Traffic Safety Education andInformation Campaign Activities in
TaiwanReportYi-Shih Chung

Kainan University, Taiwan

SummaryThis report introduces the traffic safety education and information campaign activities in

Taiwan. The report is divided into five parts. Subsequent to the introduction in Part 1, Part
2 describes the trends and major characteristics of traffic accidents in Taiwan, provid-

ing background information regarding the causes of crashes and the evolution of traffic

safety education and information campaign activities. Part 3 introduces the collaboratingof organizations closely involved in traffic safety education programs and information

campaign activities; this section profiles both the government and non-government sides.
Part 4 describes selected traffic safety education programs and information campaign
activities, detailing how children are educated in road safety, the design of graduatedlicensing programs for ensuring the safety fitness of drivers, and some special programs
designed for further enhancing road safety. Part 5 is the conclusion to the report.

1

Introduction
Education is a crucial element in the so-called 3E (engineering, enforcement, and education) road safety system. No single one of the 3E strategies is able to stand alone indramatically improving traffic safety. Traffic safety in Taiwan is heavily reliant on thecontinuous improvement of roadway engineering and law enforcement. For example,

encouraging schoolchildren to walk to school requires a safe and secure pedestrian envi-

ronment; only then would parents and family members be willing and feel comfortable togive their children the green light to walk to school1. Another example where traffic law

enforcement is indispensable is drunk driving, even though a considerable effort has been
made to disseminate information regarding the dangers of drunk driving on the roads.
The reason is simple: not all drivers appreciate the danger of drunk driving, and evensome of those who are cognizant of the dangers still consume alcohol before hitting theroads2. Consequently, traffic law enforcement, in addition to safety education, is essential
to improving traffic safety.

Despite the importance of engineering and enforcement, safety education has its own

particular role in improving traffic safety in contemporary Taiwanese society. Roadway

engineering is stepping into a mature stage in Taiwan; the standards for designing andconstructing roadways have been well developed and followed, implying a minimum safety standard for most roads. Traffic law enforcement is limited by the available resources,

including the number of police officers and traffic enforcement equipment such as speed
cameras. Moreover, the major concern of traffic law enforcement is violations of traffic
laws; however, other aberrant driving behaviors, such as lapses in judgment and mis-takes, have also been found to have significant relationships with traffic crashes3. Traffic

2safety education and information campaign activities, which aim to promote safe roaduser behavior, may exert a relatively profound effect on reducing some traffic crashes,
especially those related to driving behavior.

The remainder of this report is organized as follows. Section 2 describes the trends andmajor characteristics of traffic accidents in Taiwan. Section 3 presents the collaboratingof traffic safety education organizations in Taiwan. Section 4 gives a detailed descrip-tion of selected traffic safety education programs and information campaign activities in
Taiwan. Section 5 provides a conclusion.

2

Traffic Accidents in Taiwan

2.1

Trends of Traffic Accidents in Taiwan
Traffic accidents in Taiwan are actually a public health issue. Accidental death has long
been one of the top ten leading causes of death in the country, with traffic accidents

normally being the most common cause of accidental death. The Taiwanese government

and local communities have thus expended considerable effort and time trying to reduce

the numbers of traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities. As shown in Fig. 1(a), the numberof fatalities due to traffic accidents (red line) has fallen since 2000, but the frequency
and number of injuries have both increased (blue and green lines). Fig. 1(b) shows acomparison of accident frequency per registered vehicle in seven countries. Taiwan’s rate
has been increasing steadily, rising from the lowest of all seven countries in 2000 to thesecond highest in 2011, trailing only Korea.

(a) Frequency, injury, and fatalities(b) Comparison across countries

Figure 1. Traffic accident trends in Taiwan (2000–2011)
2.2

Major Characteristics of Traffic Accidents in Taiwan
Motorcycles, elderly drivers, and drunk driving are the three most frequent elements oftraffic accidents in Taiwan.

Motorcycles, including mopeds and light motorcycles, are the major mode of transportation in Taiwan, comprising two-thirds of all registered motor vehicles. Due to cost3and convenience considerations, motorcycles are used for a variety of daily non-leisureactivities—a pattern that strikes a contrast with customs in Western countries. Becauseof this high exposure, motorcycle accidents are the most common type seen in Taiwan. In
2012, approximately 47% of all traffic fatalities were motorcycle drivers or passengers.

As is the case in many developed countries, Taiwan is developing into an aging society. In
2012, people older than 65 accounted for 11.15% of the total population, and the elderchild ratio was 0.76:1. The growth of the elderly population has created concerns about
traffic safety. The aging process can cause deterioration of vision and hearing, reduced
motor skills, and longer cognitive reaction time, among other changes. Some illnesses,
such as dementia or Alzheimer’s, can also affect the safety of elderly drivers. Someelderly drivers may take preventive strategies (e.g., avoid driving at night) to compensate
for their reduced physical and mental abilities. The increasingly aging population andthe particularly fragile bodies of elderly drivers have made elderly driver safety a focal

point for the Taiwanese government. While the number of traffic fatalities among drivers

older than 65 has been steadily decreasing, dropping from 670 in 2001 to 543 in 2011, thepercentage of elderly people involved in fatal crashes is still increasing, rising from 20%
in 2001 to 26.7% in 2012.

