Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my opinion about the problem of dangerous driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in Hong Kong, and also suggest some measures to tackle this thorny problem.
The serious car accidents involving drug-taking drivers or drunk drivers are always capturing the headlines of the newspapers and news websites. According to recent studies, the number of cases of dangerous driving is surging in Hong Kong. In this densely-populated city, an increasing number of dangerous driving seriously threatens the lives of people, including ours. However, how pathetic it is that the Hong Kong government does hardly anything to handle this problem. The government understates the effects of such a menacing problem, so that dangerous driving is on the rise in Hong Kong.
One week ago, a 27-year-old woman was seriously injured in a horrific car accident, in which the driver was under the influence of illegal drugs. However, the driver suffered minimal injuries only. Such accidents have been very common. The driver is merely sentenced to a few months’ imprisonment, but the victims suffer from the great injuries for a few years, even their entire life. This abnormally light penalty can clearly answer why the dangerous driving problem has persisted in recent years.
Moreover, what I am much more worried about is, those drivers are adopting a very casual attitude towards driving. They often brush aside the irreparable harm of drugs and alcohol, thinking that they possess more than adequate driving skills and experience even when they are drunk or have taken drugs. This lack of understanding of the dangers of drug- and drink-driving is also the cause of this exacerbating problem.
So the most important thing is, how to combat the problem of dangerous driving. The measures which I am going to introduce may work.
First, education and publicity. Through these means, the drivers can be reminded of the serious consequences brought by dangerous driving. The government should pump more resources into territory-wide publicity against drug- or drink-driving. It should also cooperate with local youth organizations to organize talks in secondary schools to promote safe driving. As many of these teenagers are likely to drive in the future, such education should target them, in order to help them build a very serious attitude towards driving from adolescence. Education and publicity are undoubtedly effective measures to tackle the problem of dangerous driving. Once their attitudes towards dangerous driving change, the drivers will treat this type of driving seriously and squarely.
Second, doubling or even tripling the penalty for dangerous driving. The punishment for dangerous driving is not heavy enough, as most drug-drivers are only banned from driving a few months only, and if they seriously injure others, the heaviest penalty is merely seven years’ imprisonment. (But until this moment, no one has been penalized for such long sentence because of dangerous driving under the influence if alcohol or drugs). Such light punishment absolutely could not scare off the daredevil drivers. In my opinion, dangerous driving causing death should be treated as murder, as all of the drug drivers or drunk drivers should recognize that once they drive, they are putting others’ lives at risk. So, in this light, why can dangerous driving not be regarded as murder?
Third, increasing the frequency of compulsory alcohol and drug tests on the roads. The more alcohol and drug tests there are, the more chances there are of identifying those drunk drivers and drug-taking drivers, and the less accidents caused by dangerous driving there will be. The government should know such a simple cause-effect relationship extremely well. Moreover, as a result of more tests, some drivers may become more afraid of being caught, and finally avoid dangerous driving. Perhaps such a measure may affect the traffic flow and cause traffic jams. But the point is, is the speed of traveling much more important than one’s life?
Other minor measures can also help tackle the problem. For example, the government can cooperate with pubs and bars in Lan Kwai Fong. Some research traces a certain proportion of drunk drivers from this alcoholic hub. The bars can provide a service of helping a customer whose blood alcohol concentration has exceeded the limit to get a free ride home. Such a service is indeed more and more popular among bars in Lan Kwai Fong. Those bars which provide this service can be recognized by the government as responsible bars, for their effort in fighting dangerous driving.
Undoubtedly, the last important measure is the government should eradicate the problem of illegal drugs, which in turn will help minimize dangerous driving.
All in all, through the cooperation of citizens, the government, drivers and bar owners, I believe that Hong Kong could become a ‘dangerous driving-free’ city in the future.
Yours faithfully,
Pat Li
Pat Li