South African national fined for riding YouBike on freeway

A South African national was fined for riding a bicycle on National Highway 1 in New Taipei City last week, after she was allegedly guided onto the freeway by her smartphone.

Police received reports of a woman seen riding a bicycle on the freeway headed northbound between Linkou and Wugu on Tuesday, June 27, at around 7:00 pm,

A 24-year-old South African resident was stopped by police around 10 minutes later. The police officers took the errant cyclist back to Linkou after arranging for a Freeway Bureau truck to pick up the YouBike – a public share bicycle.

When questioned, the woman explained that she had been following the navigation system on her phone when she accidentally entered the freeway via the Linkou Interchange.

While the incident occurred last Tuesday, there was no media coverage until video surfaced over the weekend. The video footage showed cars moving slowly in congested traffic on the freeway, while the woman on the YouBike whizzes past the vehicles on the downhill section road shoulder.

The fine for riding a bicycle on the freeway is a minimum NT$3,000, and a maximum NT$6,000.

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