A man with one drunk driving fatality convivtion was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly causing a fatal traffic accident in Keelung while intoxicated.
The suspect, surnamed Lee (李), 30, is thought to have deviated into coming traffic, slamming his car into a motorcycle ridden by a man surnamed Lin (林), 18, resulting in a head-on collision, Baifu (百福) Police Station chief Lin Wen-hsiu (林文修) said.
“The victim sustained severe injuries and was pronounced dead at a local hospital,” the police chief said. “The suspect’s car was also damaged and he tried to flee the scene, but was caught by officers with the help of witnesses.”
Lee had a blood alcohol level of 0.66 milligrams per liter (mg/L), well above the legal limit of 0.15 mg/L, police said.
Prosecutors intend to charge Lee for offenses against public safety and negligence leading to death, they said.
Three years ago, Lee was convicted of causing the death of a woman in New Taipei City while driving drunk, prosecutors said.
Despite being a repeat offender, a local court yesterday granted Lee release on NT$200,000 bail.
The victim’s family said they were outraged after finding out Lee served only a three-month prison term for his prior convictions, and that he had been granted bail.
“It is absurd... The suspect is a repeat drunk driving offender and has caused two deaths, but the judiciary still granted him release on only NT$200,000 bail,” the victim’s uncle said.
“It is very painful for our family. Lin was a good kid and he had a bright future and was planning a military career. The driver destroyed a happy family,” he added.
“The punishment is too lenient for drunk drivers who cause fatal accidents. The courts only give them light sentences. We urge the judiciary to hand out more severe penalties,” the uncle said.
His nephew had been in the military for three months, his uncle said, adding that the youth was home to visit family when the accident happened because he had a few days leave over the new year period.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai