Why can't criminal punishment stop some people from drunk driving?
editor's note
Not long ago, the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security reported that during the Spring Festival holiday this year, public security traffic control departments across the country investigated and dealt with 25,000 illegal and criminal acts of drunk driving.
In January of this year, more than 7,000 cases of drunk driving were investigated and dealt with in Henan Province alone.
The problem of drunk driving continues to attract social attention.
In 2011, drunk driving was sentenced.
This strict criminal policy responds to social concerns, effectively reduces traffic accidents, especially vicious traffic accidents caused by drunk driving, and has received positive legal and social effects.
The concept of "don't drink while driving, and don't drive after drinking" has taken root in many people's minds.
At the same time, drunk driving behaviors are still common. Drunk driving has fatal accidents, unlicensed drunk driving, drunk driving after being investigated and re-examined and drunk driving... Public information shows that in recent years, the crime of dangerous driving has surpassed theft to become the "number one crime". In 2021, more than 350,000 public prosecutors will be prosecuted for dangerous driving crimes, accounting for 20% of all public prosecutors.
Why can't the sharp sword of punishment stop some people from drunk driving?
How to effectively control drunk driving?
With questions, the reporter conducted a survey interview.
Maintain the rule of law and strictly punish drunk driving in accordance with the law
Our reporter Zhao Li Zhang Shoukun
On the evening of February 14 this year, a drunk driving investigation on the road made the police of the traffic police brigade of the Jinjiang City Public Security Bureau in Fujian Province furious. A driver refused to cooperate with the alcohol breath test at the beginning, and later the test found the alcohol content in his blood. It was 84.50mg/100ml, which was drunk driving; further inspection found that this was the fourth time the driver was seized for drunk driving, and he was driving without a license.
"Under the situation where the public security organs are strictly investigating drunk driving, some drivers still have a fluke mentality, forget the legal red line and safety defense line, and insist on drinking and driving, defying the law." said Wu Jingbin, a policeman from the traffic police brigade of Jinjiang Public Security Bureau. This fully shows that there is still a long way to go to rectify drunk driving and drunk driving, and the alarm bells still need to be ringing for drunk driving to be punished.
A number of legal experts, judicial practitioners, medical personnel and ordinary people were recently interviewed by reporters from the "Rule of Law Daily". Strengthen the rule of law, further improve relevant laws and regulations, severely punish drunk driving behaviors in accordance with the law, and at the same time improve the "drinking table culture", abandon the bad habit of persuading people to drink, improve driver service, etc., prevent and reduce drunk driving behaviors from the source, and protect the safety of people's lives and property.
At about 18:16 on January 22 this year, Zhang XX was drunk (blood alcohol content 187mg/100ml) driving a passenger car along the X038 line in Lu'an City, Anhui Province to the Maqiao Team of Xihe Village, Bailian Township, Huoqiu County. During the road section, it collided with pedestrians on the side of the road, resulting in the death of 3 pedestrians.
Recently, a small car in Fengcheng City, Jiangxi Province suddenly jumped into a roadside fish pond while driving. The driver Rao Moumou was rescued and diagnosed at the scene as dead. Subsequent tests on his blood samples found that the alcohol content was 99.32mg/100ml.
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Drunk driving harms others and oneself.
"Everyone's reaction to alcohol is different. Some people may quickly enter a state of depression after drinking, want to sleep, and doze off, but some people may appear excited. In a state of drunkenness, people's ability to judge The operating ability will be greatly reduced, and even the accelerator, brake and steering wheel cannot be controlled normally." A Beijing medical staff told reporters that from the perspective of the physiological impact of drinking on people, drunk driving is extremely harmful, and drunk driving is dangerous. You can draw an equal sign.
"After drinking, under the stimulation of alcohol, people's emotions are impulsive, their courage increases, they overestimate themselves, and they have a tendency to take risks. Therefore, drunk driving is often accompanied by dangerous driving behaviors such as speeding and drag racing." Shandong Dezhou Traffic Police Detachment Propaganda Section Section chief Yang Hongsheng said.
