An alleged drunk driver who refused to take field sobriety tests after being stopped by police on two consecutive days has been fined NT$360,000, the Taipei City Government said yesterday.
The 30-year-old man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), was pulled over for driving his truck on the wrong side of the road near the intersection of Civic Boulevard and Zhongnan Street, Nangang Police Station chief Lin Cheng-wei (林承緯) said at a news conference.
The officers who stopped Cheng could smell alcohol inside his vehicle, but the driver denied he had been drinking, Lin said.
Photo copy by Chueh Ching-lun, Taipei Times
Cheng said he had just finished eating ginger duck hot pot, which contains rice wine, but he refused to comply with the officers’ request for a breath alcohol test, Lin said.
After entering Cheng’s details into a police database, the officers discovered that he had been stopped in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊) on his motorcycle the previous day and had also refused to take a breath alcohol test, Lin said.
Based on the two refusals, the department issued Cheng the fine under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) and impounded his vehicle, Lin said.
Article 35 of the act says that drivers who refuse to comply with sobriety tests can be fined NT$180,000, have their vehicle impounded and have their driver’s license revoked.
Those who refuse twice within a 10-year period can face a NT$360,000 fine.
Drunk drivers could also face up to three years in prison and a fine of up to NT$300,000 after legislative amendments took effect earlier this year.
Lin urged people not to let those around them drive under the influence of alcohol and to assign a designated driver to arrive home safely.
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