A couple of dozen passengers travelling by bus from Wuxi to Nanjing got the fright of their lives recently, when the bus they were travelling in was pulled over by high-speed traffic police and their driver found to be highly intoxicated.
Local media reported the occurrence on 4 December, when the bus in question was subject to a police check after passing through the toll booth on the G42 Expressway as it enters Nanjing.
When a police officer observed that he could detect a whiff of alcohol, the driver responded, saying, “Not at all, not at all”. The officer then directed his colleague to conduct a breathalyser test of the man, surnamed Tao.
The returned results indicated that Tao had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 107mg/100ml. With China’s definition of “driving under influence” (DUI) being 20mg/100ml, Tao was more than five times over the limit.
China furthermore defines “driving while impaired” (DWI) as a BAC of 80mg/100ml, meaning that Tao’s BAC was also 33.75 percent times higher than the DWI legal limit.
The breathalyser results were later confirmed by blood test.
When the officer boarded the bus to provide passengers with an explanation as to why their vehicle had been stopped, passengers cried out in astonishment at the news their driver was far too drunk to be operating any kind of vehicle.
Tao confessed that he had been drinking the night before but felt that by the morning he would be fit to drive, reports The Paper.
Tao’s driving licence was suspended for 10 years and he now faces criminal penalties; likely a jail term.
According to AngloInfo China, current laws state that having blood alcohol levels that meet the definition of DUI can result in a ¥1,000 minimum fine and up to a 3-month driving licence suspension. DWI on the other hand, is punishable by imprisonment, a 5-year driving licence suspension (with the risk of permanent loss) and a fine of between ¥1,000 and ¥2,000.
