According to the current Road Traffic Management and Punishment Act, it is only mandatory for the driver and front-seat passenger of a car to buckle their seat belts. Those who violate this rule can be fined US$90-180 if caught on highways or expressways, while the fine is around US$45 if caught on other roads. The current act, however, does not require backseat passengers to wear seat belts. If the new law is passed, backseat as well as front-seat passengers who do not comply will face fines of up to US$180.
The amendment also stated that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications would have three months to promote the new policy after the amendment was passed. If the bill is passed in this legislative session, which was considered very likely, the ministry expected the new regulation to go into force next May.
The committee made the amendment in the wake of a traffic accident that left Shaw and Hu injured and made national headlines Nov. 18. The couple's car was on a national highway, and Shaw was sitting in one of the backseats and not wearing a seat belt. While Hu was only slightly wounded, Shaw fell into a coma after being rushed to hospital. As of press time, Shaw remained in intensive care.
The accident happened when the mayor and his wife were returning to Taichung after attending an election campaign event for Kuomintang mayoral candidate Huang Chun-ying in Kaohsiung. The accident attracted additional media attention as it occurred during election season.
Democratic Progressive Party legislator Chen Tsiao-long told a local newspaper that he had already proposed the amendment in October last year. Chen was involved in a similar accident last year, which motivated him to make the proposal. While campaigning for Taipei County magistrate candidate Luo Wen-jia, he was involved in a traffic accident on the way to an event in Rueifang Township. The car in which he was traveling collided with an electricity pole, and Chen's head hit the car door. His cheekbones were seriously fractured, and, although he has undergone five operations, he still requires extensive reconstructive surgery.
The Legislature's Organic Laws and Statutes Bureau cited statistics from the National Police Administration regarding fatal car accidents in Taiwan in 2004. It found that the death rate for motorists not wearing seat belts was about three times higher than that for those who were. The death rate from traffic accidents has declined significantly since 2001 when the use of seat belts in the front seats of private cars became mandatory, dropping from 6.62 percent in 2001 to 2.75 percent in 2005.
The amendment, however, would not make seat-belt use mandatory in all vehicles on all roads. A spokesperson from Chen's office, Lin Ming-chih, explained that this was because it would take time for drivers and passengers to become accustomed to this kind of restrictive rule with punitive clause. Furthermore, he said, the MOTC needed to draw up plans to promote safety-related practices and to require all cars to be suitably equipped before any comprehensive rule could be passed and become effective.