Drunk drivers face tougher punishment

Punishment for drunken drivers will become dramatically tougher under proposed revisions to the enforcement regulations of the Road Traffic Law coming into effect next June, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.Under the new rules, those found with 0.25 milligrams or more of alcohol per liter of breath will receive a penalty of 25 points from their license, up from 13, and lose it on the spot. Between 0.15 and less than 0.25 milligrams will incur 13 points instead of 6, earning a 90-day suspension.Also, the maximum length of driving bans following a license cancellation will be raised from five years to 10. Drunk driving in general would earn a three-year disqualification, formerly two years; those involved in drink driving accidents between three and seven years (formerly two-five), and dangerous driving resulting in death or injury between five and eight years, up from five. If a hit-and-run is involved, the figure jumps up to 10 years.The government will enact the new enforcement regulations in June in response to the amendment to the Road Traffic Law which came into effect in September last year.Revisions to the Road Traffic Law to stamp out drunken driving started after a wave of criticism following an accident in Fukuoka in 2006, in which three children were killed. Since the enactment of the amended law, the number of drunken driving accidents is down 22.8 percent, and hit-and-runs down by 14.5 percent, according to the NPA.