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EDITORIAL: Moving in
the right direction
Traffic accident deaths related to drunk driving in the first half of the year
were almost half what they were in the first half of last year, just 137.
Without the benefit of a scientific study, it still seems pretty clear that this
sharp decline was the direct result of the amendments passed in mid-January to
the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) that increased the
penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Those amendments, which boosted the maximum fine for driving under the
influence, also said drivers who fail to stop at a police checkpoint for a
sobriety test would be subject to the maximum fine, have their vehicles
impounded and driver’s licenses revoked, and be required to attend classes on
traffic safety.
Last month, the permissible blood-alcohol level for operating a motor vehicle
was lowered to 0.03, one of the lowest levels in the world. Police also gained
the authority to ask a prosecutor for permission to take a drunk-driving suspect
who refuses to take a Breathalyzer test to a hospital for a blood test. This is
a vast improvement on previous efforts to revise the Criminal Code to deal with
drunk drivers, in which legal quibbles over what the permissible levels for
blood alcohol and the results of Breathalyzer tests limited the effectiveness of
the law.
Taiwan now has one of the toughest laws against drunk driving in the world. It
is the result of drunk driving being No. 1 for too many years — in the category
of "cause of traffic accident."
Over the past decade there have been several cases where even police officers or
other senior officials were able to avoid prosecution for drunk driving because
their alcohol level was not tested in time, if at all. Or if they did face
punishment, drunk driving was still played down. For example, after the
presiding judge of the Military Supreme Court was involved in a drunk-driving
accident in 2003 — he hit a taxi — the Ministry of National Defense press
release announcing that the judge had been removed from his post and given a
major demerit actually said that drunk driving was not serious. The ministry was
more upset because the judge’s behavior had “disgraced the service.”
A decade later and drunk driving is now seen as a serious offence. However, the
message needs a lot of reinforcement because National Police Agency statistics
show that between 2006 and 2010, 17.8 percent of people nabbed for drunk driving
had more than one drunk-driving violation. Government statistics show 124,620
drunk-driving violations were reported last year, an increase of 11,190 over
2011. The agency said there were 59,457 drunk-driving violations in the first
half of this year, with 23,809 suspects facing prosecution.
What is important now is that this momentum for tough legal repercussions for
choosing a culture of drinking and driving be kept up. The law requiring
motorcycle and scooter riders to wear helmets has worked because violators are
easy to spot and catch. However, the record for other dangerous driving
practices is not so good.
In January 2001, the legislature passed a law banning drivers from using
handheld cellphones while driving. A police crackdown in the immediate aftermath
of that law’s enactment helped curb the all-too-frequent sight of drivers
holding their car wheel in one hand and holding up their cellphone in the other.
Over the years, though, it once again became common to see people trying to
drive while using their handheld cellphones. Police enforcement became
negligible. The legislature was forced to pass a stronger law that took effect
on Jan. 1 this year, banning drivers from operating cellphones or any
mobile-phone type device in the handheld mode unless they are parked or
temporarily stopped.
Police crackdown campaigns or weekend and holiday roadside checks for people
driving under the influence are sporadic at best. It will take a prolonged
effort of enforcement — coupled with societal pressure in the form of “friends
don’t let friends drive drunk” and designated driver campaigns — to ensure that
drunk driving, whether in a car or on a scooter, is no longer looked upon as a
joke.
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