The vast majority of people who responded to a recent survey believe that increasing penalties can help deter drunk driving, a poll released by National Chung Cheng University’s Crime Research Center indicated.
Nearly 80 percent of those surveyed advocated stiffer penalties to curb the problem and 56 percent said major law enforcement campaigns could halt the practice, said the center’s director, Yang Shu-lung (楊士隆).
The results indicate that the public hopes government agencies can use “thunderbolt” strategies to stop the tragedies that result from driving under the influence (DUI), Yang said.
The National Police Agency strengthened DUI law enforcement in June and last month.
Regarding other areas of law enforcement and the judicial system, the survey showed 62 percent of respondents supported for the government’s efforts in preventing fraud while 54 percent expressed satisfaction with the way in which the police processed cases — an increase of 14 percent from last year.
However, two-thirds of respondents were dissatisfied with the government’s enforcement of food safety and hygiene rules.
Over 70 percent of those surveyed questioned the fairness of prosecutors’ investigations and 74.4 percent questioned the impartiality of judges’ verdicts.
The survey also found that the of people who thought the establishment of the Agency Against Corruption was not helpful in combating corruption increased to 64 percent this year, from 54 percent last year.
Yang attributed the lower rate of satisfaction with government anti-graft measures to the involvement of high ranking officials in graft cases, such as the recent case of alleged bribery against former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世).
Concerns over food safety were probably connected to the recent fracas over beef imports from the US, Yang added.
The survey was conducted between July 6 and 15 and obtained 1,987 valid samples.
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