Traffic crashes involving drunk driving are normally severe, and have thus long been aserious concern for governmental authorities. Taiwanese lawmakers have made several revisions to legal provisions that punish drunk driving in hopes of reducing these behaviors
and thus limiting related traffic accidents. The maximum allowable threshold for alcohol

in a breath test has become a stricter 0.15 milligrams. In addition to having to pay higherfines, drunk drivers who exceed the threshold of 0.25 milligrams or have a blood alcohol
concentration of 0.05% or greater go immediately into police custody even if they havenot caused an accident. The effectiveness of stricter laws and acts is evident in the con-tinuous drop in drunk driving fatalities, which declined from 477 in 2008 to 382 in 2012.

3

Partnerships between Traffic Safety Education Organizations in Taiwan
Safety education and information campaign activities in Taiwan are conducted by bothgovernments and nongovernmental organizations. Schools also play a crucial role in childand adolescent safety education. Communities sometimes become involved in road safety
education and information campaign activities, especially those for schoolchildren andelderly drivers. These organizations may work together or separately to conduct traffic

safety education programs or information campaign activities. The following subsections
detail the roles and responsibilities of these organizations in safety education and information campaign activities in Taiwan.
3.1

Governments
Government plays a crucial role in road safety education and information campaign activities in Taiwan; as government agencies are responsible for developing traffic safety policies and programs, subsidizing safety education programs, and monitoring the operationof safety education and information campaign activities. Three ministries in the central
government are particularly crucial: the Ministry of Transportation and Communication(MOTC), the Ministry of Education (MOE), and the Ministry of the Interior (MOI). These
three ministries—the highest-ranking government departments—are handling traffic

and transportation, education, and police enforcement, respectively. Subordinate to the

MOTC, the National Road Traffic Safety Commission (NRTSC) is responsible for reviewing
black spots and for developing nationwide traffic safety education policies and informa-

4tion campaign activities, while the Directorate General of Highways (DGOH) is responsiblefor driver and vehicle licensure programs and management. The portal site of the NRTSC(http://168.motc.gov.tw) is the primary source of traffic safety education and informationmaterial in Taiwan. As in the education system, the MOE has various subordinate departments involving in traffic safety education, including the K-12 Education Administration(for schoolchildren in grades 1–12 and high school students), the Department of Higher
Education (university and colleges), the Department of Technological and Vocational

Education (technology institutes and universities), the Department of Student Affairs andSpecial Education (senior high schools and all types of universities and colleges), and theDepartment of Lifelong Education ( adult education). While these departments have theirown responsibilities, specific to students of different ages, the Department of Lifelong

Education is currently the branch that coordinates traffic safety education programs andactivities across all departments. As for the MOI, the National Police Agency (NPA) is thesubordinate agency in charge of traffic safety education. The NPA is the highest-ranking
agency in the police system. In addition to enforcement, police officers provide traffic

safety education programs and information campaign activities to the public, especiallyprograms related to severe traffic accidents and dangerous violation behaviors. Clearly,

traffic safety education in Taiwan is not solely the responsibility of the education system;
the MOTC and MOI, whose original jobs were roadway engineering and traffic law en-forcement, also collaborate with the MOE to improve traffic safety through education.
Partnerships among local governments are similar to those in the central government.
Local government education bureaus, transportation government departments, andpolice departments play their own roles in safety education and information campaign

activities. They also cooperate in resolving traffic safety issues requiring approaches that
integrate education, engineering, and enforcement. Unlike the traffic safety education

programs and information campaign activities initiated by the central government, those

provided by local governments are designed to fit local needs. For example, while cycling
safety is a nationwide issue, the concern in eastern cities famous for tourism is tourists’cycling safety and electronic motor vehicle safety.

The partnership of government departments and agencies and schools for improving traffic safety education and information campaign activities in Taiwan is illustrated in Fig. 2.

Figure 2. Partnership of government departments, agencies and schools for traffic safety
education and information campaign activities

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3.2

Nongovernmental Organizations
Nongovernmental organizations are crucial in improving traffic safety in Taiwan especiallyin terms of safety education and information campaign activities. Different programs

and activities are provided depending on the vision of each organization. Some organizations are specific to child safety, for example; others may be more professional, aimed

at motorcycle safety. Most of these organizations are nonprofit. They could be assisting
governments to conduct specific safety education programs; they may be involved inpromoting laws and regulations to enhance traffic safety; they could also be platforms

for governments, corporations, and the public to exchange ideas related to traffic safetyissues. Some of the nongovernmental organizations actively promoting traffic safety are
introduced below.

