upon taking a closer look, they realized it wasn’t really a helmet, but a metal teapot that’s been repurposed. It may be eye-catching, but it does raise safety concerns. Police say the driver could be fined for wearing a helmet that does not meet legal requirements.

One man driving on the streets of Nantou sports an oddly shaped helmet, complete with a spout.

Teapots are meant for brewing tea, but this man decided to repurpose it as a helmet.

Lee Cheng-chang
Nantou precinct deputy police chief
If scooter drivers or passengers fail to wear a helmet that has passed inspection, they could be fined NT$500 in accordance with the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act.

Chang Chiao-yi
FTV reporter
There are many different types of helmets on the market. In addition to the teapot helmet we just saw, there are lots of different strange styles.

From electric cookers and brains, to bald heads and tennis balls, there are all kinds of uniquely designed helmets for sale online. Wearing these would definitely attract attention, but some people wonder if they are safe.

Member of public
At first glance, I thought it looked really unique, but it’s necessary to consider whether it’s safe.

Member of public
It looks very special, but I’m not sure if there are any safety concerns.

Visiting a local helmet store, we discovered that there were no special styles of helmet for sale, because most of these styles would not pass safety inspections.

Helmet store owner
We need to see if it has national certification and a safety label.

Mr. Weng
Helmet store owner
The Bureau of Standards requires that the adhesive material must not exceed 0.5cm in thickness. As for clips, they must be designed to come off easily. It’s easy to find helmets on Shopee or Taobao, but I recommend going to a large helmet shop and choosing from major brands.

Police say that those wearing helmets without safety inspection stickers would be fined. While special helmets may be stylish and eye-catching, we only have one life and it’s important to protect ourselves from head injuries.

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

#helmet #teapot #teapothelmet #safety #scooter #motorcycle #driving #specialhelmet #safetyinspection #certification #PSA

太奇特! 南投騎士戴"茶壺安全帽" 警:不符規定可開罰

2026-04-22

南投有民眾看見，一名機車騎士，頭戴著形狀奇怪的帽子上路，湊近一看才發現，竟然是茶壺造型的安全帽！雖然吸睛，不過警方也提醒，若查獲民眾配戴的安全帽，不符合法規，還是照樣開罰。

一名男子騎著機車，直直向前行駛，但仔細一看，他頭頂上的帽子，大有玄機。

這位大哥，茶壺是拿來泡茶裝水用的，怎麼把它戴在頭上了？

[[南投分局副分局長李政昌]]
“若機車騎士或後座乘客，未配戴檢驗合格的安全帽，將依道路交通管理處罰條例，處以新台幣500元罰鍰。”

[[民視記者張喬羿]]
“市面上有超多種不同種的安全帽，但除了剛才看到的茶壺安全帽，其實還有更多奇奇怪怪的款式。”

電鍋、人腦、還有光頭、網球，網路上，可以看到有在賣各種奇特造型的安全帽，有些人可能覺得戴在路上趴趴走，一定超級吸睛，但也有民眾質疑，安全嗎？

[[民眾]]
“乍看之下就覺得它的造型很特別，可是安全考量下，還是要考量一下有沒有安全性質。”

[[民眾]]
“看起來是很特別啦，可是不曉得有沒有安全的顧慮。”

記者實際來到坊間的安全帽店家，發現其實店內都沒有特殊款式的安全帽，因為特別款大部分不符合檢驗規範。

[[安全帽店老闆]]
“還是要看它有沒有國家認證、有沒有貼安全標章。”

[[安全帽店翁老闆]]
“商檢局是規定黏著物本身，(厚度)不能超過0.5公分。卡扣卡上去，也必須做易脫落的，蝦皮、淘寶上取得都很方便，建議還是找大型安全帽店，而且選擇大品牌的安全帽。”

警方提醒，若佩戴的安全帽，沒有合格標章，一樣照罰。也提醒民眾，造型安全帽雖然搶眼、與眾不同，但命只有一條，腦袋瓜還是要保護好。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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Former president Tsai Ing-wen has been going on many hiking trips recently with DPP candidates for local office. A few days ago, she revealed that she had also invited quite the VIP to join her on the trail -- AIT Director Raymond Greene. Besides furthering foreign relations, the self-proclaimed "carb-lover" would certainly bring Greene to her favorite bakery on Yangmingshan. Let’s take a look at her recommendations.

