Taiwan Ministry of Transportation proposes 100% earmarking of traffic fines for road safety

Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications has announced a proposed amendment to the ‘Regulations on the Distribution and Use of Road Traffic Violation Fines’ to ensure that 100% of traffic fine revenues are dedicated exclusively to road safety and law enforcement.

Under the current regulations, local governments are only required to allocate at least 12% of fine revenues to traffic-related purposes. The new proposal increases this mandatory allocation to 100%, aiming to prevent local governments from using traffic fines as general revenue. The funds will be used for practical improvements such as optimizing road signs, markings, and signals, as well as constructing pedestrian bridges and underpasses.

To ensure transparency, the Ministry will require local governments to publish reports on the allocation and execution of these funds every six months. The Ministry estimates that this change will inject over 18 billion TWD annually into road safety resources, based on projected fine revenues for the 2025 fiscal year.