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The crisis of road safety: Safety reforms urged for scooters
Last week, we looked at the state of road safety in Taiwan. Almost 3,000 people are killed on Taiwan’’s roads every year. Today we take an in-depth look at the most vulnerable road users: scooter riders. As scooters continue to proliferate, the number of accidents is rising too. Scooters are always vulnerable in the face of bigger vehicles. And riders are put at risk by ambiguous rules and a lack of proper education. Experts are calling for scooter licenses to be better regulated, and for driving lessons to become the norm, not the exception. Here’’s part two of our special report.
The scooter is Taiwan’s national mode of transport, indispensable for going to work, picking up kids, and grocery shopping. But in Taiwan’s complex traffic, the risk of an accident is high. Scooter riders are vulnerable on the road and most victims of accidents are riders. In recent years, the rise of the food delivery industry has increased road traffic and created a new high-risk population: delivery riders.
After picking up an order, delivery rider Tsu Tsu祖祖 needs to get this drink to the customer within four minutes. There’s not a second to spare. She’s up and away. As delivery platforms grow, riders like Tsu Tsu are everywhere. People complain that riders ignore speed limits in their rush to deliver orders. But riders have their own complaints too.
Tsu Tsu
Food delivery platform rider
It’s because we’re so hurried. The customers sometimes rush us. That’s why we rush to get it delivered.
As riders traverse their route, their progress can be tracked by the platform and by the customer. That puts tremendous pressure on delivery riders. On the app Tsu Tsu uses, a warning noise sounds constantly.
Tsu Tsu
Food delivery platform rider
After a customer makes an order, it keeps making a noise, beep beep beep. If we don’t complete the delivery within the time, it keeps beeping. So we have to listen to it constantly. It’s really anxiety-provoking. It makes us ride faster to get to the customer ASAP. So it means we’re very distracted and that’s why road accidents happen.
As delivery riders pick their way through Taiwan’s maze of roads, they can spend up to eight or 12 hours on the road each day. On chaotic roads, they are at more risk than the average citizen.
Chen Yu-an
National Delivery Union
Some roads are innately badly designed. For example, scooters are banned on the inside lane, but there are cars parked parallel on the outside, or buses or taxis. That means scooters have to fight for survival in the cracks between vehicles. I have a friend who was in four accidents in one month. It was zero fault on his end every time. He was hit by someone else. I don’t think the government should put all this down to delivery riders. They should distinguish the causes, both primary and secondary, as well as who is not at fault.
Wu Mu-fu
MOTC traffic safety committee secretary-general
According to statistics from our monitoring organization, there are about 130,000 delivery riders. Their accident rate is 2.08%. The accident rate for normal scooter riders is 1.88%. It’s about 10% higher. So you can’t say there’s no risk. The platforms must take notice, must prioritize their employees’ safety. It doesn’t matter if they’re a permanent or casual employee – that’s irrelevant. So right now, the Ministry of Labor is starting to draw up occupational safety guidelines for this field.
In 2021, there were more than 14 million scooters on Taiwan’s roads. But while the scooter occupies a giant place in Taiwan’s road culture, its place in Taiwan’s road laws is ambiguous.
Chen Hung-yi
Taiwan Traffic Safety Association
Our definitions for scooters are a bit vague. It’s sometimes a bit like a bicycle, but sometimes like a car, sometimes a fast car, sometimes a slow car. The definitions of the category are unclear. Sometimes scooters are banned from the road, but sometimes not. Sometimes there are two sections, but not always. So that means that scooter riders are more subject to disturbances and to limitations that confuse the situation, and make it hard to navigate.
It’s not just that rules on scooters are vague. The design of roads and the rules on priority also need a thorough review.
Chen Hung-yi
Taiwan Traffic Safety Association
Our road laws are based on the 1968 Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act. It’s more than half a century old. Shouldn’t we review it comprehensively? That includes the categories of vehicles. Shouldn’t we codify and clearly stipulate the rights and restrictions they have on the road?
Transport ministry figures show that nearly 3,000 people die on the road each year. Of those, 60% are scooter riders. Meanwhile, of the 480,000 people injured annually, 77% are scooter riders. Scholars say that new riders aged 18 to 20 are the demographic most at risk.
Chang Hsin-li
NYCU Transportation and Logistics Dept. professor
So I once joked that this is a rite of passage in Taiwan. You’re 18, you start riding a scooter, and you have to get through this two-year risk period. If you’re injured or killed then you’re eliminated, wiped out.
This dark coming-of-age ritual is a Taiwanese specialty. One reason young people are at risk is that many of them don’t get proper driving lessons.
Chang Hsin-li
NYCU Transportation and Logistics Dept. professor
We always think – before the age of 18, nobody taught them the correct methods. Firstly, they don’t understand the laws. They don’t understand safety. They don’t know how to drive the scooter properly. They don’t even understand how it works or what it does, they just get on it. That’s very dangerous. In an emergency, nobody is there to tell you what is dangerous or what to do. Moreover, the laws are incomplete, so to be honest, it is really like somebody getting into a game without knowing what the rules are.