The interviewees agreed that the state has adopted a series of measures to control drunk driving, including administrative detention, fines, and revocation of driver’s license. Effective containment, this criminal policy has played a positive role.
At the same time, because some drivers do not have a strong sense of the rule of law and lack of awareness of public safety, drunk driving still occurs from time to time.
According to public data, since drunk driving became a criminal offense in 2011, the number of dangerous driving cases concluded by courts across the country has risen from more than 90,000 in 2013 to 289,000 in 2020.
Against this background, in recent years, there has been a call for an appropriate increase in the threshold for drunk driving. The main reason is that the number of cases of drunk driving has remained high, wasting a lot of judicial and social resources, and the penalty has a great impact on a large number of drunk drivers and His family has caused a major negative impact, which is not conducive to social harmony and stability.
In this regard, Yu Lingyun, a professor at the Tsinghua University School of Law, said that the large number of drunk driving cases investigated and dealt with is largely due to the fact that the scope and intensity of the crackdown on drunk driving has become wider and stronger in recent years, and law enforcement has been promoted to remote areas such as rural areas.
"You can't question the effect of drunk driving because of the large number of people who have been criminally punished for drunk driving. There are many drunk driving accidents, which cause great harm. The crime of dangerous driving has been added, and every year all places have made great efforts to crack down on drunk driving. Many people still take risks. If the punishment for drunk driving is loosened, it is conceivable that more people will have no scruples, and the consequences will be more serious." Yu Lingyun said.
"The number of drunk driving cases is closely related to the investigation and punishment of the public security organs. The stronger the investigation and punishment, the more drunk driving crimes are seized, and vice versa. Of course, we must also consider the rapid development of my country's economy and society in recent years and the high degree of activity. The impact of objective factors such as the substantial increase in car ownership.” Peng Xinlin, a professor at the Institute of Criminal Law Science of Beijing Normal University, said that at present, the repetitive, stubborn and long-term characteristics of drunk driving behavior and drunk driving crimes have not been fundamentally changed.
According to Li Xiang, a professor at East China University of Political Science and Law, the large number of criminal cases is not a reason to abolish or raise the threshold for criminalization.
If the drunk driving is loosened on the grounds that the circumstances are obviously minor, it will confuse the public who supports the "severe treatment of drunkenness", and it may also be exploited by some malicious people.
Huang Haibo, director of the Traffic Management and Transportation Law Professional Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association, said that the legitimacy of the punishment for minor crimes mainly depends on the occurrence of such crimes. legitimacy and necessity.
For a long time, the crime of drunk driving has been frequent in our country, and the original administrative punishment is not enough to suppress the occurrence of this illegal act, so there is a penalty for drunk driving.
"Facts have proved that after the punishment of drunk driving, my country has curbed the development trend of drunk driving to a certain extent, and the number of drunk driving has dropped sharply. The punishment of drunk driving has played the role of criminal law in the field of social governance. Judging from the country's 'No. 1 crime', the situation of drunk driving is still relatively serious, and the criminal law needs to continue to play its role of covering the bottom line." Huang Haibo said that the incidental consequences do not lie in the punishment of drunk driving, but that drunk driving reflects that the perpetrator does not have the capacity to engage in crimes. The political literacy and moral quality of the corresponding occupation have become one of the criteria for employers to consider.
The reporter randomly interviewed a number of people from Beijing and Tianjin, and all of them unanimously supported the strict implementation of the penalty for drunk driving and severely punished drunk driving according to law.
Some people say that there are still so many drunk drivers who know the law and break the law after being sentenced, which shows that the punishment is not enough, and the crackdown should be strengthened; , after drunk driving is punished, there are indeed a lot fewer people around you who drive while drunk. Such a good law should be implemented.
While insisting on criminalizing drunk driving and severely punishing drunk driving in accordance with the law, the interviewed experts also pointed out that there is still room for further optimization and improvement of relevant laws and regulations.
Everyone suggested that on the basis of maintaining the continuity and consistency of criminal policies, further refine and improve relevant laws and regulations, and better play the role of drunk driving penalties in punishing crimes and warning and deterring.
