China may penalise drink-driving passengers

China has proposed expanding a nationwide campaign against drunk drivers to include penalties against their passengers.

The proposal released by China's Ministry of Public Security over the weekend calls for fines for passengers riding in cars with a drunk driver and increased jail time for repeat drunk drivers, the official China Daily newspaper reported on Monday.

No details were given as to how the law would be implemented. Calls to the Ministry of Publish Security rang unanswered early on Monday.

The plan follows a two-month crackdown on drunk driving that included road blocks, heftier fines, 15-day jail terms and six-month license suspensions.

In one case, a 30-year-old man was sentenced to death after killing four people in an accident in southwestern Chengdu - reportedly the first time China issued the death penalty in a drunk-driving case. The sentence was later reduced to life in prison.

Enforcement of laws against drunken driving has traditionally been lax and police easily bribed or otherwise persuaded to expunge convictions.

However, a recent spate of highly publicized drunken driving incidents this year sparked outrage in the media and on the Internet.

The issue tapped into disgust over China's yawning gap between the rich and poor after a young man driving his father's Porsche SUV hit and killed a 16-year-old waitress in August.

Drivers in Beijing can be cited as drunk if they have a blood alcohol level at or above 0.02, or 20 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

That is much lower than the US limit of .08, making virtually any consumption of alcohol by drivers illegal. Beer is inexpensive and popular in China, while spirits tend to be consumed at official functions.