TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Control Yuan member said on Monday (Nov. 4) the number of foreign nationals involved in traffic accidents has nearly doubled within four years and an investigation would be launched into the cause.
Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said, “Traffic safety has become an important national security issue,” per CTS News. Yeh said that based on the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) Road Safety website data, the number of foreigners injured or killed in traffic accidents nearly doubled from 6,213 in 2019 to 12,021 in 2023, a 93.48% increase.
She cited the National Audit Office's 2023 report that the number of foreign nationals legally residing in Taiwan has only increased by 8.5% from over 780,000 in 2019 to more than 850,000 in 2023. She said the increase in traffic accidents exceeds the foreign resident growth rate.
Yeh said most of these traffic accidents involve migrant workers from Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, with accident hotspots located in cities with larger migrant populations, such as Taoyuan and Taichung. She said this underscores the lack of effective traffic safety education and preventative measures from the MOTC, the Ministry of Labor (MOL), and local governments.
She cited National Police Agency stats indicating over 60% of all traffic accident casualties involve scooter riders. The 2023 national statistics on foreign nationals from the MOTC also show scooters and e-bikes are the primary vehicles involved in these incidents.
Data from the Highway Bureau in 2019 showed that the traffic violation rate within the first year of obtaining a scooter license was 11.6% for individuals who took the test without training. The rate dropped to 4.2% among those who received riding lessons, highlighting the importance of scooter rider education, said Yeh.
Yeh said the Highway Bureau launched a scooter training subsidy program in 2019. This program was designed to support young people, including international students, who wish to obtain a license to take lessons.
She said from 2019 to 2023, over 105,570 foreign nationals registered directly for the riding test without training, while only 7,146 took lessons, less than 7% of applicants.
Yeh said it is essential to investigate the efficacy of interagency cooperation among the MOTC, MOL, and local governments in addressing traffic accidents involving foreign nationals and how traffic policies are implemented to ensure the safety of foreign residents.
