Lin Chia-lung provokes anger by telling drivers to be ‘smart’ and ‘avoid problems’

Transportation minister Lin Chia-lung has come under fire for suggesting that motorists should be, quote "smart" and "avoid problems" after a traffic jam on National Freeway No. 5. that went on for 36 hours. As Taiwan''s highways experience unprecedented traffic over the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend, many think the government has failed to adequately prepare. Responding to widespread criticism, Lin says he just wanted to encourage the use of smart technologies to ease traffic, but he admits he may have been "imprecise" in his initial comments. Day 2 of the Dragon Boat Festival: the new and improved Suhua Highway is full of cars. But with vehicles traveling at about 50 kilometers an hour, at least it’s not gridlock. Lai Chien-yu Freeway Bureau Traffic started appearing on parts of National Freeway No. 5 at 6 this morning. Probably some people left early because of the heavy traffic period between 7 a.m. and noon. From 9 a.m. or so it started easing up. Just the day before, National Freeway No. 5 set a new record with a 36-hour traffic jam, prompting comment from transport minister Lin Chia-lung. Lin Chia-lung (June 25) Transport minister We’ve employed all the traffic-easing measures we can. Our roads’ carrying capacities are limited. If there’s a sudden surge in traffic there will be gridlock. The Freeway Bureau predicted as much. Don’t go down to a certain road and become part of the jam at a peak period. I think a smart road user avoids problems, is discerning and chooses carefully the times and roads they go out on. Hung Mong-kai KMT lawmaker In this situation, where the government has failed to make timely preparations, perhaps if the minister would relax at home, enjoy some more festive food and hold off from making public statements, perhaps he would find a bit more empathy for people. KMT lawmaker Hung Mong-kai fought back at Lin’s words, and many internet users felt the same way. The minister’s Facebook page was inundated with irate comments such as “You’re the smart one, huh? And only idiots get in traffic jams.” Or, “Road users should avoid problems? What’s your job, again?” Taoyuan City Councilor Wang Hau-yu has come to Lin’s defense, saying he was encouraging people to use the “1968” traffic monitoring app to plan their journeys. New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih also weighed in on the matter. Hou Yu-ih New Taipei mayor Of course sometimes it can be hard to manage the whole situation. We must keep improving our technology continuously, to give people information and disperse traffic. Transport ministry figures show that 123 million kilometers were driven on national highways on Thursday, a new Dragon Boat Festival record. But the suggestion that people could “avoid problems” has hit a nerve. Lin issued a statement saying he didn’t intend to blame anyone, but wanted to encourage the use of smart technologies to improve the situation. He says he is willing to retract any imprecise comments from his earlier statement.

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