Taiwanese teens flee after car crash in Ishigaki Island, Japan — local rental company: Considering higher rental fees for Taiwanese tourists

Reporter Tian f? Ao, special report

Some Taiwanese tourists involved in car accidents while renting vehicles on Ishigaki Island in Okinawarefused to compensate and abandoned the cars, prompting the rental company to say it “may stop renting to Taiwanese travelers”; in an exclusive interview with ETtoday ETToday Dongsen News Cloud, the company revealed that the culprits were a group of “young punks,” with some even falsely claiming they had filled up the gas tank upon returning the vehicle to avoid paying, leading the company to angrily state: “If Taiwanese do it again, we may raise rental prices.”

%Ji Di Mai Tuo Zai Le ??Hao Di You, Xie Di Fa Shi Nv Sheng. (Japan, the victims filed a police report. (Japan, the victims filed a police report.)

A car rental company on Ishigaki Island told ETtoday ETToday Dongsen News Cloud that a group of young Taiwanese rented a car and accidentally hit a parked, unoccupied vehicle on the roadside. After causing the accident, the youths quickly fled the scene, but locals witnessed the incident and promptly called the police, which led to the situation coming to light.

The second accident involved a Taiwanese family who collided with an elderly local couple. They claimed not to speak Japanese as a reason for refusing to take responsibility for the accident. Later, their English-speaking daughter communicated with the rental company regarding compensation, but they thenused the excuse that “repair costs were too high” to decide to pay only half upfront and send the remaining balance via bank transfer after returning to Taiwan. However, they never followed up and seemingly vanished without a trace.

%The company revealed that a group of young Taiwanese had fled Ishigaki Island after the accident. (Japan, the victims filed a police report.)

In addition, the rental company also accused some Taiwanese tourists ofrefusing to admit they had damaged the bumper, and some evenfalsely claimed they had filled up the gas tank upon returning the vehicle to avoid paying, leaving the company feeling quite helpless. They stated that they have always hoped to offer customers affordable car rentals for travel,and they will continue to rent to Taiwanese tourists in the future, but if there is no improvement after warnings, they may consider raising rental prices, “after all, only a small number of Taiwanese tourists have engaged in such bad behavior.”