Regulation & Penalty

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According to the National Police Agency, 2573 people died in traffic crashes in 2007 in Taiwan, including 576 people who killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes. The number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities has increased steady in a rate of 2% growth every year in past ten years. Despite the enhanced regulations & penalty tougher on drunk driver each year, alcohol-related incidents reached 23% of all traffic fatalities and in number one of top ten traffic incidents in both 2006 and 2007. Furthermore, a higher alcohol limit submitted into the Legislation Yuan in early 2008 and would prosecute the drunk driver as endanger public safety when drunk driver alcohol in breath test reached 0.55mg/litter. Although the government has made the law and penalty tougher than before, the alcohol-related fatalities had 201 people killed in drunk driving crashes in first quarter of 2008, those involving a driver with an illegal alcohol level in breath at 0.56mg/litter or greater. Is the current law tough enough to stop people from drunk driving? The number of alcohol-related fatalities indicates more has to be done to eliminate drunk drivers especially those with high alcohol levels so as to reduce repeat offenders. While the government has reinforced the law and penalty of drunk driving, we educate people that safe roads are important to driver, passenger, pedestrian, or cyclist and people who need to understand the impact of drunk driving on other lives.

The current penalty listing below: