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Strict police work on the nation's roads saves lives

Strict enforcement of traffic laws implemented last January has saved 295 lives that would otherwise have been lost in car accidents, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.

Since Jan. 1, the National Police Agency has cracked down on six types of traffic violations -- drunk driving; serious speeding (40kph above the speed limit); running red lights; driving on the shoulders of freeways; driving oversized vehicles; and driving slowly in fast lanes on freeways.

In addition to targeting drunk driving, police have used hidden cameras to clamp down on the other traffic violations.

Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) held a press conference yesterday, during which he revealed the effects of the stricter policies.

Lee said that over the past six months, 1,303 people had died in 1,239 car accidents nationwide. Compared with the number of accidents and deaths from January to June last year, this represented a decrease of 19.2 percent and 18.5 percent respectively.

During the first half of last year, 1,598 people lost their lives in 1,534 car accidents. In other words, 295 lives were saved because of stricter law enforcement, Lee said.

Regarding drunk driving, police arrested 256 offenders over the last six months and the number of cases decreased by 104 from last year. Fatalities caused by drunk driving were 279, or 93 less than last year.

Lee said that the most frequent violation of the six types was running red lights. A total of 643,606 tickets were issued for that offense.

"Although these tickets might increase the revenue of the national treasury, that is by no means the objective of the scheme," Lee said.

"We want to achieve a reduction in the number of car accident fatalities. So far it has worked and we will continue," Lee said. "We aim to make this year a record year with the fewest fatalities caused by traffic accidents."
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