Dong Laichao, director of Beijing Kaiya Law Firm, believes that the penalty for drunk driving can only continue to play a good role in traffic safety risk prevention if it maintains continuity, consistency, and consistency.
Regardless of the original intention of the legislation, the reality of drunk driving governance, or the consideration of people's livelihood and safety, drunk driving governance should always adhere to "severe punishment" to achieve the organic unity of legal effects and social effects.
"With regard to the punishment measures for drunk driving and drunk driving, one is administrative punishment measures for illegal behavior, and the other is criminal punishment for crimes. The intensity and effect of punishment and the impact on the rights and interests of perpetrators are quite different." In Peng Xinlin's view, Attention needs to be paid to strengthening the connection of executions for drunk driving.
He analyzed that if a drunk driver is convicted of a judicial crime, such as not prosecuting, only minor administrative punishments such as revoking the driver's license, instead of supporting the application of heavier administrative punishments in proportion to the proportion, it will be difficult to achieve due punishment and protection. The deterrent effect creates a gap in the connection between administrative punishment and criminal punishment for drunk driving, which will inevitably weaken the criminal governance effect on drunk driving crimes.
Yu Lingyun also mentioned the issue of linking the execution of the Road Traffic Safety Law and the Criminal Law.
For drunk driving, the Road Traffic Safety Law does not provide for measures such as administrative detention, which may lead to two situations: the perpetrator meets the drunk driving standard, but is deemed to be drunk driving and is criminally punished just after starting the car or just moving a parking space, and there may be penalties or if the drunk driving situation is minor such as no traffic accident, the person not prosecuted is exempted from criminal responsibility or punishment in accordance with the law, but there is no other punishment other than the revocation of the driver's license.
"Drink driving should be curbed in multiple ways. For example, safety technology and equipment such as alcohol locks and vehicle alcohol detectors have been promoted in many countries. Modern scientific and technological means can prevent the occurrence of dangerous driving crimes and reduce drunk driving to a certain extent. For long-term alcoholics, Social governance can be carried out through the Alcoholics Temperance Association, etc." Yu Lingyun said.
Peng Xinlin believes that in order to improve the governance effect of drunk driving, we should also work hard to improve traffic safety credit, improve the joint punishment mechanism, and increase the publicity and education of the rule of law.
For example, we can explore the "blacklist" system of drink-driving and drunk-driving actors, and include those who have drunk-driving and drunk-driving records into the "blacklist" for joint punishment.
Drunk drivers must be made aware that their behavior will not only bear criminal responsibility, but also have a serious impact on personal reputation, dignity, study, and employment, so that potential drunk drivers will be alerted, educated, and deterred, and finally let "driving without drinking, drinking without alcohol" The concept of "driving" is more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
"We should attach great importance to the publicity and education of the rule of law, extend the focus of the publicity of the rule of law, innovate the publicity and education model of the rule of law, truly let public order and good customs take root, let the awareness of the rule of law and rules be internalized in the heart and externalized in the practice, and even gradually become a kind of Lifestyle." Peng Xinlin said that at the same time, we must abandon the previous practice of "struggling hard and ignoring prevention" of drunk driving, and promote the transformation of the public from paying attention to traffic safety to strengthening traffic safety awareness and awareness of the rule of law.
Stop the wind of persuading people to drink and don't push your friends to the road of crime
Our reporter Zhang Shoukun
"It's better to have a hole in the stomach than a crack in the relationship." "Stand on your legs, it doesn't count if you drink it." Zhang Chao (pseudonym), who went back to his hometown in Shandong to visit relatives during the Spring Festival this year, knew that he would have to get drunk again today.
Zhang Chao doesn't like to drink, and he will drive in the car when his relatives and friends gather. "Driving without drinking" is his shield, but it often doesn't work.
"You just don't want to drink, so you drove here on purpose?" "You still think I'm a brother if you don't drink." "I'll take you home if you drink a little." Under the constant persuasion of his friends, Zhang Chao raised his glass.
