The pictures and names of drunk-driving repeat offenders are to be publicized after the Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) implements an update to the enforcement rules by the end of this month.
The faces of repeat offenders would not be pixelated and their names would be revealed in full, the highway authority said, following a discussion with experts on Friday last week.
The list of offenders would be posted on the Web sites of the agency’s motor vehicle offices, it added.
Photo: Huang Liang-chieh, Taipei Times
The measure is part of tougher drunk-driving penalties targeting repeat offenders in an amendment to Article 35 of the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) passed by the Legislative Yuan in January, which is to be enforced on March 31, the agency said.
Participants in last week’s meeting generally agreed that the government needs not blur the faces of repeat offenders and can release their full names, but the experts have yet to reach a consensus on whether the pictures should be obtained from motor vehicle offices or household registration offices, the agency said.
Some participants suggested that the government use mug shots taken when the repeat offenders were stopped by the police, it added.
Although Tainan earlier this month became the first city in Taiwan to disclose the names and pictures of three drunk drivers, some criticized the city for pixelating their faces and not disclosing their full names.
Others accused it of breaching personal data protection rules.
Whether Tainan’s disclosure of their pictures constituted a data privacy breach would be determined by the National Development Council, the agency said.
DGH Director-General Chen Wen-ruey (陳文瑞) said his agency would only disclose the information of repeat offenders until courts have decided their cases, estimating that this would take about one month from their offense.
In addition to the publication of their information, the amendment also stipulates that people who are caught driving drunk twice or more within 10 years or refuse to undergo breath alcohol tests are to be considered repeat offenders.
Passengers aged 18 or older who are caught riding in a vehicle driven by a drunk person would be fined NT$6,000 to NT$15,000.
Vehicles of first-time drunk drivers would be confiscated if they cause serious personal injuries or death.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS