TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kuomintang (KMT) legislators are calling for the creation of a basic traffic safety law after Taiwan exceeded Japan in traffic fatalities despite having a much smaller population.

KMT Legislator Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) was cited by CNA on Sunday (Feb. 6) as proposing that Taiwan draft a basic traffic safety law that is modeled after similar legislation in Japan. Yeh pointed out that in 2020 Taiwan, which has a population of 23.57 million, reported 2,972 traffic-related fatalities, while Japan, which has a population of 125.8 million, reported 2,839.

Yeh added that there were 482,333 people injured in traffic accidents in 2020 and that social and economic losses amounted to NT$500 billion. 

She said Taiwan lacks an accountability mechanism, a car-focused system, and that there is a disconnect between traffic management planning and law enforcement, a dearth of civil participation. In addition, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is unable to coordinate across departments, she added.

She noted that in the international community, efforts to improve traffic safety are centered around "3E policies": education, engineering, and enforcement.

Yeh observed that Japan used to have a serious problem with traffic accidents, seeing a peak of 16,765 fatalities in 1970. That year, Japan passed the Basic Law on Traffic Safety Measures, and the country has seen a steady decline in traffic-related deaths since then.

She stated that while in the past, Taiwan's traffic laws have only focused on penalties, she recommended that future legislation focus on promoting traffic safety, define national policy, and introduce a parliamentary oversight mechanism. While a systematic and comprehensive approach to road safety is currently lacking, Yeh said a basic traffic safety law would not only set goals for the government but also establish relevant assessment and oversight measures.