Provisions regarding dangerous driving were revised again and dangerous behaviors, such as drunk driving and reckless driving, will receive more severe punishment, according to a draft amendment to China’s Criminal Code.
The draft amendment was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislative body, for its second reading Monday.
According to the latest revision, a person caught driving drunk, regardless of the circumstances or consequences, will be convicted of dangerous driving. He or she will be given a jail sentence and fined.
Under the current law, drunk drivers are given a 15-day detention and temporary suspension of their driving license for at least three months and no more than six months as well as a fine ranging from 500 yuan to 20,000 yuan.
A survey shows that in 2009 China cracked down on 313,000 cases of drinking and driving and of these, 42,000 were convicted of drunk driving. Drunk driving and reckless driving are still the two major “road killers.”
Writing a provision about dangerous driving into the criminal law and intensifying penalties will play a role in warning and prevention, according to Zhang Bingzhi, president of the school of law under Beijing Normal University.