Dressed in casual hiking gear, former president Tsai Ing-wen and AIT Director Raymond Greene hit the trails together. They both posted about it afterward, with the AIT saying they “shared meaningful conversation along the trail about the progress of US-Taiwan ties over the past decade,” and Tsai saying “the Taiwan-US relationship is like hiking—we overcome challenges together.” Over on Threads, Tsai included a photo showing her excitement about some bread.

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This bakery, visited by none other than the former president herself, is on Yangmingshan. She especially recommends this S-shaped bread.

Mr. Su
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Every time, she goes straight for her favorite ones, like the S-shaped bread or the red wine cranberry. She might also try the others and buy some things she’s never gotten before.

Customer
I was curious. I saw a lot of S’s over there, so I bought one to give it a try.

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I thought I’d grab one to try. After all, President Tsai thinks it’s good.

Aside from the S-shaped bread filled with red bean and cream cheese, President Tsai also loves to get cranberry bread and red bean buns. She first came earlier this year, and has since come three times within a single month. The owner shared the story behind it.

Mr. Su
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Her neighbor bought our bread and probably shared some with her. She tasted it, and so when she came in for the first time, she was looking for what she remembered having. She described the ingredients, like red bean and cream cheese, and the baker guessed what she was looking for.

It’s no secret that President Tsai loves bread. While attending official events in the past, she was known to be tempted by baked goods.

Salty, sweet—it doesn’t matter. She wants them all. This time, the former president even brought the director of AIT for a little “carb diplomacy.”

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Drivers vexed by parking spot occupied by transformer boxes in Kaohsiung

There’s a parking space along Liuhe六合 Road in Kaohsiung that’s clearly marked for parking, but you can’t park there. That’s because half of it is taken up by three transformer boxes, leaving drivers rolling their eyes at the poor design. The city said it used to be a whole parking space, but Taipower moved the transformers there. So who’s responsible for removing the lines? It’s unclear, as everyone seems to be passing the buck.

Chuang Shu-ting
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Looking for parking often results in a massive headache. But have you ever seen a space like this? There are three transformers right in the middle, leaving drivers dumbfounded.

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It’s pretty ridiculous. It’s a parking space, but a car couldn’t fit there.

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It’s super inappropriate and a little absurd. You search for a spot for ages, finally find one, and you can’t even park there. Then you have to start looking all over again.

This spot is on Liuhe Road in Kaohsiung. Out of a whole row of parking, this one stands out. If a regular vehicle tried to park here, half of it would stick out into the street. So would the city still collect parking fees? And who signed off on this “creative” parking space?

Voice of Wang Chih-kang
Kaohsiung Transportation Bureau official
Upon investigation, we found that Taipower moved the boxes there this week. Taipower had applied to remove the markings for the parking space before work began, but they failed to erase them.

The Transportation Bureau said that Taipower was responsible for removing the lines, but Taipower said they moved the boxes at the Bureau of Cultural Affairs’ request, and removing the lines isn’t their responsibility.

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Since the site is only temporary, at the time of inspection, the Cultural Affairs Bureau hadn’t completed removal procedures with the Transportation Bureau.

This blocked parking space has drivers rolling their eyes. But even more surprising is how the simple task of erasing a few parking lines has devolved into a classic case of bureaucratic finger-pointing.

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An Italian restaurant in Taichung suffered a huge loss after serving a group of unruly customers. It all started when the group started making unreasonable requests for free drinks and wanted to cook the food themselves. But things escalated when a man in the group went up to the bar and took a sip of an expensive liquor directly from the bottle when the staff wasn’t watching. When asked to pay their NT$20,000 bill, they refused and left without paying. Furious, the owner posted surveillance footage of the incident on social media, to warn other restaurants of these people. The owner added that he’s especially upset that they were foreigners, just like himself.