3.2.1 Jing Chuan Foundation
The Jing Chuan Child Safety Foundation is a nonprofit organization specifically concernedwith children’s safety, including traffic safety (TW9). The foundation was started in 1993
to commemorate a kindergarten teacher who sacrificed herself to save children froma burning school bus. Over the past twenty years, the foundation has been working inmany areas. First is to educate the public about the correct procedures for children riding
motorcycles as passengers. According to a survey conducted by the foundation, approximately 60 percent of Taiwanese children ride a motorcycle as a passenger every day, andthe odds of them being involved in a fatal crash are 1.25 times higher than they are for
adults. To improve motorcycle safety, the foundation first promoted the importance ofwearing helmets for students in elementary school. They also solicited helmets and sent
them to school-aged children, especially those in the countryside. Another activity has
been to promote reducing the motorcycle speed limit to 30 kph, especially when car-rying a child. This is based on research findings that crashes where the speed is 30 kph

have an injury rate of 5%, but crashes at 50 kph have an injury rate as high as 85%4. The

foundation also promotes the idea of not letting children younger than six years old ridea motorcycle, given that their muscles are not strong enough to hold on tightly. Children
whose legs are not long enough to be placed on the motorcycle also should not ride as
passengers.

The second area of focus in Jing Chuan’s traffic safety promotion efforts is the correct

use of child car seats. Partly because of Jing Chuan’s efforts, the Taiwanese government

passed a law specifying that children four years old or younger need to use child car seats
when sitting in the back seat of a car. This regulation was further extended in 2012 to in-clude children up to the age of 12, who are not allowed to sit in the front seat. As child carseats are relatively new to the Taiwanese people, the foundation has expended tremen-dous effort disseminating the concepts and promoting the advantages of using child carseats. The foundation has also cooperated with hospitals, vehicle manufacturers, childcar seat manufactures, and retailers to promote the ideas.

The organization’s third area of concern is child school bus safety. In Taiwan, the design
requirements for school buses, such as model year and markings on bus exterior, forchildren seven years old or younger are different from those for children over seven. The

foundation has been trying to educate parents on the importance of choosing school buses with the right designs for children under different ages and also educate them on how
to identify school buses certified by local governments or motor vehicle offices (MVOs).
The fourth area is safety training for school bus drivers and escort teachers. In Taiwan,

the regulation is that every child school bus must be accompanied by one escort teacher.
The foundation offers two types of courses: one for school bus drivers, and the other for6
escort teachers. The course for bus drivers is designed to improve driver knowledge ofsafe driving skills, particularly defensive driving. The course for escort teachers is de-signed to instruct them in ways to help children safely on and off the bus and techniques
for communicating with parents. The courses also provide opportunities for both drivers

and teachers to learn together, sharing knowledge and skills on how to respond to emergencies (e.g., evacuating children from the bus in case of emergency) and other topics.
The last area is improving commuter safety for elementary schoolchildren. Based on

surveys that have been conducted since 2003, it appears that parents would be willingto choose active transportation modes (such as walking or bicycling) for their children tocommute rather than passive modes (such as motorcycles or cars) only if the commuting

environment improved. Hoping to tap into power from local governments, police departments, communities, schools, and safety experts alike, the foundation provides a plat-form connecting all interested parties. From 2003 to 2013, the organization has helped 72

schools improve their commuting environments and finished 895 roadway improvements5.
In addition to engineering, foundation representatives also went to campuses, providing safety knowledge to schoolteachers and crossing guards* . In 2013, the foundation

conducted a pilot program at five elementary schools to promote walking to school. Representatives conducted field and questionnaire surveys to understand the issues in thelocal commuting environment and worked with schoolteachers to develop strategies toencourage children to walk to school after the environment was improved. These efforts
tripled the number of children walking to school.

The Jing Chuan Foundation’s systematic operating procedure deserves special mention.

Before developing a strategy, the foundation conducts surveys to identify problems andissues. This means that any strategy proposed by the foundation is normally evidencebased and thus valued by governments and the public. The foundation therefore has asubstantial impact on introducing new regulations and amending old or inappropriate
regulations.

3.2.2 Hsinchu-Safety Education Center
The Hsinchu-Safety Education Center, founded by the Sanyang Industry Corporation in

1988, is located in Hsinchu County (TW6). The center specializes in promoting safe driving
skills and knowledge and provides various driving safety courses, especially for com-

mercial drivers, such as taxi, company car, truck, school bus, ambulance, and police car
drivers. Most of the instructors at the center have been trained at the Suzuka Circuit** .

The center also provides training courses for people who want to obtain heavy-duty

motorcycle operator’s licenses. The center sometimes cooperates with local governments,
providing short training courses for college students. Safe and economic driving behavior
is the focus of the center’s recent activities.
3.2.3 Yamaha Motor Taiwan Foundation
Another organization that provides training courses is the Yamaha Motor Taiwan Founda-tion, funded by the Yamaha Motor Taiwan Corporation (TW8). Differing from the HsinchuSafety Education Center, whose target customers are commercial drivers, the Yamaha
Motor Taiwan Foundation aims to disseminate traffic safety knowledge, especiallymotorcycle safety information, to college students. The foundation normally cooperates* In Taiwan, crossing guards or “lollipop ladies/gentlemen” are mainly in charge of stopping the flow of traffic

so that schoolchildren may cross an intersection safely. They also help manage traffic in the drop-off and pick-up
areas.

** The Suzuka Circuit has been merged with the Twin Ring Motegi as MobilityLand.

7
with local governments and schools to give speeches on campus and demonstrate safe

motorcycle riding skills. The foundation also hosts an annual driving safety poster designcontest to encourage adolescent students to think about driving safety. As heavy-duty

motorcycles are becoming increasingly popular among young adults, the foundation has
been devoting special effort to dealing with heavy-duty motorcycle safety; for example, the foundation initiated a “Young Motorcyclists Safe Driving Program” (TW20).

