Department of Transportation

To promote humanistic transportation and ensure pedestrian safety, the Taipei City Traffic Engineering Office (hereafter referred to as the TEO) has controlled traffic lights to reduce confrontations between pedestrians and vehicles at intersections. Pedestrians are urged to follow the pedestrian green light (green walking man) and drivers shall comply with the traffic green light to cross intersections. Under the principle of pedestrians having the right of way, pedestrians shall walk at a fast pace when crossing intersections, so that traffic safety at intersections can be maintained.
Taipei City has varying road types and widths at different intersections; vehicle and pedestrian flow volumes of respective directions are also different. After a comprehensive evaluation and taking the conditions and characteristics of intersections into consideration, the TEO has allocated appropriate passage durations for pedestrians and vehicles. For intersections having greater conflict between right-turning vehicles and pedestrians, the following three measures are taken to reduce confrontation: 1. Turning on the pedestrian green light first: The pedestrian green light turns on prior to putting on the vehicle green light of the same direction, so that pedestrians can go through the intersection first. This has been implemented at 30 intersections including the intersections between Zhongshan N. Rd. and Fulin Bridge and between Hengyang St.and Bo-ai St.; 2. Ending the pedestrian green light early: Pedestrian and vehicle green lights are simultaneously turned on, with the pedestrian green light being turned off early after most pedestrians have crossed the intersection; the vehicle green light for the same direction still remains on for vehicles to smoothly turn right. This mechanism is currently implemented at 322 intersections, including major intersections along Zhongxiao E. Rd., Nanking E. Rd. and Xinyi Rd.; 3 Pedestrian scrambles: Turning on the pedestrian green light when the vehicle red lights for respective directions are all on. This has been implemented at 165 intersections, such as the intersections between Shifu Rd. and Songgao Rd. and between Songzhi Rd. and Songshou Rd.
For intersections implemented with separate green light controls for pedestrians and vehicles, the pedestrian green light (green walking man) and vehicle green light of the same direction will not simultaneously turn on, except during equipment failure. The TEO urges pedestrians to watch the pedestrian green light (green walking man), and drivers to follow traffic lights when crossing intersections. Also, when the red light is on, both pedestrians and drivers shall wait patiently and avoid running the red light, in order to guarantee intersection traffic safety. In the case that accidents occur as a result of pedestrians running the red light, the pedestrian shall be held accountable for the accident even though car drivers are required to give way to pedestrians.

2013-09-05