Concern over Taiwan’s road safety

A drop in road crashes has been recorded for Taiwan in the first quarter of 2024. There were 97,436 road crashes in the first quarter of 2024, a drop of 5.4% compared with the same period in 2023.

However, road deaths increased to 772 for this period and of these deaths, 119 were of pedestrians, a jump of 15.5%. The majority of pedestrian deaths, 69%, involved a vehicle collision, of which 73% were of older victims. According to the MOTC report, a worryingly high percentage of the crashes involving pedestrians being knocked down by motor vehicles were due to drivers not yielding at intersections.

There are growing calls for better facilities for vulnerable road users and for a greater awareness on road safety.

The MOTC is keen to improve road safety in Taiwan in a bid to address its poor record. Between January 2023 and April 2023, 1,039 people were killed in road crashes. In addition, 179,930 people suffered injuries in the 133,972 road crashes recorded during this period.