But he has always adhered to the bottom line of "drinking and not driving".
Even if someone told him "what's the problem with just a short distance", "there is no drunk driving check in the suburbs", "you can drive home with your eyes closed on such a familiar road".
Seeing a friend preparing to drink and drive, he will definitely step forward to stop it.
In fact, cases of driving on the road after being persuaded to drink and even causing traffic accidents have occurred frequently.
On the evening of February 20 this year, Ren Mou, a truck driver in Handan, Hebei, who usually does not drink, drank some wine under the "kindness" of his friends. Thinking that his home was very close to the restaurant, he drove home, but was found out by the police on duty. Driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
According to the law, Ren's driver's license will be revoked, and he will be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law, and he will not be allowed to re-apply for a driver's license within 5 years.
There are also people who refuse to change after repeated admonitions.
One day in early February, the traffic police in Ma'anshan, Anhui seized a drunk driver, Chao Mou, and found that he was driving a motor vehicle while his driver's license was suspended.
At the scene, Chao Mou regretted it very much and kept complaining about his colleagues.
It turned out that Chao and his colleagues had dinner with the client that night. He didn't want to drink, but he couldn't stand the repeated persuasion of his colleagues during the meal. He drank two bottles of beer without saving face, and drove on the road with a fluke mentality, but was caught by the traffic police.
The reporter searched on the China Judgment Documents Network with key words such as "drunk driving" and "persuading alcohol", and found that there were more than 100 relevant judgments.
Since 2020, a provincial court has heard a total of 19 cases involving disputes over the rights to life, body, and health caused by co-drinkers’ failure to dissuade and ensure safety, resulting in 16 deaths and 3 injuries.
Obviously everyone knows that persuading people to drink is not good, and drunk driving can easily lead to traffic accidents. Why are there so many people persuading people to drink at the dinner table?
"This is related to some so-called 'wine culture' and 'drink table culture', and it may also be related to the vulgar customs in some places." Meng Qiang, a professor at the Law School of Beijing Institute of Technology and director of the Civil Code Research Center, said that in some places, guests do not persuade them to drink when they come. , drinking less, the owner seems to have not fulfilled the friendship of the landlord, there are also some bad atmosphere in the workplace, some people are keen to persuade people to drink, etc.
"Perhaps many people don't know that alcohol can't be persuaded indiscriminately, and you may be held legally responsible." An Zhijun, a partner of Beijing Yinghe Law Firm, said that there are two main types of civil infringements caused by drunkenness. One is that the drunk is injured due to excessive drinking In this case, the persuading drinker will bear certain civil liability for compensation because he failed to fulfill the duty of care and safety of the drinker; second, if the drunk person causes other people's personal and property losses, he shall bear the tort in accordance with the Civil Code. Responsibility, and based on failure to fulfill the duty of care and security, the persuasion bears joint and several liability for compensation.
An Zhijun said that according to the criminal law, driving a motor vehicle while drunk constitutes a crime of dangerous driving.
If it is persuading someone to drive drunk, its essence is to instigate the drunk to commit a crime, and it should be punished as a joint crime of dangerous driving.
How can we stop the wind of persuading people to drink?
All localities are also taking active actions. Some areas have issued the "voluntary drinking in moderation at dinner parties" initiative, making it clear that they must be held accountable for accidents caused by persuasion.
For example, in January this year, Ordos City in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued the "Implementation Measures for the Prevention and Rectification of Drunk Driving and Drunk Driving", advocating that drivers should consciously drink in moderation and drink in a civilized manner, and take the lead in resisting drunk driving and drunk driving, and guard the bottom line of life and civilization.
Lai Caiyan, a civil servant in the Legal Propaganda Team of the Traffic Police Detachment of the Public Security Bureau of Putian City, Fujian Province, told reporters that the local public security organs trace the source of every drunk driving and alcohol-related accidents seized, and if they find that entertainment venues do not perform relevant duties, they will notify the relevant departments to pursue legal responsibility according to law .
