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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS