by Xinhua writer Miao Xiaojuan
BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- When should the justice system demand a life for a life?
The question is being asked in courts, law schools and Internet forums throughout China after two fatal accidents allegedly caused by drink-drivers this week fueled public outrage over a string of road deaths.
On Tuesday, a 16-year-old girl was killed by a suspected drink-driver in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. Two days later, another alleged drink-driver in northeast China killed two and injured 12.
While drink-driving is under the spotlight, many people say justice is denied when motorists are charged with traffic offenses for taking a life while driving illegally in any way.
Public anger seemed to be assuaged last month when company executive Sun Weiming in southwestern Chengdu City was sentenced to death for killing four people with his car when he was well in excess of the legal blood-alcohol limit and driving without a license.
Sun was convicted of "endangering public safety" -- the first person in China to face the charge after a road accident. However, many experts argue he should have been charged under China's Criminal Law with a traffic offense, which would have earned him a maximum sentence of seven years in prison for the Dec. 14 crash.
"He should have been convicted of a traffic offense," said Xue Jinzhan, professor of criminal law at Shanghai's East China University of Political Science and Law.
"The public resentment of the rich somehow intensified the severity of the case, and the juridical process appealed to the public. It's not rational," said Xue.
Wang Mingliang, professor of criminal law at Fudan University, said prosecutors had no strong evidence that Sun had anti-social tendencies, which would be required to support a charge of "endangering public safety."
"I believe things will change at his second trial," Wang said.
"In Chinese traditional thinking, a person who kills others must pay with life. But according to the law, a drink-driving killing is a crime of negligence, with a sentence of no more than seven years."
His words are bound to stir the public debate on sentencing those who kill behind the wheel.
Last month, Chinese took to the Internet to protest the three-year jail term handed down to drag racer Hu Bin after he was convicted of killing a young man while speeding through the streets of Hangzhou in May.
Hu, 20, also paid the family of his victim 1.13 million yuan (165,400 U.S. dollars) in compensation, but many people still demanded a harsher sentence and the victim's father petitioned the court for Hu to face a charge of "endangering public safety."
Some legal experts echo public complaints that the penalties for traffic crimes are too light and fail to deter drivers from taking risks.
"I think the cost of breaking the law should be raised from seven years to at least 10 years," said Professor Xue. "The law was amended in 1997, but things have changed in the past 12 years. The danger of traffic violations, especially drink-driving deaths, was underestimated."
But others, like Professor Wang, argue that the law as it stands is reasonable.
"When we talk about the cost of breaking the law, it usually refers to intentional crimes, but most traffic accident crimes are not intentional. Tough laws and severe punishment sound logical to the public, but it is not what laws should be," Wang said.
He questioned whether tougher penalties would be effective in cutting the number of drink-driving cases, saying the priority should be finding the causes of the problem.
He wants to see more debate on China's drinking culture, the rising number of private cars, low awareness of traffic rules, and the easy availability of driving licenses.
"Chinese people drink lots of wine at family gatherings and business functions, and many have their own cars. Many people drink and drive frequently," Wang said.
The most common violations of speeding and running red lights should also be treated more seriously.
Most Chinese over the age of 18 can get a driving license after a three-month training course and several tests. Examiners have been known to go easy on candidates who give them gifts such as cigarettes and wines.
"Only when we work on solving all these problems, can we eliminate road fatalities. You need the right therapy to cure a disease," Wang said.
Wang also wants drink driving reclassified as a crime regardless of whether it results in casualties. Currently it is traffic violation bringing a maximum of 15 days in detention if no accidents result.
"If it's a crime and anyone who gets caught can lose their license and go to jail, a lot more people will be afraid of breaking it," Wang said.
But the experts agree that safer roads will ultimately require greater respect for the lives of others and for the rules.
"Civilized roads indicate a civilized society. We all deserve sober drivers and disciplined pedestrians," Xue said.
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