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Taipei Mayor Unhappy with Rising Traffic Casualties
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou was enraged Friday by a sharp rise in the city's traffic accidents and resultant human casualties last year, Taiwanese media reported.
Ma, who had just concluded a high-profile visit to Hong Kong, was cited as saying that he felt uneasy comparing Taipei's traffic accident rate with that of Hong Kong.
While Hong Kong's population is 2.5 times Taipei's, its traffic death toll is only 1.5 times that of Taipei, the mayor said, adding that the city authorities should complete an overall review of the situation within one month.
Statistics showed that a total of 181 serious traffic accidents were reported in 2000, marking an increase of 17 cases from the 1999 level.
The mayor said he feels unease whenever he thinks that Taipei is lagging behind Hong Kong and Shanghai in terms of urban development and administrative efficiency. It takes only a year or two to build a skyscraper in Hong Kong, while it took Taipei 10 years to complete the City Hall building, Ma said.
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