Taiwan to implement all-way pedestrian crossings nationwide

台灣全面推動行人專用時相

22 counties, cities ordered to implement pedestrian scramble crossings


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In response to the latest incident in which a pedestrian was killed at a zebra crossing, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications on Wednesday (May 10) announced that all cities and counties across the country are to install scramble intersections, which include a phase that requires cars from all directions to yield to pedestrians.

A three-year-old girl died on Monday (May 8) after she and her mother were struck by an SUV as they walked across a pedestrian crossing in Tainan City. Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) on Wednesday said that he feels great regret about the incident and has called on all of Taiwan's counties and special municipalities to adjust intersections to include "pedestrian-only timing," reported ETtoday.

With a pedestrian scramble or diagonal crossing, all vehicular traffic is brought to a halt to allow pedestrians to cross the intersection from any direction. One of the busiest and most famous scramble crossings in the world is the Shibuya Crossing at Hachiko Square in Tokyo.

Wang said that the country must ensure the rights of pedestrians trying to cross the street. He said that on April 10, he had sent a notice to all 22 county and special municipality governments providing pedestrian safety standards.

According to Wang, pedestrian safety inspections have also begun in various counties and cities. Currently, Wang said that Taoyuan City and Tainan City have completed these inspections.

The minister said because some measures cannot be achieved in the short term, such as expanding the crossing line to avoid blind spots for drivers, it will take time to address safety issues. On Tuesday (May 9), all counties and cities were required to carry out short-term improvement projects to fully promote the "pedestrian-only phase" at intersections, said Wang.

Wang explained that it will require county and city governments to comprehensively promote pedestrian-only phases, or during early morning hours require lights to be red for cars when pedestrian signs turn green.

Wang said that the governments of counties and cities have been asked to immediately implement pedestrian-only phases. The ministry is also conducting traffic inspections and will keep abreast of the progress.