By Eryk Michael Smith / Staff
KAOHSIUNG — A Kaohsiung woman who was fined NT$1,800 for running a red light near Formosa Boulevard MRT Station has gone viral after thanking the citizen who reported her, saying the fine may have “saved her life.”
According to a China Times report, the woman was riding her scooter through the “Formosa Boulevard intersection” when she was later cited for a red-light violation based on a citizen report. Confused by the fine, she reviewed the notice with her father and eventually went to a police station for clarification.
Police explained that riders at the intersection must follow the traffic signal positioned at the “11 o’clock direction,” rather than the signal directly ahead. Only then did she realize she had misread the lights.
She later shared the experience on the social media platform Threads, writing that while the fine was painful, it taught her an important lesson.
“If I had kept riding as I was used to doing, it would have been really dangerous,” she wrote, adding that she was grateful to the reporting citizen for helping her avoid a potentially serious accident.
Her post struck a chord with many Kaohsiung residents, who said the intersection’s signal placement makes it easy to misjudge. Several commenters said they had witnessed near-collisions at the same location and urged city authorities to review and improve the traffic light design.
