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Shanghai: Drunk drivers may face death penalty

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-09-11 15:42

Drunken drivers convicted of jeopardizing public safety can be sentenced to death in Shanghai, according to the Notice on Severely Punishing Drunken Driving by Shanghai police on their website.

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Drivers convicted of drunken driving will have their licenses reovoked for at least three months and be fined 500 yuan ($72), the notice said.

The Shanghai police defined for the first time that drunken drivers, who have a laissez-faire attitude toward people's life and property when violating traffic rules, shall be convicted of "jeopardizing the public safety in a dangerous manner".

The most severe punishment for those offenders shall be the death penalty.

The notice said all drunken drivers have to be punished as severely and promptly as possible with no more lenient punishments.