An Investigation Report On The Cases Of Drunk-driving Type Of Dangerous Driving In A City

Since the implementation of Amendment VIII to the Criminal Law of thePeople’s Republic of China, drunk-driving type has always aroused close attention inthe court for dangerous driving. According to the survey, the case number has beenbasically stable, but compared with other types of cases drunk-driving still hashigh-rate occurrences. Judging from the basic situation of the case, there are fourmajor characteristics, namely: the automobiles committing drunk-driving are mainlytwo-wheel motorcycles; the defendants are mainly young and middle-aged men; mostdefendants are peasants or the unemployed; most cases are committed by those whoare deeply drunk. In the trial practice, most defendants tend to accept the judgmentswith no more appeal. There are many reasons for the high-rate occurrences of suchcases: firstly, many drivers trusting in luck do not have sufficient risk awareness;regulations for motorcycles are not in place; propaganda against the crime ofdangerous driving is still a blind angle; bad drinking customs have always played arole in inducing the crimes; such problems existing in the process of trying the casesas the inconsistent standard and nonstandard sentencing also produce negative effect.As a newly added accusation in Amendment VIII to the Criminal Law of the People’sRepublic of China, with the lack of trial experiences and without related judicialinterpretation and guidance, the crime of dangerous driving is still faced with a lot ofproblems when courts are dealing with such cases. Difference still exists as to thebound of accepting cases or the extent of civil compensation, and there are still a lotof problems to be solved in terms of the unification of sentencing criterion, evidencecollection and the identification of self-confession to justice. In order to standardizethe trial for the drunk-driving type of dangerous driving and perfect the convictionand sentencing of such cases, it is necessary to establish judicial interpretation andtimely publish guidance cases; in order to realize the sentencing balance, relativelyunified sentencing standards should be set; in order to enhance the trial efficiency, thehandling process should be sped up and a prompt case-handling mechanism should beestablished; the evidence standard should be strictly grasped to guarantee that theevidence meets the requirement of "three modes" which are legal validity, relativity,and relevance. In order to prevent the occurrence of dangerous driving case,propaganda should be strengthened accordingly to make drivers abide by traffic rules consciously and resist to drunken driving behavior on their own initiative; theadministration and training of motorcycle groups should be strengthened, and theinvestigation and punishment should be increased to set up a long-term mechanismagainst drunk driving. At the same time, for the short term, with the difficulty inchanging traditional vomiting-inducing toasts or wine customs, supporting thedevelopment of designated driving industry can be taken into consideration.