Since 2006, the Yamaha Motor Education Foundation has trained over 50,000 students
in safe motorcycle operation6. By providing instructors and motorcycle equipment, thefoundation aims to give adolescents and young adults a proper grounding in the correct
concepts and skills for motorcycle driving. Recently, the main topic has been defensive
driving.

3.2.4 Automotive Research & Testing Center
The Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC) was co-founded by the Ministry of

Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Environmental
Protection Administration, and vehicle manufacturers (TW7). With research into vehicle
manufacturing representing its primary role, the ARTC has invented several advanced

vehicular safety techniques, including a lane deviation warning system. In addition, thecenter also provides driving safety courses on things like defensive driving to the public.
3.2.5  Genesis Social Welfare Foundation
The Genesis Social Welfare Foundation (GSWF) was personally founded by Cao Ching in

1986. The GSWF is a nonprofit professional organization aimed at taking care of impov-

erished people in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). Recognizing that traffic injuries are

responsible for a certain portion of PVS sufferers, the foundation has been going to cam-puses to promote safe driving by highlighting information about real cases of PVS in theiractivities (TW25). Students and teachers see these promotions as effective in changing
young adults’ attitudes toward motorcycle usage and aberrant driving behavior.
3.3

Schools and Colleges
The integration of traffic safety into school education in Taiwan started in 1969. In

1982, the Executive Yuan developed the “Plans for Improving Road Traffic Conditions

and Safety,” which have been modified every three years. The MOTC is responsible for

implementing the developed plans with the assistance of other ministries subordinate to
the Executive Yuan, including the MOE and MOI. Traffic safety education in schools falls

within the framework of the plans. The strategies related to traffic safety education in themost recent three-year plan (11th three-year plan) include7:

the integration of traffic safety education with other school courses;• Enhancing
the informatization of traffic safety education materials;• Enhancing
Planning traffic safety education courses and design course materials for senior high• school students and those in higher education;
traffic safety education and activities in schools and society;• Promoting
Enhancing the safety of the commuting environment at all school levels;• Reducing traffic accidents and violations involving schoolchildren and students;• Promoting the knowledge of first-aid responses to traffic accidents in schools and society;• and• Enhancing traffic safety for schoolchildren.

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3.4

Community
The process of incorporating the community into traffic safety education and information
campaign activities is relatively new in Taiwan. Normally, communities can be involvedin traffic safety education in two ways. First, schools are trying to improve commuting

safety, which requires the participation of communities; although streets six meters wideor narrower are legal for parking unless otherwise marked, for example, this may jeopardize commuter safety for schoolchildren. In these sorts of cases, schools are advised to talkto neighborhood magistrates to resolve the issue by prohibiting parking in narrow streets
during school commuter hours or via other means. It is also common in Taiwan for com-munity stores to cooperate with schools (especially elementary schools) as a help station,
providing assistance to schoolchildren in need on the way to and from school. The second
way for communities to be involved in traffic safety education is through community colleges, which provide courses for lifelong learning. Some communities with rapidly grow-ing aging populations also cooperate with local governments to provide safety education
for the elderly.

4

Selected Education Programs and Information Campaigns

4.1

From Child to Qualified Road User
As mentioned previously, traffic safety education in Taiwan starts from a young age; allschool levels are required to provide traffic safety education to their students.

In elementary schools, children learn about fundamental traffic safety concepts and traffic rules. Therefore, they develop sufficient knowledge to walk on roads* and use differ-ent modes of transportation, such as buses and trains, safely. Junior high schools concentrate on more advanced traffic knowledge like how to use bicycles safely. In senior highschools, students acquire traffic safety knowledge and motorcycles, as well. In particular,
they watch videos and receive other instruction about the dangers of various types ofmotorcycle-riding behavior that could lead to severe traffic accidents. Upon moving on to
universities and colleges, students are legally able to obtain a driver’s license and most

do so; therefore, the top priority for traffic safety education at universities and colleges

is safe vehicle operations, especially motorcycle operations. Traffic data have shown thatan average of approximately 170 college students have died in road accidents per year

over the last decade, with being male, riding a motorcycle, and being a first-year college

student the three most common characteristics. To reduce this number, universities havedeveloped countermeasures to decrease the exposure of first-year students riding motor-

cycles such as not offering them parking spaces, writing letters from the school president
to these students and their parents explaining the dangers of riding motorcycles in thefirst year of college, and providing shuttle bus services from campus to dormitory anddowntown areas8.

To keep the aforementioned traffic safety education system running, a national traffic

safety education evaluation program (TW10) has been in operation since 1990. Co-or-

ganized by the NRTSC and MOE, the program aims to evaluate the performance of traffic
safety education at all levels of schools. A principal investigator (PI), normally a profes-

sor from the transportation research center of National Chiao Tung University, appoints

four leaders to be in charge of the evaluation of elementary schools, junior high schools,* In Taiwan, children younger than 10 years old are advised not to cross roads on their own.

