Fatalities resulting from drunk driving have increased over the past five years, the National Police Administration (NPA) said yesterday.
"On average, 456 people died every year between 2000 and 2005 from drinking and driving," according to NPA statistics released yesterday.
While 434 people died in traffic accidents owing to drunk driving in 2004, this figure almost doubled to 828 last year, the NPA said.
The NPA added that traffic accidents caused by drunk driving reached 96,403 last year, making it the number one cause of driving accidents.
An amendment to the Criminal Code in 1999 made driving while inebriated illegal, but this has failed to deter people from drinking and driving, the NPA said.
People First Party (PFP) Legis-lator George Hsieh (
"Drunk drivers should receive a heavier sentence if they repeatedly break the law," Hsieh said.
Wang Te-ming (
"While the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has regulated that bus drivers should be tested for alcohol before they go on duty, this has not been strictly enforced," he said.
Wang told the conference that passengers on a bus in which the driver may be drunk have the right to ak the driver to take an alcohol breath test.
Under the current regulations, the legal limit for a driver's blood-alcohol level is 25mg per liter.
If a driver's blood-alcohol level exceeds 25mg per liter, he or she faces a fine from NT$15,000 to NT$60,000 -- depending on the type of vehicle driven and the blood-alcohol content.
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