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Poorly fitted truck wing mirrors, side guards take 40 lives a year
Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA)
Badly fitted truck wing mirrors and side guards have caused an estimated 40 deaths per year over the 2006-2011 period, the Control Yuan said Tuesday. The government's top watchbog body told the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to make improvements by subsidizing truck- owners' installation or insurance costs, or cutting taxes to speed up the replacement of old vehicle parts. Although the MOTC has made many amendments to the safety standards of side mirrors and side guards on large vehicles, the newer and stricter regulations are only applicable to licensed trucks imported or made after the changes to the regulations, which account for only around 10 percent of the total number, said Control Yuan member Lee Fu-dien. Even though there are still many hazardous vehicle parts among the remaining 90 percent of licensed trucks in the country, the MOTC has not implemented support measures, Lee pointed out. He recalled that while working as a lawyer three decades ago, his first case was that of a person who was disabled after being hit by a truck's mirror. Safety regulations for such mirrors have not improved over the past 30 years, he said. In related news, a separate Control Yuan report on tour buses published that same day brought to attention the need to formulate an exit strategy for old tour buses. As of June 2011, there were 13,270 tour buses in Taiwan. Of these, 31 percent were over 10 years old, 23.6 percent were over 12 years of age, 11.3 percent were over 15, and 2.35 percent were more than 20 years old, said Control Yuan member Cheng Jen-hung. According to current regulations, vehicles in use over 12 years of age are not allowed to drive on mountain roads and are not allowed to exceed speed limits of 90 Km/h on highways. To date, however, not a single case has been brought, indicating the Directorate General of Highways' ineffectiveness in implementing its regulations, Cheng said.
(By Sophia Yeh and C.J. Lin)
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