9senior high schools, and universities, respectively. These leaders have the authority torecruit around four to eight evaluation committee members, depending on the numberof schools being evaluated that year. The recruited committee members may include

university professors who specialize in traffic safety, safety experts from governmental

or nongovernmental organizations, or retired school presidents or police officers. Schools

are randomly selected from a list provided by the local government. The evaluation is conducted in March, April, and May based on standardized evaluation criteria in four categories: 1) organization, planning, and promotion; 2) courses and activities; 3) traffic safety

and commuting environment; and 4) innovative safety education programs (see detailed

evaluation criteria in Table 1). The evaluation includes paper (including a safety education
website) and on-site evaluations. The top schools in each group receive a Golden Traffic

Safety Award (TW12), while failing schools have to undergo a re-evaluation in the following year. Approximately one school in each group may fail the evaluation, and would be
re-evaluated in the following year.

Table 1. Evaluation criteria for traffic safety education at schools:
Criteria

Organization, Plan, andPromotion

Courses and Activities

Sub-Criteria

Organization and operation of traffic safety education committee

Yearly plan design for traffic safety education and information campaign activities
Traffic safety symposium with school staffs, local police officers,
neighborhood magistrates, etc.
Planning of traffic safety education courses in different grades
Consolidation of traffic safety education into regular courses

Utilization of traffic safety education materials from the governments
Provision and promotion of traffic safety activities
Situated teaching in traffic safety education
Traffic Safety andCommuting Environment

Field trip safety practicePedestrian and vehicle conflicts on campus
Campus parking safety

Understanding of students` commuting demands
Design of pick-up and drop-off areas
Organization of traffic service teams
Provision of escort service

Provision of commuter help situation
Student traffic violations
Innovative Safety
Education Program

Traffic accidents in the neighborhood areas
Safety awards

Special or innovative safety education programs

An annual road safety conference is held to give the awards to the selected schools andothers who make significant contributions to traffic safety (TW11). In addition to presenting awards, the annual conference offers a platform for people to exchange experiencein improving traffic safety, with keynote speakers invited to share the latest traffic safetyknowledge. The conference is sponsored by the MOE and NRTSC and organized by thetransportation research center of National Chiao Tung University.

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4.2

Becoming a Safe Driver
As is the case in many countries, Taiwan has developed a graduated licensing program forpeople who desire to obtain driver’s licenses and become safe drivers before they hit theroad.

4.2.1 Regular driver’s license
To obtain a 50cc moped driver’s license, a person only needs to pass a written test onroad knowledge. Licenses for motorcycles and mopeds (51–250cc) require both a writ-

ten test and a practical driving test. The practical driving test consists of two parts (seeFig. 3): for the first part, the driver has to drive straight down a narrow, 15-meter strip

without touching the ground. The second part includes driving through a traffic light, arailroad crossing, and a pedestrian crossing. The driver is required to stop under appropriate conditions before proceeding. The aforementioned tests require no field experience,
however, which means that novice motorcyclists need to acquire driving experience bytrial and error. To help resolve this issue, the DGOH initiated a pilot program in 2013 that
requires all novice motorcyclists to attend a free two-hour course (TW22) on courteous
driving and skills. Videos containing footage of real traffic accidents are shown to thetrainees as a warning.

Figure 3. Motorcycle road test site diagram
Source: Motor Vehicle Offices

Drivers of heavy-duty motorcycles have to take courses at DGOH training institutes or certified private driving schools before passing their formal licensing tests. Drivers of small,private-use cars, meanwhile, need to take intensive training courses for a total of around56 hours. The courses include both in-class (20 hours) and on-road (36 hours) training.

The topics of the in-class training include driving courtesy, knowledge of first aid, driving
skills and safe driving, traffic accident prevention and responses, traffic rules, and basic

car mechanics and maintenance. Those who choose not to attend the training schools can

11obtain a learner’s license and then self-train for three months, getting on-road driving

experience in the company of a qualified driver. They are then qualified to take the driver
license tests (TW1).

Seeing that each individual ages differently, Taiwan has not stipulated any ages at which
drivers have to give up their licenses. In the past, people needed to renew their driver’s
licenses every six years, which gave motor vehicle offices (MVOs) a chance to examine
whether or not the driver was still physically and mentally capable. However, startingin 2013, drivers are no longer required to renew their driver’s licenses at the MVOs; thismeans that MVOs have no official power to perform regular examinations of aptitude forsafe driving. Considering the development of Taiwan’s aging society and the improvementof public transport in the country, local governments have begun to develop strategies

to encourage elderly drivers to forfeit their licenses in exchange for rewards such as freeconvenience cards, which people can use to take public transportation like mass rapidtransit, trains, and buses (TW23). The government of New Taipei City, for example, pro-vides convenience cards pre-charged with NT$500 for drivers over the age of 70 who arewilling to give up their licenses.

4.2.2 Professional driver’s license
Obtaining a professional driver’s license is more difficult than obtaining a regular driver’s
license. For small cars such as taxis, drivers need to have completed a seven-week train-

ing course or had a learning permit for at least six months before taking the driving test.
The prerequisite for taking the license test for a commercial truck driver is to have had asmall car occupational driver’s license for at least one year; a commercial bus driver musthave had a commercial truck driver’s license for at least one year or a commercial small
car driver’s license for at least two years and have completed related training courses

before they can take the licensing test; prior to taking the trailer truck driver’s license

test, the driver must have had a commercial bus driver’s license for at least one year or acommercial truck driver’s license for at least two years.

