Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/26
By: Wang Shu-fen and Y.F. Low
Taipei, Feb. 26 (CNA) Taiwan recorded 36 road traffic fatalities involving
This crash in southern Taiwan’s Pintung County in April 2015 killed the two riders and their passengers. CNA file photo
riders of motorcycles with an engine size larger than 250cc last year, the largest number ever seen in the country, according government statistics released Friday.
In 2015, fatal road traffic accidents dropped by 7.4 percent from the previous year to 1,639 in 2015, and the number of people killed decreased by 123 to 1,696, both hitting a new low in recent years, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said.
Although deaths involving motorcycle riders continued to account for the largest portion of the fatalities at 965 (56.9 percent), the number represents a fall of 7.2 percent from the previous year, the ministry said.
Among the motorcycle riders who died in traffic accidents last year, 822 people (85.2 percent) were operating vehicles with an engine size between 51cc and 250cc, down 119 from 2014. [FULL STORY]
