Increased penalties and roadside checks as well as upgraded treatment programs would be implemented to combat driving under the influence (DUI) as the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday.
Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said that alcohol is commonly served at year-end banquets.
“Getting drunk is dangerous and people must not drive after drinking,” Tsai told a news conference at the ministry in Taipei. “Government agencies will strictly enforce the rules and uphold punishments for DUI offenses.”
Photo: CNA
People must not think they can get away with being behind the wheel after drinking, he said, adding that the ministry’s agencies and prosecutors have been ordered to coordinate with law-enforcement personnel to expand prevention programs, patrols and roadside checks for the next few weeks.
Five measures — “strict implementation of roadside DUI checks,” “severe punishments for DUI offenses,” “upgraded treatment programs for people with alcohol addiction,” “guaranteed protection and compensation for people hurt by DUI offenses” and “strict scrutiny of DUI offenders seeking early parole” — were implemented yesterday, he said.
The medical community and Ministry of Health and Welfare officials told the news conference that people must remember drinking alcohol impairs mental and physical functions, diminishing reaction times and leading to mishaps.
Alcohol poses a real danger to drivers, as well as pedestrians and other vehicles on the road, they said.
“Schools have taught that drunk driving is wrong, while society and the media provide constant reminders about the dangers, but the DUI situation in Taiwan is much worse than in some less-developed countries with far lower GDP,” Taiwan Against Drunk Driving Association director Chen Chiao-chi (陳喬琪) said. “This fact is shameful for our society.”
The Taiwan Alcohol Prevention Association, the Taiwan Society of Psychiatry, Mackay Memorial Hospital, doctors at the ministry’s Taipei City Hospitals, and delegates from the Agency of Corrections, the Administrative Enforcement Agency and the Agency Against Corruption also attended the news conference.
Enforcement last year resulted in 3,244 DUI indictments with sentences that were not commutable to fines, a sixfold increase from 2021, justice ministry data showed.
Overall, there were 9,159 people convicted of DUI offenses last year, 1.4 times the number a year earlier, the data showed.
Separately, National Police Agency Director-General Huang Ming-chao (黃明昭) confirmed a personnel reshuffle, with 87 regional police chiefs and other high-ranking officials affected.
It is the largest ever reshuffle of the top brass of Taiwan’s police, Huang said.
“The priority is to guard public safety and uphold social order in all administrative regions,” he said.
Many senior officers are soon to reach retirement age, so now is a good time to shuffle top positions, which will bring change and new vitality to local law-enforcement units, he said.
The transfers include new police chiefs before the Lunar New Year holiday begins next week at the six special municipalities, including a replacement for Taipei Police Chief Yang Yuan-ming (楊源明), who is to take over as president of Central Police University in Taoyuan, Huang said.
Some police chiefs and other senior officials would be transferred to administrative roles at the police agency’s headquarters in Taipei due to allegations of corruption among officers under their charge, he said.
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