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The owner of this Italian restaurant on Xiangshang Road in Taichung posted the footage online and condemned the man’s actions. He wrote that not only was it unsanitary, it was also completely disrespectful. In the original post, the owner added that the group of diners that included the man had been a complete nuisance. They asked to try out some drinks, which was not allowed, insisted on having the restaurant sell them sold-out dishes, and demanded to make the food themselves with the restaurant providing the ingredients.

Friend of owner
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They asked to try out some drinks. At the time the staff tried their best to satisfy their demand.

Even if the restaurant did offer wine and liquor tasting, drinking directly from the bottle, like the man did, would still be completely out of the question.

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It’s completely unacceptable for him to just pick up a bottle from the counter and drink directly from it. It’s not like it’s a bottle of beer he’s bought, in that case it wouldn’t matter.

The restaurant ended up having to charge the group of the bottle, bringing the tab to around NT$20,000. The group was asked to pay and leave, but they refused to pay then, and they’ve still yet to pay now. The owner said that he’s especially dismayed that the group was foreigners, just like him. He added that he only publicized the incident to warn nearby restaurants of the troublesome group.

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The police were perplexed on Wednesday afternoon, when a 22-year-old man driving a scooter was nowhere to be found after crashing into a car on National Freeway No. 1. The police initially assumed that he was flung off his scooter by the impact, but later, surveillance footage revealed that he had actually jumped off the highway into a river below. After the plunge, he drifted northward for 1km before he was found and rescued.

A scooter is pictured zipping on the freeway, and right on the central lane. It seems to be moving quite fast, even faster than other vehicles. That is until it crashed into a car.

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Commenting on incident
It’s ridiculous. It’s really dangerous. He’d hurt himself and others.

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The white car that got crashed into had its front completely dented. The scooter was also damaged and toppled onto the innermost lane. But strangely, the scooter rider was nowhere to be found. The police had assumed that he was flung off the bridge by the impact, but after reviewing surveillance footage, they discovered that the driver had climbed over the fence and jumped out of his own accord into the river three stories below.

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After working with firefighters, clothing, shoes, and a bag resembling those of the motorcyclist were found on the embankment. The search continued.

Firefighters began the search northward from the spot where the driver had plunged. After two hours, they found the driver, completely naked.

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Why would it be up to the KMT to claim whether it was related or not? Their so-called “peace mission” has flopped. Taiwan didn’t receive any benefits from it yet, but already it’s been dealt damage.

The incident has drawn the attention of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. In a statement, it sharply criticized China’s attempt at isolating Taiwan, adding that, as a democratic world leader, Lai should be free to engage with partners, and adding that Beijing cannot determine the foreign policy of other countries.

On social media, the US House of Representative Select Committee on China also condemned China’s efforts to block Lai’s trip by pressuring other nations. It said that what China was doing was not diplomacy, but economic pressure. Also on social media, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee criticized China’s actions, saying that the CCP was trying to bully Taiwan. It added that it stood with Taiwan against this blatant coercion.

According to the information gathered by Taiwan’s national security agencies, China pressured three countries—Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius—to close off their overflight clearance for Lai’s aircraft. Beijing threatened economic sanctions such as withdrawing massive debt relief and halting financing. Despite the international outcry, China appears smug and unbothered.

Zhang Han
Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson (China)
We express appreciation for the stance and actions of relevant countries in upholding the one-China principle. This has once again shown that the one-China principle is a basic norm governing international relations and a prevailing consensus of the international community.

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China isn’t even pretending anymore, and straight-up praised the three African countries. The mastermind behind this plot is China. This crude tactic has much to do with the Xi-Cheng meeting, as both Xi Jinping and Cheng Li-wun adhere to the one-China principle.

Leonard Chao
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China has diversified its attacks on Taiwan, its unfriendliness and its hostility to create a new combined tactic. The threats surely weren’t limited to those three countries. They must have threatened others too. China is using economic tactics as its secret weapon.

China’s obstruction of overseas trips by Taiwan’s head of state and usage of both hard and soft tactics in its united front strategy against Taiwan have once again been put on the spotlight.

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