TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Taiwanese netizens were shocked to see video footage released on Monday (Feb. 18) showing two buses in a row in New Taipei City deliberately stopping at a zebra crossing and checking for pedestrians before barreling down the road.
After two recent deaths of pedestrians caused by buses turning right and plowing through zebra crossings in Taipei, a motorist took note of the extraordinarily new cautious behavior of bus drivers in New Taipei City. On Monday, the motorist posted dashcam footage of two successive buses cautiously stopping at a zebra crossing and searching for pedestrians, before roaring down the road.
On Feb. 18, a 20-year-old female student from Chinese Culture University was killed when a bus making a right turn struck her as she walked on the zebra crosswalk an entrance to Chinese Culture University on Yangmingshan in Taipei's Shilin District. On March 12, a 44-year-old woman was killed after being struck by a bus turning right from Chongqing Road onto Zhongxiao West Road.
Position where the buses stopped. (Photo from Facebook page 爆廢公社)
The video of the two No. 307 buses was taken at 8:56 a.m. on Friday (March 15) as the driver waited at a red light on Minzu Road in New Taipei City's Banqiao District. The first bus, was from the Capital Bus Company, while the second was operated by the Taipei Bus Company.
In both cases, after making a right turn onto Minzu Road, the bus drivers carefully bring their vehicles to a full stop and look to their left and right, before hitting the gas and lurching forward again. After one netizen wondered what the "mysterious hand gestures" used by the drivers was, another quickly responded by saying that it signifies that "no one is on the left and no one is on the right," which is what the drivers should be saying before passing through a zebra crossing.
The motorist uploaded the video to Baofei Commune (爆廢公社) on Monday and wrote, "When I stopped at this red light, I thought I was in Japan!"
Bus starting to drive through zebra crossing. (Photo from Facebook page 爆廢公社)
Netizens had strong words of praise for the No. 307 drivers' compliance with proper SOP:
"These drivers get a 100 percent."
"Respect."
"The drivers took more time to look around, the pedestrians paid more attention, everyone is safe!"
A netizen from Changhua expressed envy and the good driving practices exhibited in New Taipei: "I hope every county and city could be like this!"
