The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) today vowed to clarify the penalty for drunk driving to mandate a two-year license plate suspension, regardless of whether the vehicle is owned by the driver.
The Supreme Administrative Court in February ruled that a vehicle’s license plate shall be suspended in a drunk driving case only when the driver and owner of the vehicle are the same person, but the ministry is seeking to make that penalty applicable in all instances.
The latest version of Article 35 of the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) went into effect in March 2022 and states that the penalty for an owner “knowing” a person is drunk and allowing them to drive their car is a fine and a two-year license plate suspension.
Photo copied by Chueh Ching-lun, Taipei Times
Previously, the court ruled favorably in the case of a vehicle owner who sued after their car was driven drunk by their son, resulting in its license plate getting suspended.
The court ruled that while Article 35, Paragraph 7, does specify that the “vehicle owner” is subject to penalties, including a license plate suspension, Article 35, Paragraph 9 does not do so explicitly.
To abide by legal principles, authorities can only suspend a vehicle’s license plate when the owner and driver are the same, the court ruled.
At a news conference today, Department of Public Transportation and Supervision Director-General Lin Fu-shan (林福山) said that the ministry would move to amend the law to merge the two paragraphs together.
The ministry held discussions with the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior and the six special municipalities, agreeing to respect the court’s ruling, Lin said.
If a vehicle owner is aware that another person is drunk and still allows them to drive their car, the owner can still be penalized, Lin added.
The MOTC would move to merge the two paragraphs so that any vehicle driven drunk would have its license plate revoked, Lin said.
The ministry would submit a motion for amendment during an upcoming review session by the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee, Lin said.
If the motion passes and the legislature approves the amendments, the amended penalty standards could go into effect within six months, Lin added.
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