The legal age to the test for a professional driver’s license is between 20 and 65. Professional drivers are required to renew their licenses every six years, while drivers over 60

need to take a physical examination once a year to ascertain whether they are physicallyand mentally capable of driving safely. Small car professional drivers can extend theirlicenses until the age of 68 as long as they pass the physical examinations and theirlicenses have not been revoked in the previous year.
4.3

Enhancing Road Safety
4.3.1 New commercial driver training program
The recent development of tourism in Taiwan has stimulated demand for drivers of large

passenger vehicles. As group travel in Taiwan normally involves long-distance and mountain routes, the DGOH initiated a new commercial driver training program in 2010 basedon Article 19 of the Transportation Enterprise Management Regulation (TW2). City bus

drivers and other commercial drivers who have large passenger vehicle driver’s licenses
but no certification for coach driving or highway driving can join this program, which

offers courses at DGOH training institutes. The program includes one-day (6 to 6.5 hours)
training in areas such as mountain driving safety, traffic rules, case studies of traffic accidents, vehicle mechanics, and health self-management.

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4.3.2 Large passenger vehicle driver training programs
Large passenger vehicle drivers have a tremendous impact on public safety because their
behavior may lead to serious incidents affecting the public or transportation network.

In 2007, the DGOH initiated a special commercial driver training project (TW4) in direct
response to the occurrence of fatal traffic accidents. The goal of this project is to help

target drivers understand recent fatal large passenger vehicle accidents more thoroughly
through training provided by tutors from the DGOH. The project has run twice: once in2007 and once in 2009. All the participants were required to attend a six-hour training
course that focused on recent fatal traffic accidents.

The other program is a regular training program for commercial drivers (TW3). Unlike theprogram described above, which is triggered by fatal crash events, this program recalls
drivers of large passenger vehicle every three years to refresh their driving skills andknowledge, especially in relation to safety, in six-hour training courses conducted by the
DGOH at its institutes all over Taiwan.
4.3.3 Optional short courses
After obtaining a driver’s license, drivers can choose to attend courses offered by government or private training schools to enhance their driving skills.

Local motor vehicle offices provide various short courses to help road users improve theirdriving skills and traffic safety knowledge. The topics of the courses may vary dependingon local needs. Popular courses in recent years include bicycle riding safety and defensive
driving. Some of these courses are available free of charge (TW5).

In addition to government agencies, several private training institutes also offer traffic

safety courses for road users who want to improve their driving skills and traffic safetyknowledge. Those institutes include the Hsinchu-Safety Education Center, Yamaha Motor
Taiwan Foundation, and Automotive Research & Testing Center, which provide standard
courses for the public and customized courses for companies.
4.4

Special Programs
4.4.1 Reducing aberrant driving behavior
Reports have underlined the relationship between aberrant driving behavior and traffic

accidents and fatalities in Taiwan. To reduce aberrant driving behavior, governments andprivate organizations have taken various actions.

From the government side, the NRTSC is responsible for making policies and taking

countermeasures; the organization also provides free education material for local governments. For example, they have invited celebrities to shoot public-interest advertisements
to be broadcast all over Taiwan; the advertisements can also be recorded as DVDs andsent to local governments and schools for further safety education.

Local governments also develop their own education materials and tailor them to local

needs. For example, the Taoyuan County government has collected real street videos fromcrash cases that have been widely used in various safety education programs all overTaiwan.

Considering that speeding and other forms of aberrant driving behavior are common

among adolescents and young adults, the NPA has designed special programs aimed at

this group. The Aberrant Driving Prevention Program and Young Drivers’ Aberrant Driving
Action Plans (TW14), for example, are offered by local police bureaus and stations. The

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NPA targets specific aberrant driving behaviors according to the types of traffic viola-tions and accidents that have occurred during the year, such as drunk driving, speeding,and tailing. Recently, the focus has shifted to young adults, especially motorcyclists. The
primary objective is to increase the intensity and scale of enforcement.

The police force has used radio broadcasting as a means of disseminating traffic information to the large portion of drivers who listen to the radio while on the road. The broad-casts include updates on traffic regulations, warnings of accidents (including information
on location, time, and severity), answering questions from drivers, and more. Radio

broadcasting is also a frequent choice for police officers to remind drivers of the dangers
of aberrant driving behavior, especially for special occasions; for example, reminders

about drunk driving during the Lunar New Year vacation are common. Police officers have
“Traffic Safety Promotion Groups.” In addition to working on radio broadcasts, thesegroups also attend community activities to promote traffic safety (TW13).
4.4.2 Driver and passenger safety
Several severe traffic accidents in 2010 and 2011 resulted in serious injuries to back-seatpassengers. In response, the Taiwanese government imposed a new regulation (Article 31of the Road Transportation and Management Penalty Act) specifying that not only front-

seat passengers but also the back-seat passengers had to fasten their seat belts while on
the road, regardless of the speed limit (TW15). Previously, Taiwan required only drivers

