TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Video surfaced on Tuesday (June 6) showing a woman struck by the 25th vehicle that failed to stop for her as she nearly reached the end of a zebra crossing in central Taiwan.
The woman was seen crossing the street in Taichung City's Shalu District on Tuesday night. In a video posted to the Facebook group "The Beauty of Shalu" (沙鹿之美), the woman can be seen waiting for about 10 seconds in front of a zebra crossing.
As there was no traffic signal and no vehicles were willing to yield for her, she waited until there was a lull in the traffic and looked both ways before starting to cross the street. None of the 24 cars and scooters that passed her yielded.
Just as she was finally about to reach the end of the crossing, she was hit by the 25th vehicle, a scooter, sending her flying down the street. She sustained cuts and bruises and was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency medical treatment, reported UDN.
According to a police investigation, at 8:42 p.m. on Tuesday, the woman surnamed Wu (吳) was seen standing in front of No. 124 on Shatian Road, near the intersection of Shatian Road and Siping Street in Shalu District. A man also surnamed Wu (吳) rode his scooter down Shatian Road headed toward Zhongzheng Street.
The scooterist then struck the pedestrian as she crossed Shatian Road. In the resulting collision, both parties suffered bruises, but they both remained conscious.
After submitting to a breathalyzer test, police did not detect alcohol in the scooter rider's bloodstream. Police submitted evidence from the scene to the Taichung City Police Department's Traffic Police Corps for analysis and assessment to determine culpability in the case.
Effective on March 31, a new traffic law went into effect that raises the fine for small passenger vehicles and large commercial vehicles that do not yield to pedestrians on crosswalks or when executing turns to NT$3,600 (US$117). However, the fine for scooter riders who commit the same offense remains at NT$1,200.