Some people ride scooters all their lives without ever being taught properly. They just practice outside their front door a few times and then zoom off. Basic knowledge and skills can be quite lacking. Such riders can be dangerous to others as well as themselves.
News reporter
The scooter and tractor unit were driving in parallel, when the scooter rider turned left. At the corner where the camera couldn’t film, she was hit from behind by the tractor unit and killed by its right wheel.
News reporter
The woman in the blue and green helmet was riding a scooter on Xinzhuang Zhongzheng Road. As she passed a junction, she cut into the inner lane but didn’t react in time. She collided with a vehicle behind her and was thrown into the air.
The most common causes of accidents are things like not keeping a safe distance from other road users, changing lanes without checking for oncoming vehicles, and being in the blind spot of a large vehicle. Education is the most important step in self-protection.
Driving instructor
OK, all students must pay attention to the parked cars, and look to see if there are oncoming cars from left or right. Only when they have passed can you go.
Today at this driving school, there’s a special lesson for scooter riders. It teaches the traffic code and safe driving practices, using lots of drills. Students learn good habits and skills for protecting themselves on the road.
Driving instructor
The scooter is following too close behind and that causes a collision.
Not keeping enough distance means your vision is obstructed by the car in front. If the car suddenly turns, a crash can occur.
Getting too close to cars on either side is dangerous. If a door opens without warning, you might not have time to swerve.
Driving instructor
These two vehicles are driving in parallel. The coach turns just a tiny bit to the right. The back of the vehicle crashes into the scooter.
Driving beside a truck, a scooter can be hit on a right turn. It’s a particularly dangerous location. The teachers here go through common road hazards like this one, teaching students how to avoid accidents with defensive riding.
Jeff Chen
Motor education association head
On a scooter, it’s easy to make this mistake. You ride in front of a large vehicle, you think they can see you, but actually, if we go and look in a moment – can they? Look in front. That scooter is totally invisible, isn’t it? Sitting here you can’t see it at all. That’s dangerous, right? Only when you sit in the driver’s seat do you realize, I’m invisible to them.
There are lots of blind spots in a large vehicle. This scooter has clearly stopped by the truck, but it’s invisible in the rearview mirror. That’s often how tragedy strikes. Here at the driving school, riders get to know a variety of safety hazards before they get on the road.
Ms. Wu
Driving student
I can already ride a bit, but coming here for lessons improves rider safety. A professional trainer teaches you, it’s more professional. If you teach yourself, you don’t really know anything. My parents – too many people up in the mountains don’t have licenses. So we don’t know if they taught us the most correct information.
In recent years, the transport ministry has subsidized driving lessons, to encourage more scooter riders to get trained before taking their license test. Riders who are trained break traffic rules 30% less than those who have not trained, and they get in 20% fewer accidents.
Jeff Chen
Motor education association head
The average scooter is not cheap. It can easily be NT$70,000 or NT$80,000. Many parents are willing to spend that. But they don’t even think of spending NT$2,000 or NT$3,000 on a defensive driving course for their child. I actually think you should give your child an education before giving your child a scooter.
After riders take a full course of lessons, the test is the next important hurdle. Or it would be, if the test weren’t so easy.
Chiu Hsien-chih
Lawmaker
As our scooter riding test stands currently, you ride to the test center and then do a little obstacle course and you’re done. If we compare that to Japan, they might also have to do an emergency brake, they might have a pedestrian suddenly emerge, they might have all kinds of simulated situations. Can this person, who passed this exam, actually handle a motorized vehicle, whether it’s a scooter or a car? That is a really big question.
On the other side of the exam, people with a scooter or car driver’s license don’t need to retake the test until they are 75. This means that there’s a lack of ongoing oversight on problematic drivers.
Chang Hsin-li
NYCU Transportation and Logistics Dept. professor
Why should we renew licenses? License renewal has one basic function. Every country in the world has license renewal systems. The whole road environment, the laws and the facilities available have all changed a lot from how they were decades ago. We’re not able to use the license renewal process to reeducate drivers. If drivers rack up too many points on their license, too many errors, then we should give them some counseling and education.
Wu Mu-fu
MOTC traffic safety committee secretary-general
We can work toward this on many fronts at once. From passing the test to license renewal – all these things should be designed comprehensively. It’s a very important part of managing motor vehicle drivers. We can’t push forward too aggressively. But right now, we’ve already started with older drivers. Of course, if it gradually produces some results, then we can expand it further. But we should be able to do this, if everyone has a consensus.
If Taiwan’s road safety is a national security issue, then a complete overhaul is needed – in terms of laws, road design, driving culture and the licensing and testing system.
Chen Hung-yi
Taiwan Traffic Safety Association
This unspoken sense of crisis is actually in all our hearts and minds already. To be able to live free of fear is a part of our human rights. Living in a constant state of fear of traffic – that’s not how it should be in an advanced, civilized country.
To change the status quo and create roads fit for use will take everyone joining in. Yes, the government must prioritize reform. But every day that we step out of our homes and get on the road, we can slow down, pay more attention, and put safety first.
2022-07-17