and front-seat passenger(s) to fasten their seat belts while their cars were in motion. For
back-seat passengers, seat belts were optional. Under the new legislation, enacted in2011, back-seat passengers—including children and infants—have to wear seat belts orappropriate safety equipment in order to reduce the severity of injuries in the event of acrash. Local police departments spent six months to one year promoting the new regulation and then started enforcement in 2012.
4.4.3 Improving elderly driver safety
Elderly driver safety has become increasingly crucial in today’s Taiwanese society. To

connect with elderly drivers, governments have been trying to channel community power.
Local governments, particularly education departments, normally integrate traffic safety
education courses into their “lifelong learning systems” (TW16). For example, they provide one-day courses at local community centers and similar locations to discuss traffic
safety and drug safety for elderly people. The traffic safety education course includes

basic information about the impact of the aging process on the individual’s physical andmental ability, such as vision, hearing, muscle strength, short-term memory loss, and soon, and how deterioration in these areas may affect driving behavior and traffic safety.
The course also features videos demonstrating traffic rules and real traffic accidents.

Although elderly traffic safety is an emerging issue, there is still a shortage of instructors
in elderly traffic safety education. The Elderly Traffic Safety Instructor Training Program

was initiated in hopes of training as many prospective instructors as possible so that they
could go back to their communities to disseminate traffic safety knowledge and skills toelderly road users (TW24). This program has been running for three years. Every year, theprogram sponsors a nationwide, two-day training course through which traffic safety

experts and experienced instructors share their experience with prospective instructors.
4.4.4 Improving pedestrian safety
The MOE established the “Walking to School Promotion Program” (TW17) in 2004. The

first five years of the program (2004–2008) focused on improving the health of elementary

14
schoolchildren, especially by reducing the problem of being overweight (or obese). After

that, some local governments (e.g., the Taoyuan County government) worked with foundations like the Jin Chuan Child Safety Foundation to continue this program. The foundation
has developed the “Operation Manual for Improving Schoolchildren Commuting Environment,” which lists potential traffic safety pitfalls in the school commuting environment(see Table 2) and provides possible countermeasures to resolve these problems9 (TW19).

The foundation, in cooperation with local governments, communities, schools, and traffic
safety experts, reviews the commuting environment and identifies potential problems.

Subsequently, the organizations discuss possible solutions. These discussions are crucial
to the problem-solving process because the problems usually involve several different
parties. The talks thus provide a chance to work problems out together. For example,

elementary schools located in downtown areas may face the problem of illegal parking,sometimes by neighborhood residents. Local police stations may have to become involved

if these violations are deemed to jeopardize the commuting safety of schoolchildren. Fig. 4
illustrates the operation procedure for improving the commuting safety of schoolchildren.
Table 2. Frequently encountered problems in commuting environment
Category

Frequently encountered problems

Drop-off and pick-up Areas are not utilized or occupied by parent or neighbor vehicles.
areas
Areas are too small and easily cause traffic congestion.
Sidewalk

Mix of motorcycles and cars

Streets are too narrow, have no pedestrian equipment, and double parking.
Holes at sidewalk cause potential danger.

Sidewalk is occupied, making commuters difficult to walk.
Sidewalk is too small.
Walking environment and trafficengineering

Inappropriate equipment for the disabled

Commuters cannot cross signalized intersections easily.
Unclear road markings

Driving speed on streets is too fast.

Vision of left- or right-turn drivers is blocked.
Parking space

Driving behavior

Miscellaneous

Ineffective setup of “neighborhood streets”

No warning sirens in the entrance/exit of parking space

The design of the entrance/exit of parking space is inappropriate suchthat drivers could not spot pedestrians easily.
Illegal U-turn or wrong way on a one-way street

Driving speed is too fast and vehicles did not give ways to pedestrians.
Frequent run red lights violations
Sidewalk is occupied with trash

Big construction in the neighborhood without appropriate work zone
equipment
Homeless people or strangers in the neighborhood
Abandoned houses in the neighborhood
Stray dogs or cats in the neighborhood*Neighborhood street is a street dedicated to school children during school commuter hours; vehicles are notallowed.
Source: Operation Manual for Improving School Children Environment (Jing Chuan Child Safety Foundation,
2011)

15

Figure 4. Operation procedure for improving school children commuting safety
Another program for improving the commuting safety of schoolchildren is the “Giving

Way to Pedestrian and Safety Flags Promotion Program” (TW18). The first aim of this program is to reduce conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians on the road. A new regula-tion stipulates that cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles have to give way to pedestrians;
the vehicle needs to stop for pedestrians at least three meters away. This is crucial for

resolving the conflicts between right-turning vehicles and pedestrians crossing the street,especially in crowded areas* . The second aim is to improve the safety of schoolchildren,
especially when they cross intersections. As schoolchildren are relatively short and dif-ficult for drivers to spot, the Taiwanese government thus initiated a safety flag program.

Elementary school students are given safety flags to be used while commuting, especiallywhen crossing a road (see Fig. 5). A few elementary schools have been selected to first
demonstrate the use of safety flags, and the media have been invited to disseminate

and promote this program. The governments have also produced a video demonstrating
the use of safety flags and distributed it to school teachers, administrative staffs, andelementary schoolchildren. Lastly, the program advertises to drivers by giving out safety

flag stickers. This program has continued for two years. In 2011 and 2012, approximately
170 thousand safety flags were distributed, and eighty percent of first-grade elementary
schoolchildren had them.

