Government Setting Up Pedestrian Priority Zones on Taiwan's Roads

Taiwan's roads could soon have pedestrian priority zones designed to stop frequent accidents.

Transcript

00:00Close calls between drivers and pedestrians are a part of life in Taiwan.

00:04Two years ago, CNN coined the phrase pedestrian hell to sum up the situation.

00:09And despite nationwide protests organized by a burgeoning pedestrian rights movement,

00:13there's still room for improvement.

00:15In the first half of this year, high-tech monitoring equipment placed at select crosswalks

00:20caught 3,600 accidents involving drivers and people on foot.

00:24But there is something being done.

00:26As early as October, Taiwan will roll out pedestrian priority zones on certain stretches of road.

00:39The speed limit in these zones will be 20 kilometers an hour.

00:42As with any new plan, public opinion is mixed.

00:57But officials are hopeful the zones will protect people on foot

01:02and remind drivers to pay attention.

01:05The new priority zones will come with teeth.

01:08Though a minor speeding infraction will only come with a 75 U.S. dollar ticket,

01:11a major one could set drivers back 1,100 U.S. dollars,

01:15a serious chunk of the average monthly salary.

01:17The new system may not solve Taiwan's traffic woes,

01:20but it could serve as a wake-up call to drivers who don't yet take traffic laws seriously.

01:24Scott Huang and John Ventriest in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.