国内英语新闻:Drunk driving restrained by tougher penalties

BEIJING, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The number of drunk-driving cases have plummeted in China since May 1, 2011, when an amended law that imposes harsher punishments on drunk drivers took effect.

Over the past two years, the police handled 871,000 cases of driving under the influence of alcohol, plunging by 39.3 percent compared with the same period from 2009 to 2011, the Traffic Management Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said on Wednesday.

The number of drunk driving cases in the past two years stood at 122,000, down 42.7 percent from the 2009-2011 period.

A total of 93,000 cases have been transferred to procuratorial authorities, and more than 70,000 cases have been judged by the courts, according to the MPS.

In the past year, the number of road accidents caused by drunk driving has dropped by 35.2 percent, the MPS said.

The numbers of people killed or injured in drunk driving accidents also saw a year-on-year decline by 21.1 percent and 34.7 percent, respectively.

China amended the Criminal Law to criminalize drunk driving in 2011. The amended law stipulates that all drunk driving constitutes a criminal offence, even if no road accidents or other serious consequences occur.