Department of Transportation

According to the records of the Taipei City Department of Transportation, on the 16th of October this year, a gravel truck turning right from No. 601, Zhongzheng Rd. onto Chongqing North Rd., was suspected of not seeing a motorcycle traveling on the lower, front right-hand side of the gravel truck due to a blind spot, causing it to crash and run over the motorcycle during the turn, killing two people. Also, at the end of September on Zhuangjing Rd., a motorcyclist traveling beside a bus fell, slid under the bus and was killed; at the beginning of October at the intersection of Zhongshan North Rd. and Beiping West Rd., a motorcyclist, suspected of speeding, entered the turning radius of the inner wheel of a bus turning right, and was crushed to death.
In view of the frequent fatal traffic incidents between large vehicles and motorcycles, the Department of Transportation has requested heavier law enforcement from the TCPD Traffic Division targeting large vehicles’ and motorcycles’ traffic violations. At the same time, the Department of Transportation expressed that fatal incidents involving large vehicles crushing motorcyclists and resulting in death are not uncommon accidents; large vehicles have the negative feature of having a “high probability of ‘fatal’ accident occurrence” especially due to their large “blind spots”. When motorcyclists are riding beside the large vehicle, the driver of the large vehicle may not always be able to see the motorcycles! In the gravel truck incident on the 16th at Zhongzheng Rd., according to the images shown by the traffic monitors, when the motorcyclists crossed before the gravel truck, one of them made a hand signal to the gravel truck driver to “give way”, meaning that they thought the truck driver had seen them. However, it was suspected that they were in a blind spot and had not been seen. The driver of a vehicle would only apply precautionary measures if he/she had seen the other road users. If the driver did not see the other road users due to a blind spot and continues to drive, it is often too late when the driver finally notices that something had gone wrong after running over the other vehicle with its large body! In addition, the different turning radii of the inner wheels constitute a problem unique to large vehicles while turning, it is also one of the common reasons leading to fatal accidents!
The Department of Transportation states that: For incidents between motorcycles and large vehicles, regardless of whether or not the investigation or judicial verdict is in favor of the motorcyclist, the truth is that, it is invariably the motorcyclist who is injured or killed. In regard to prior cases of fatal traffic accidents, motorcyclists are asked to strengthen their defensive driving concepts; the most important one to remember is that: the area around large vehicles is a highly dangerous zone, so don’t get too close to large vehicles! Also, drivers of large vehicles should maintain vigilance when on the road, and be aware of the extra high risks associated with driving large vehicles. Driving with caution will ensure road safety.

2012-11-29