“We strengthen the publicity of alcohol-related venues, create an atmosphere that strictly prohibits drunk driving, and guide the responsible persons and employees to take the initiative to fulfill the obligation of persuading drunk driving. By providing services such as free parking and appointment driving for guests who drive, we can prevent guests from forgetting to call a driver after drinking. Drive or worry about excessive parking fees and drive away.” said Wu Jingbin, a policeman from the traffic police brigade of Jinjiang City Public Security Bureau, Fujian Province.
In An Zhijun's view, ensuring the safety of drinkers should run through the entire liquor bureau.
From the beginning of the drinking game, drinkers should be reminded to drink in moderation and not to drink too much; after the drinking game, as organizers and participants, they should ensure the safety of those who drink too much to ensure that they will not engage in unsafe behaviors such as drunk driving.
"To change the bad habit of persuading people to drink, it is necessary to increase legal publicity, strengthen the awareness of life, property safety and legal responsibility in the whole society, and gradually establish a new style of gatherings where people enjoy drinking and enjoying themselves."
Meng Qiang also believes that persuading, booing, and filling alcohol are more common when drinking together, and then drunk driving and other behaviors occur frequently.
To deal with uncivilized persuasion, it is necessary for various departments to comprehensively manage, strengthen the initiative of civilized drinking, and the society to participate together. For example, hotel attendants should remind guests to drink in moderation and help to call a substitute driver. Citizens should promptly dissuade and call the police when encountering drunken driving.
"Through the publicity of the rule of law and changing customs, people will realize that there is such a responsibility in their hearts after a long time. When they participate in or take the initiative to organize wine bureaus, this sense of responsibility can play a role in reminding, preventing and avoiding, and the behavior of persuading alcohol is less. , Drunk driving will also decrease.” Meng Qiang said.
Rectify the chaos of surrogate drivers and smooth the way for drunk car owners to go home
Our reporter Zhao Li
Newspaper intern Hu Miao
Since drunk driving was put into punishment, "Don't drink while driving, don't drive after drinking" has gradually become a good habit that most motor vehicle drivers consciously abide by, and one of the modes of travel they rely on is substitute driving.
However, there are also troubles in finding a substitute driver. You don’t know how good the driver is before the service, what to do if you have an accident while driving, and who to turn to if you have a problem afterwards... This makes many consumers lament: Finding a substitute driver has become a hassle "Strive for character"; some people were investigated and punished for not looking for a substitute driver for driving after drinking, and they regretted it.
Not long ago, when the surrogate driver drove Hu Ling (pseudonym), a girl from Changsha, Hunan Province, to take her home, the surrogate driver's fee, which was originally expected to be around 200 yuan, ended up being 478 yuan.
Regarding the extra fee, the surrogate driver's reply was - "This is not a scam, the real 'black surrogate driver' charges 1,200 yuan" and said "refunds are impossible, even if the police call the police."
Provide the last 4 digits of the mobile phone number to verify the identity, provide the destination, and carry out navigation.
After seemingly standardized operation, the surrogate driver selected the farthest of the three routes provided by the navigation, and the driving route became more and more deviated.
The fastest way home is to take the viaduct.
But not long after the car got on the viaduct, the surrogate driver asked, "Do you want to refuel?"
Although there was not much gas in the car, Hu Ling judged that there would be no problem returning home, so he replied, "If there is no PetroChina or Sinopec gas station, I won't add it."
"But within 5 minutes, the surrogate driver got off the highway and said he was going to refuel, without asking my opinion." After that, the car did not return to the highway, but went "in a circle".
As a result, the starting mileage, exceeding the starting mileage, return fee and other items add up to a total of 478 yuan.
Hu Ling's story is not alone.
"The charge for 5 kilometers is 116 yuan." On the evening of February 9 this year, Liu Yi (pseudonym), a citizen of Jinan, Shandong, deliberately chose a restaurant closer to home to eat in consideration of the higher cost of driving at night. However, the driving fee was 116 yuan.
