Society

Inebriated legislator mows down four

By Yang Yijun (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-07 07:23

SHANGHAI - A city legislator of East China's Zhejiang province has been detained for a drunk driving accident, which left four people dead and six injured, local police said on Tuesday.

Yang Shuzhong, 48, a deputy of the people's congress both in Sanmen county and Taizhou city, was taken into police custody after he hit eight vehicles with his black BMW in Sanmen at around 8 pm on Monday, said Yang Zhen, publicity officer with the county's public security bureau.

Three people died on the spot and another passed away at a hospital after the deputy's car rammed into five electric bicycles and one rickshaw within a range of 193 meters.

The six injured are out of danger, the official said.

Immediate tests found Yang's blood-alcohol content was 330 mg per 100 ml of blood, four times the legal limit of 80 mg.

With approval from the standing committees of people's congresses of Sanmen and Taizhou, Yang, the board chairman and general manager of Huali Medical Chemical Co Ltd in Sanmen, was detained on charges of threatening public security by dangerous means on Tuesday morning, the police said, adding that further investigation is under way.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of a death sentence.

Some 4 million road accidents occur due to drunk driving in the country each year, according to official statistics.

China began a nationwide campaign to crack down on drunk driving since Aug 15 last year, after a series of fatal traffic accidents involving inebriated drivers.

The country has also increased the penalties for drunk driving.

A revised regulation issued by the Ministry of Public Security, which proposed more serious punishments for drunken drivers, took effect on April 1.

Drivers found with a blood-alcohol content of more than 20 mg per 100 ml of blood will have 12 demerit points stripped from their record, doubling the previous six points.

The revised regulation means a driver's license will be confiscated if he or she is found driving under the influence of alcohol even once, as a driver's record begins with 12 points.

"The Chinese people do not have a strong legal consciousness," said Wu Dong, a Shanghai-based lawyer from the M&A law firm.

"In order to force drivers to pay due attention to regulations, punitive damages need to be introduced, like in the western countries."

According to Wu, the current compensatory damages in China seem inadequate, compared with punitive damages.

"What's more, the Chinese people favor alcohol at dinner meetings," he said, "It's a cultural problem."

China Daily