Questions about non criminal drunk driving?

69 posts were split to a new topic: Taiwan: Talking to police, Right to remain silence, Lawyering up

refusal causes no problems other than time. signing documents holds you forever guilty. be careful what you sign, dont trust them or their translators because they constantly fuck people. not sure about your case but be aware a signature is admitting of guilt. that’s all. be smart.

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If you don’t pay then it becomes a criminal offense. So maybe the cop wants you gone? Have you been dating his daughter?

Essentially not paying a fine means you’ve defaulted on the punishment. This escalates the punishment type (loss of revenue). From that point there are numerous ways to cause issue. Failing to respond to an official notice. That means not responding to the letter you never received.

Personally I think 0.025 is way too low for any kind of drink driving range. You could almost blow 0.016 from brushing your teeth with certain types of toothpaste. Most places around the world seem to have settled on 0.05. And have included driver education along with that level. Meaning knowing exactly how much you can drink in order to still go out for dinner and have a glass of wine or two and drive home without breaking the law.

I wonder if some local bigwig driving their Mercedes S class would cop a $16,000nt fine for blowing under the legal drink driving range?

In other words lawyer up. You might just find they’re trying a shakedown on you.

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I asked my lawyer. He said according to the information I have. It is not a crime and shouldn’t affect your ARC.

Please note: this is not legal advice as I need to cover my ass as I am not you and cannot verify the whole situation.

He also says. Pay the fine in full. Dont skimp.

Non payment of fine IS a crime.

If you want peace of mind with official legal advice for a small fee, contact details are available upon request.

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I can’t see any situation where not paying a fine is going to work out well.

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Hey everyone, thanks for the responses.

I have already asked to pay the fee over 18 months, so I guess that’s what I have to do now. I’m also required to take a driving safety class and my driver’s license has been revoked for a year. I guess I’ll stick to my payments as the policeman’s advice seems to be horrible.

I see this weird conversation about talking to the cops vs not talking to the cops. I didn’t really have an option. They just pulled me over and made me take a breathalyzer. There wasn’t exactly much talking until after I blew the 0.016 and was already screwed.

I can’t believe all of this has happened over 1 Taiwan Gold Medal.

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License revoked a year for being under the limit??
Seems a bit harsh!

They don’t get the drunk grandads and uncles that pick kids up from school, drunk no helmets for the kids.
I’m really going off Taiwan lately.

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If 0.025 is the limit than 0.025 is the limit, not 0.015. It’s just another one of those non-logic things in Taiwan.

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Thank you for sharing, can’t believe your license was revoked for a year. Will definitely make me more careful regarding taking a few sips here and there. Was the checkpoint at a bridge?

Every blue truck driving, scooter driving binlang chewing whisbi drinking taike is over the limit.

2006, around 3:00 A.M., blind drunk, at 120 kmph on my black custom Honda NSR 150 --heading down empty Minchuan E. road, section 5… Saw the cops parked in the shadows across the street, too late… They lit up and turned around to follow. I quickly decelerated, then turned right onto Fuyuan street then made a quick left into a side street… They followed me all the way. So, I just parked it and faced them… Took me to the station. They were laughing at me. I was really piss drunk, but still able to stand almost steady. (No idea what the breath reading was – but way way over the limit.) Anyway, they gave me a receipt and told me I could pick up my bike at the pound – for 20,000 NT ! I was SO pissed off! I didn’t go get the bike for at least a month, but soon I got tired of riding the slow-slow bus to work every morning. So, finally went to the pound and got my bike back. No other repercussions. Good luck…

It doesn’t even matter if you don’t pay the fine anymore. They’ll take it directly out of your bank account.

So you might as well pay it.

Things have changed, except your memory.

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It sounds ridiculous to me.

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That’s not my point.

Also not my point.

That shouldn’t depress you that humans are not able to know everything about everyone.

If they arrested and suspended the licenses of all these people, I suspect the economy of Taiwan would grind to a halt. :neutral_face:

Guy

Back to the law in question, as anyone got a brake-down of limits and its punishment.

I mean the difference between 0.025 and 0.015 could be having a walk for an hour and drinking a bottle of water.

Yeah, unfortunately they still are way too lenient against drunk driving as far as I’m concerned. I think it all depends whether the perp has a good lawyer and/or gets the right cops. Just take a look at this case of a foreigner who was convicted with 0.28mg/liter:
臺灣臺北地方法院 104 年度交簡上字第 17 號刑事判決 (judicial.gov.tw)

Out of curiosity, were you arrested?

Because a lot of forms ask you “Have you ever been arrested…” rather than “Do you have a criminal record?”

Also, I’ve seen some forms that specifically ask you to disclose motoring offenses, convictions or cautions as well. Does this fall under a motoring caution?

How did the police suss out you were over the ticket-able limit?

Seems like its all very hit and miss with how they enforce things and it depends on which cops you get and your lawyer.
For example, this foreigner had a much higher alcohol level yet pretty much got let off and I think its all about getting proper representation. He was driving a car around Beer & Cheese a while back. He was caught at 0.28 mg/l. According to the court records he originally got hit with a prison term of 3 months and was going to be deported. He appealed and it looks like he had to pay a fine and do 40 hours of community service and was on probation. He also wasn’t deported but still had a criminal record which probably doesn’t make it so easy for him to get jobs in the future.
Take away is that taxis and Ubers are super cheap in Taiwan. Just go with that.
臺灣臺北地方法院 104 年度交簡上字第 17 號刑事判決 (judicial.gov.tw)