* In Taiwan, vehicles drive on the right.

16

Figure 5. Safety flags for school children
Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications

4.4.5 Improving cycling safety(1) Central government agencies:
The MOE plays the central role in educating schoolchildren about cycling safety. The

ministry has produced two cycling safety manuals for schoolchildren: the Cycling Teaching
Manual for Elementary and Junior High School Students and the Cycling Safety Learning
Manual for Elementary and Junior High School Students (TW21).

The Sports Administration, under the MOE, is responsible for hosting activities thatencourage cycling as a form of exercise and for holding conferences aimed at exchanging
ideas on cycling safety.

The Ministry of Interior is responsible for conducting cycling riding safety information
campaign activities through the NPA.
(2) Local governments:
Local governments may host local activities or conferences to promote cycling riding andsafety. Local police stations in Taiwan may also conduct activities to promote cycling

safety. For example, the Hualien County police bureau, located in eastern Taiwan (famousfor ecotourism), initiated a special project called “Cycle Safely, Travel Easily.” The bureau
selected 26 police stations located in popular tourism spots in Hualien County and pro-vided simple maintenance service for bicycles. Other service items included free water, air
pumping, basic first aid, and travel information.
(3) Private organizations:
Private organizations such as bicycle manufacturers and travel agencies sometimes conduct different activities to promote cycling riding and safety.

The aforementioned cycling safety manuals comprise five parts10. The first part is about

the basic structure of the bicycle, providing riders with basic knowledge about bicycles

so that they can maintain their bicycles regularly and thereby reduce the risk of problems
during riding. The second part is aimed at checking the roadworthiness of the bicycle

prior to riding. The third part covers cycling clothing and safety equipment (for exam-

ple, clothes such as coats should not be tied around the waist while riding). The fourthpart is about safety knowledge for cycling, which includes road courtesy and emergency

17
response to vehicle collisions. For example, when riders need to overtake pedestrians,
other bicycles, or cars in front of them, they should reserve a one-meter gap for safe

passing. Bicycles are not allowed on sidewalks or inside lanes. When encountering vehicle
collisions, riders should follow the following five steps: 1) display warning signs to warn

approaching upstream vehicles; 2) call the police or an ambulance, if necessary; 3) record
the position of the vehicle collision using, for example their smartphones; 4) remove col-lided vehicles from roads, if possible; and 5) wait for the police or an ambulance. The lastpart of the manual is related to bicycling safely and includes information about braking
distances at various riding speeds and the correct way to brake (first rear wheel, thenfront wheel), cross intersections, turn or change lanes safely, and ride at night or without
illumination.

5

Conclusion
To improve traffic safety, full cooperation among engineering, law enforcement, andeducation groups is crucial. Roadway engineering, law enforcement, and safety education
all have a profound influence on driving behavior and thus the occurrence of traffic acci-

dents. In Taiwan, traffic safety education has become increasingly important, as roadway
engineering and law enforcement have stepped into a mature stage.

This report first introduced the trends and major characteristics of traffic accidents in
Taiwan, followed by an overview of the partnerships between organizations involvedin traffic safety education and safety campaign activities. Lastly, the report detailed

selected programs and campaign activities. Clearly, government plays a crucial role intraffic safety education and information campaign activities in Taiwan, particularly thetransportation and education departments. A few private organizations, such as the Jing
Chuan Child Safety Foundation, also devote themselves to various types of traffic safety
education. Traffic safety education has been formally promoted in schools since 1969and has recently become a crucial topic in elderly driving safety and lifelong learning

education. The graduated licensing programs for both regular and professional operating
licenses are robust and continue to improve. Some special programs, such as safety flags
for schoolchildren, and the regulations requiring back-seat passengers to buckle theirseat belts are relatively new but gradually finding a footing in Taiwanese society.

The trends of traffic accidents in Taiwan indicate that, while fatalities have steadily

declined, the number of traffic accidents and accident rates are increasing. Comparedto other developed countries such as Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany, Taiwan

can do better, and safety education will play a crucial role in the improvement effort. As

suggested by the NRTSC, motorcycles, elderly drivers, and drunk driving are the three top

safety issues in Taiwan that demand resolution in the near future. While various education
programs and information campaign activities have been developed, it will be very important to continue running them in an effective manner. The cooperation among engineer-ing, enforcement, and education is also a key to continuous improvement of traffic safety,
requiring input from governments, private organizations, and the public.

18

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Author Profile
Yi-Shih Chung
Associate professor and Department head, Department of Logistics
and Shipping Management, Kainan University

Yi-Shih Chung obtained a master’s degree from Northwestern University and a Ph.D degree from National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan

in 2008. Before joining Kainan, Dr. Chung was a postdoctoral fellow at
the Georgia Institute of Technology in the U.S.

His research interests include traffic safety, driving behavior, trans-

portation economics, and travel demand modeling. He has publishedseveral papers in journals such as Accident Analysis and Prevention,

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour and
Journal of Air Transport Management.