Taichung’s Second Police Precinct conducted three days of around-the-clock roadside sobriety testing earlier this week, as part of the city government’s efforts to toughen up on drunk drivers.
The operation netted four motorists suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), as officials warned drivers against taking cars and scooters on the road after consuming alcoholic beverages at banquets or going out drinking with coworkers, officials said.
The precinct had five police units rotating day and night at certain street locations to administer sobriety tests from Sunday to Wednesday, it said.
Photo: Copy by Chen Chien-chih, Taipei Times
Although six motorists were suspected of drinking and driving, only four were found to have an alcohol reading over the legal limit of 0.15 milligrams per liter (mg/L) after being given a Breathalyzer test.
The three-day crackdown came after three accidents involving drunk drivers earlier this month, which resulted in four deaths and one person being severely injured.
The most severe of the three accidents occurred in Taichung’s Longjing District (龍井) on Sunday, when a driver surnamed Tsai (蔡), 34, provided a ride to two friends and drove the car into a semi-trailer parked on the roadside.
Tsai and his friend, surnamed Lai (賴), who was also seated in front, later died of their injuries at a local hospital, while the passenger in the back seat remains in critical condition due to a severe head injury.
Local police took blood samples, which indicated that Tsai, a restaurant cook, had a blood alcohol level of 1.1 mg/L.
Another accident involved a Chinese tourist who was killed last Saturday when he was out walking in Kinmen (金門) and got hit by a drunk driver.
The third accident also happened on Sunday, when a newspaper deliveryman on a scooter in Tainan was killed by a driver surnamed Ma (馬).
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