"After I came out of the restaurant, I found a lot of valet drivers waiting for customers at the door. I didn't think too much about it. After simply asking the price, I asked the valet driver to take me back." When he arrived at the destination and settled the fee, Liu Yi found out that this was the case. It is much higher than calling a substitute driver on the platform before, "It used to be called a substitute driver at night, and it cost more than 50 yuan for about 5 kilometers."
Liu Yi paid the fee to a personal account, but the surrogate driver who provided the service did not show the fee details, nor did he explain the billing standard clearly.
The "Rule of Law Daily" reporter found that there are not a few car owners who have had such experiences, and some car owners left such a sentence-this may be the last time they called a substitute driver.
Why is there such chaos in the driver service industry?
Interviewed experts pointed out that there is currently no clear competent authority in the driver service industry, and there is no special legal regulation to regulate and restrain it.
According to Wang Yunhui, an associate researcher at the Henan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, to promote the standardization and improvement of the surrogate driving industry, it is necessary to clarify the industry authorities for the surrogate driving industry and regulate the surrogate driving industry at the level of policies and regulations, and rectify the chaotic situation of the surrogate driving according to the law to ensure smooth traffic flow. Drunk car owner on his way home safely.
In this regard, Zheng Xiang, a professor at the Law School of Beijing Jiaotong University, believes that surrogate driving belongs to the transportation industry and should be supervised by the transportation management department.
Wang Zhongwu, a professor at Shandong University, also suggested that in terms of prices, relevant departments should formulate standards to promote the standardization of billing for surrogate drivers.
When choosing a substitute driver, the public is most concerned about the word "safety".
The reporter noticed through investigation that many surrogate drivers are waiting at the entrance of restaurants and KTVs and do not accept orders through the platform. If such surrogate drivers provide services, once problems arise, it may be impossible to find a subject capable of taking responsibility.
For example, the surrogate drivers of Hu Ling and Liu Yi were "randomly chosen among the surrogate drivers who crowded at the entrance of the restaurant."
"They are generally neatly dressed, with vests, helmets, and folding bikes, and some have logos of well-known platforms printed on them. My first impression is that they are regular substitute drivers, so I chose them directly." Hu Ling said, from the perspective of equipment, It is not clear whether it is a platform or an individual.
According to Hu Muzhi, a member of the Traffic Management and Transport Law Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association, when looking for a substitute driver, car owners should be aware of risks, look for a regular substitute driver platform, and try to avoid finding a private substitute driver. Agreement, set up safety barriers for yourself.
It is understood that the current surrogate driving service is mainly for drunken surrogate drivers and long-distance surrogate drivers. There are two peak orders for driver drivers every day, one is between 20:00 and 21:00 after dinner, and the other is in the early morning. Around 1:00 to 2:00.
Driving at night means that there are higher requirements for the driving skills of the driver.
Zheng Xiang believes that in order to guarantee the service quality of substitute drivers, on the one hand, it is necessary to raise the entry threshold for substitute drivers, train qualified substitute drivers, and improve the overall quality of substitute drivers.
For example, take measures to strengthen technical assessment, professional ethics assessment and related vocational education; on the other hand, it is necessary to standardize the behavior of service personnel and form supervision and management norms.
In April 2021, the China Automobile Dealers Association and the China Road Traffic Safety Association jointly issued the group standard "Safety Management Requirements for Auto Driving Service".
In Zheng Xiang's view, as a self-regulatory standard for the surrogate driving industry, the content of the "Safety Management Requirements for Automobile Represented Driving Service" is very comprehensive. The next step is to conduct legislative research to understand the implementation situation and effect of group standards. The specific measures that are more effective for the driving platform are raised to the level of national regulations. It can also be implemented at the local level, as in the regulation of online car-hailing, to accumulate experience through local legislation, and then to implement legislation at the national level.
In Hu Muzhi's view, according to the new characteristics and requirements of economic and social development, the national legislature can formulate basic legal principles, and the detailed rules and mechanisms for implementing feedback can be entrusted to industry associations to formulate and implement in order to maintain the driver's seat. The market operates in a standardized and orderly manner.
(Rule of Law Daily)