Major Traffic Accidents with Casualties in Hualien and New Taipei — Yu Xiaomei’s Father: Who Would Dare Recommend Taiwan to Foreign Friends?

[Reporter Wang Junzhong / Tainan Report] On the 18th, a van lost control and crashed into a well-known breakfast shop in Hualien, causing 13 people to be injured with varying degrees of severity. On the afternoon of the 19th, another severe crash occurred in the school zone of Beida Elementary School in Sanxia, New Taipei City, resulting in 3 deaths and 12 injuries. Yu Zhixiang, whose own daughter was hit and killed by a car at an intersection in Tainan, lamented on Facebook that he doesn’t know how to face these tragedies. He believes that whether it is the problem of elderly drivers or the insufficient fail-safe mechanisms in road engineering, the government must take these issues seriously. Otherwise, with such poor traffic conditions, who would dare recommend foreign friends to visit Taiwan?

Yu Zhixiang bluntly said that you never know whether a traffic accident or tomorrow will come first. In the past two days, two major traffic accidents happened consecutively in Hualien and Sanxia, New Taipei City. He said he does not know what caused the cars to suddenly accelerate uncontrollably in both accidents. But he wants everyone to seriously consider why such “runaway” accidents happen so easily in Taiwan, and what engineering designs exist to prevent or reduce the damage after such runaway incidents — and he thinks the answer is almost none.

He stated that Taiwan’s road designs almost lack any fail-safe mechanisms. Once a car loses control, people can only helplessly watch the harm escalate. For example, the accident outside Beida Elementary School happened in a school zone. Roads in school zones should be designed to include S-shaped curves instead of straight lines, with barriers or parking spaces along the route to naturally force drivers to slow down. If the driver suddenly becomes incapacitated and cannot control the vehicle, these roadside barriers can help reduce speed and minimize harm.

In addition, there is the issue of elderly drivers. Yu Zhixiang pointed out that the driver involved in the Sanxia accident was 78 years old. He wonders whether the government’s licensing system for elderly drivers failed, or if other factors caused this tragedy. What we should consider is why a 78-year-old elder still has to drive themselves on the road. The government should grant everyone the freedom and right to move around, but what does our government give us? A transportation environment where without a motorcycle or car, it is basically impossible to live. Because of these traffic problems, most elderly people are forced to drive themselves.

Yu Zhixiang said Taiwan spends large sums every year on advertisements hoping to improve the tourism industry, but with such traffic conditions, who would dare recommend Taiwan to foreign friends?