Ye Qing: "Drunk driving sentenced" for 10 years, the effect also needs to be improved

Source: Global Times

From May 1, 2011, when the Amendment to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (VIII) increased the punishment for dangerous driving behaviors such as drunk driving, to today, it is the 10th year that "drunk driving is criminalized".

The "tight curse" effect of "drunk driving" is very obvious. In 2020, the proportion of drunk driving per 100 vehicles checked will be more than 70% lower than before the "drunk driving sentence". In the past 10 years, the number of motor vehicles and drivers has maintained a rapid growth rate of 18 million and 26 million people per year, and the number of casualties caused by drunk driving accidents has decreased by more than 20,000 compared with the previous 10 years. The concept of "drinking without driving, driving without drinking" has gradually become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the driving civilization has been significantly improved.

10 years ago, some experts worried that the "criminalization of drunk driving" would impact alcohol consumption and thus affect the economy. However, in the past 10 years, the sales of sauce-flavored liquor have quadrupled. The liquor sector has been occupying the "king of shares" position in A-shares for many years. On the other hand, the driving industry has grown from scratch, with increasing scale and platforms. In the past 10 years, there have been nearly 1.8 billion orders for drunk driving in the country, with an annual average of nearly 200 million, and "drinking, please drive on behalf of" has become the reason for "coming to a cup".

At present, driving a motor vehicle drunk, regardless of whether the circumstances are heinous or not, and whether it causes consequences, will be convicted of "dangerous driving", punishable by criminal detention and fined. Some public opinion believes that some drunk driving behaviors are not harmful to society, and the circumstances are significantly minor, but once convicted, or even dismissed from public office, it not only increases the cost of judicial law enforcement, but also has an impact on their individuals and family children and may even last for life. Some public opinion believes that the "penalty for drunk driving" should be abolished; some voices believe that the original punishment measures such as deducting points and fines for administrative detention should be considered in proportion to the punishment of criminal responsibility.

How to continue to maintain the high-pressure situation of "prohibiting drunk driving" and alleviate the excessive impact of "drunk driving in prison" has indeed been done by the legal profession. On the one hand, it is necessary to improve the problem of "drunk driving and imprisonment" at the level of the National People's Congress. In the bill to make a legal interpretation of the criminal law, Wang Shujiang and other NPC deputies proposed to make a legislative interpretation to lower the criminalization standard for the crime of "drunk driving" type of dangerous driving, and to add multiple sentencing ranges. Xu Huazheng and other deputies suggested a legislative interpretation of the end of the prosecution period. The Constitution and Law Committee of the National People's Congress said that relevant departments are jointly studying and drafting judicial interpretations to solve problems arising in the practice of dangerous driving, and the Legislative Affairs Committee will actively cooperate with relevant work to further understand judicial practice and the opinions of all aspects of society, and strengthen research and argumentation. This is an important signal.

Indeed, compared with some other countries in the world, the form of drunk driving punishment in China is relatively single. For example, the United Kingdom adopts a phased approach to drunk driving, the first-time driver who is drunk driving has his driver's license revoked for 1 year; the repeat offender has his driver's license revoked for 3 years within 10 years, plus a fine of 1,000 pounds; if he is convicted of drunk driving three times within 10 years, the court will not change his sentence to revoke his driver's license for 109 years, and the person who has an accident after drinking will not be able to drive for life, and will be severely fined financially.

Therefore, combined with the domestic and foreign situations, the "drunk driving sentence" can be improved as necessary. Combined with some of the more mature suggestions in the industry, it can be generally considered: For drunk driving cases with minor circumstances, it is possible to implement a conditional non-prosecution method, for example, in some places, procuratorial organs, public security organs and relevant public interest organizations actively explore criminal suspects to voluntarily accept traffic safety education, engage in traffic persuasion and other social services, as a consideration factor in deciding whether to prosecute, and make up for the governance gap between administrative punishment and conviction and sentencing. For drunk driving situations that are extremely bad and do not change repeatedly, the statutory punishment will be appropriately increased under the necessary circumstances, and the deterrent force will be increased. The application rate of fines and penalties can be increased, economic penalties can be used instead of imprisonment as much as possible, and the corresponding previous punishment system should be improved to reduce the negative impact of drunk driving crimes on families and children.

In addition to legal means, Internet technology and social forces can also have a binding impact on drunk driving. For example, the installation of a drunk-proof driving system on the car, if the car exceeds the national standard can not be started; catering and entertainment venues are exempt from charging and less charging for the overnight parking fee of the drunk guest's vehicle, supporting the guest to actively give up driving after drinking.

In short, through the efforts of the upper and lower levels and all aspects, the possibility and destructive power of "drunk driving" are minimized, which is the pursuit of perfecting the "drunk driving sentence.". (The writer is deputy director of Hubei Provincial Bureau of Statistics, professor of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law)