By KHT Staff. Photos courtesy of a member of the public.
KAOHSIUNG — A 49-year-old scooter rider was arrested in Cianjhen District (前鎮區) over the weekend after allegedly fleeing police, hitting another rider, and crashing on a highway ramp while drunk.
Police identified the suspect only by his surname, Chiang (江). They said officers from the Caoya Police Station (草衙派出所) under the Cianjhen Precinct (前鎮分局) tried to stop him at about 5 p.m. after he allegedly made an illegal right turn on a red light.
Chiang allegedly ignored police signals and sped away through nearby alleys. During the chase, he hit a female scooter rider on Jhongping Road (中平路) and did not stop, police said.
He then tried to escape by riding onto a highway ramp, but lost control and crashed while turning, police said. Officers arrested him at the scene.
Police said Chiang’s breath alcohol level was 0.83 milligrams per liter. He allegedly told officers he fled because he was afraid of being punished for drunk driving.
Taiwan has two key drunk-driving thresholds for breath alcohol: 0.15 mg/L — administrative drunk-driving violation. A driver or scooter rider can be fined and face license penalties once breath alcohol reaches 0.15 milligrams per liter. But the criminal threshold is 0.25 mg/L. At 0.25 mg/L breath alcohol, or 0.05% blood alcohol concentration, the case can be treated as a criminal public endangerment offense.
The case was referred to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office (高雄地方檢察署) for investigation into suspected public endangerment and hit-and-run offenses.
In addition to criminal charges, police also issued traffic citations for drunk driving, hit-and-run, running a red light, and failing to stay in the proper lane. The violations carry combined fines totalling NT$102,600, police said.
