I understand that the New Drink Driving Law has now arrived. Please be very careful ,not to drink and drive.
More than 0.25mg level means a MANDATORY 2 month Jail sentence.I have been informed. The fine is a secondary issue. As I understand it,a Criminal record would have serious implications for many Forumosans.
More than 200 People in Taipei were caught in the first few days .Can someone confirm that they will ALL serve time in Jail? Pretty Draconian, but actually a good thing.
Maybe running red lights will be next?
Can this new Law be confirmed by anyone,please?
Steady on now. Let’s not get too carried away.
But I am hopeful that this is the start of a long-overdue review of Taiwan’s attitude to motor vehicles. Who knows, one day they might have an actual driving test.
Steady on now. Let’s not get too carried away.
But I am hopeful that this is the start of a long-overdue review of Taiwan’s attitude to motor vehicles. Who knows, one day they might have an actual driving test.[/quote]
Farming next…Jail sentence for irresponsible Farming 
Wonder if any of the arrests include scooters, bicycles, electric bikes…
Getting caught under the new rules is not a mandatory jail sentence. But $90,000 is a stiff fine. That’ll hurt some.
The new 0.25mg limit is a bit over the top (a single drink can put you over) but if that’s what it takes to fix the drinking/driving problem here in Taiwan, so be it. I’m all for it.
Its fucking stupid.
And I am not condoning drinking and driving, just commenting on how fucking ridiculous this law is. You have 2 beers with your dinner or a glass of wine and drive home completely under control and you serve 60 days jail for it. The fuck out with that nonsense.
Laws won’t enhance enforcement, it works the other way around and once again, its bass akwards round these parts.
There will still be people with guanxi on the street drunker than shit swerving their car, it is only the rubes that will suffer, as per usual.
0.25 (0.05 in blood alcohol measure) was the old limit, and that was less than most Western countries (0.08), now that makes you a criminal and the drunk driving limit is now 0.15 (40% less).
I am all for cleaning up the dangerous traffic, but draconian measures aren’t the way to go. This is over the top, and a bit of an infringement on people’s freedom of movement.
Yup, better off poisoning the food supply than drive home after having one beer 
It means absolutely no drinking if you plan to drive. Not even one beer. Drinking at all means taking a taxi home. So take a taxi when you intend to have any alchohol.
Silly politicians. The problem wasn’t that the previous law but rather a complete lack of enforcement. I have to admit that I have seen more checkpoints at night presumably checking for drunks.
Let’s hope that they hold any foreigners who are arrested without bail, to avoid another Zain Dean deal.
No, almost all of Europe, and Asia too, is .05. Japan is basically zero.
I agree that Taiwan often goes the route of looking tough on paper, but I think this is still a good thing. Taiwanese don’t do well when given flexibility.
No, almost all of Europe, and Asia too, is .05. Japan is basically zero.
[/quote]
As long as I can remember, Australia has been 0.05. I remember seeing ads on TV for it when I was a kid, so that’s at least 30 years at 0.05.
Big show of enforcement that will taper off after a few months.
Will as DD said be used to trap rubes. (Holy SHIT, did I just agree with DD!?!?) People with connections, gangs or firearms will be let go.
Note to self, no drinking and driving at all anymore.
I solve this problem in Taiwan by not driving at all.
And from a Taiwanese Government Website, I quote, “Drunk driving is the No.1 cause of traffic accidents in Taiwan”.
Although I am against Drinking and Driving,there are approx 120-160 people a year killed in Taiwan by Drunk drivers. There must be more than that number killed at Taichung Traffic lights !. What Planet are these Officials living on,making untrue Statements like that? .
[quote=“shiadoa”]And from a Taiwanese Government Website, I quote, “Drunk driving is the No.1 cause of traffic accidents in Taiwan”.
Although I am against Drinking and Driving,there are approx 120-160 people a year killed in Taiwan by Drunk drivers. There must be more than that number killed at Taichung Traffic lights !. What Planet are these Officials living on,making untrue Statements like that? .[/quote]
When people are killed in traffic accident, the parties involved will most likely have to give blood samples.
It’s not the Traffic lights that kill people. It’s the drunk drivers who fail to recognize them.
I would be more concerned about the low limit since this could be exceeded by using certain mouthwashes, eating over riped fruit, etc.
[quote=“Hamletintaiwan”]
I would be more concerned about the low limit since this could be exceeded by using certain mouthwashes, eating over riped fruit, etc.[/quote]
The penny finally drops.
Virtually everybody is going to be over the limit at some time of the day, even those who would never dream of DUI. Criminalise everyone but continue to fail prosecuting those who are the worst offenders.
[quote=“Hamletintaiwan”][quote=“shiadoa”]And from a Taiwanese Government Website, I quote, “Drunk driving is the No.1 cause of traffic accidents in Taiwan”.
Although I am against Drinking and Driving,there are approx 120-160 people a year killed in Taiwan by Drunk drivers. There must be more than that number killed at Taichung Traffic lights !. What Planet are these Officials living on,making untrue Statements like that? .[/quote]
When people are killed in traffic accident, the parties involved will most likely have to give blood samples.
It’s not the Traffic lights that kill people. It’s the drunk drivers who fail to recognize them.
I would be more concerned about the low limit since this could be exceeded by using certain mouthwashes, eating over riped fruit, etc.[/quote]
Not the point I was getting at. My point is that, (and I like no drink driving btw) there are many more people killed every day by going through red lights,than by drink driving. They are only enforcing this new Law because a nice Lady Doctor got killed recently and there was more pressure on the government to do more IMO.
It is not just the "drunk " drivers that ignore red lights,it is 70% of ALL drivers/riders.
[quote=“shiadoa”][quote=“Hamletintaiwan”][quote=“shiadoa”]And from a Taiwanese Government Website, I quote, “Drunk driving is the No.1 cause of traffic accidents in Taiwan”.
Although I am against Drinking and Driving,there are approx 120-160 people a year killed in Taiwan by Drunk drivers. There must be more than that number killed at Taichung Traffic lights !. What Planet are these Officials living on,making untrue Statements like that? .[/quote]
When people are killed in traffic accident, the parties involved will most likely have to give blood samples.
It’s not the Traffic lights that kill people. It’s the drunk drivers who fail to recognize them.
I would be more concerned about the low limit since this could be exceeded by using certain mouthwashes, eating over riped fruit, etc.[/quote]
Not the point I was getting at. My point is that, (and I like no drink driving btw) there are many more people killed every day by going through red lights,than by drink driving. They are only enforcing this new Law because a nice Lady Doctor got killed recently and there was more pressure on the government to do more IMO.
It is not just the "drunk " drivers that ignore red lights,it is 70% of ALL drivers/riders.[/quote]
I understood that.
Still, it’s perfectly OK to run 70% of all red lights as long as everyone watches out and nobody is drunk.
When people get killed in a traffic accident, the dead and the red light runner will be examined.
You are more likely to be killed by someone making a mistake when you are drunk, than when you are all clear and your senses and reflexes are working properly.
In Germany, you will always be partially guilty if you are drunk and become a victim in a traffic accident. The argument here is, that you could have prevented the outcome if you hadn’t been drunk.
My guess is that Taiwan laws don’t view this differently.
0.25mg, 0.08, 0.05
Sorry guys!
I think we are all missing a zero here.
AT 0.25mg, you start seeing two traffic-lights where there is only one.