TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Transportation on Thursday said pedestrian walk signals will remove the running “little green man“ animation to prevent individuals from rushing across intersections.

Department of Railways, Highways and Road Safety Director-General Wu Tung-ling (吳東凌) said that some pedestrian signals switch to a “quick-walk” or “running” animation just before the light changes, per Liberty Times. This feature has been adopted in 20 counties and cities across Taiwan.

Wu said the little green man will still flash when the time for pedestrians to cross the street winds down. However, under the new rules, the figure's running animation will be discontinued to prevent the misconception that pedestrians are being urged to hurry or run at the last moment.

The Cabinet directed the ministry to coordinate with local governments on implementation as soon as possible. Since the change may require software modifications, a transition period will be allowed, but the updates are to be applied nationwide by the end of this year.

In January, the ministry confirmed that the flashing signal is not meant to urge pedestrians to hurry, but rather to indicate they should wait. Current regulations prohibit individuals from starting to cross the street when the signal is flashing, leading to some being fined.

To address this, the ministry announced a draft amendment to Article 207 of the Regulations on Establishing Traffic Signs and Indicating Lines. The change relaxes the restriction to prevent unnecessary penalties and is expected to take effect in April.