Lawmaker sentenced to 4-month detention for drunk driving
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Xinhua, July 5, 2011
A former lawmaker in east China's Zhejiang Province was sentenced to 4 months in detention on Monday for drunk driving and fined 4,000 yuan (619 U.S. dollars).
Once a deputy to the Longwan District People's Congress in the city of Wenzhou, Huang Haichun, 39 years old, was convicted of dangerous driving by Longwan District People's Court.
According to the court's findings, Huang drove her car after drinking a bottle of wine while dining with friends on the night of June 11. She hit a pedestrian surnamed Wang but did not stop her car.
Wang got into his own vehicle and eventually pulled Huang over. Wang then called the police.
Huang refused to take a breath alcohol test and her blood test later showed her alcohol level at 215 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, exceeding the legal threshold of 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, according to the court.
She is the first lawmaker in Zhejiang Province to be convicted of drunk driving.
In recent years, fatal car accidents in Chinese cities such as Chengdu, Nanjing and Hangzhou have triggered public outcry, with many people calling for stricter penalties for drunk driving.
The newly amended Road Traffic Safety Law states that anyone caught drunk driving will have their driver's license revoked upon conviction, have to wait five years to apply for a new license and face detention for one to six months.
