A Japanese Perspective on Drunk Driving

Drunken drivers, passengers face tougher penalties
Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 15:56 EDT
TOKYO — The Diet enacted an amendment to the road traffic law Thursday to impose tougher penalties on drunken drivers as well as those who provide them with alcohol or vehicles or ride in a car driven by them. Under the revised law, people who drive while intoxicated will face a maximum prison term of five years or a fine of up to 1 million yen, compared with three years or a 500,000 yen fine before the law was revised.

Drivers who are considered to be under the influence of alcohol although their in-take of liquor has not reached a set level deemed to constitute drunkenness will receive a maximum prison term of three years or a maximum fine of 500,000 yen, up from one year or a 300,000 yen fine. The revisions came amid mounting calls for tougher action against drunken driving since a hit-and-run accident last August in Fukuoka Prefecture that was caused by an inebriated driver and resulted in the deaths of three children.

People who provide alcohol to drivers or vehicles to people who are drunk will also be subject to stiffer penalties than they were before the law was revised, when they received only half the penalties imposed on drivers.

People who provide vehicles to persons who are drunk will face the same penalties as the drivers. Anyone who offers alcohol to drivers will face a maximum prison term of three years or a fine of up to 500,000 yen if the driver is intoxicated, or two years or 300,000 yen if the driver is under the influence of alcohol although their liquor in-take is below the set level.

Those who ask a drunken driver for a ride and ride in the vehicle will be subject to the same penalties imposed on those who provide alcohol to a driver.

The penalties for hit-and-run drivers were raised to a prison term of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 1 million yen, up from the previous five years or 500,000 yen.

If a drunken driver causes a hit-and-run accident, the driver will face a maximum prison term of 15 years, compared with seven years and six months under the previous law.


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