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.
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