Impacts Of Poor Roads And Drunk Driving in china

Impacts Of Poor Roads And Drunk Driving On Road Safety In Developing Countries: A Case Of China

Contents

Introduction. 1

Current Situational Analysis – A general Overview.. 3

Influence of Poor Roads on Road Safety in China. 7

Relevant Statistics. 7

Comparison with the United States. 12

3.3 Summary. 15

Influence of Drunk Driving on Road Safety in China. 15

4.1 Drinking Under Influence (DUI) Legislation in China. 16

4.2 Relevant Statistics of Drunk Driving in China. 17

4.3 Comparison with Other Developing Economies. 21

4.3.1 Comparison with Brazil 21

4.3.2 Comparison with India. 22

4.4 Summary. 23

Recommendations. 24

Recommendations Related to Poor Roads. 24

Recommendations Related to Drunk Driving. 28

Conclusion. 31

References. 32

Introduction

China is a home of many opportunities and challenges alike. According to Zhang et al. (2008), the country boasts as the largest automobile market in the world, surpassing the United States in 2009 with annual automobile sales projected to reach 40 million by 2020. Further, and as Bradsher (2011) finds, the country has nearly 80 million vehicles in its roads as of the end of 2010. The country is also the world’s most populous nation – at 1.35 billion people according to 2011 World Bank census estimates, a majority of which live in urban centres (World Bank, 2011). Further, the country has the second-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP (at $8.227 trillion) and purchasing power parity GDP (at $12.405 trillion) according to 2012 figures. Moreover, China has been experiencing a robust economy growth of between 7% and 10% since the late 1990s (Morrison, 2013). The country’s road infrastructure network can be termed as substantially developed particularly the sophisticated network of expressways extending 95,000 kilometres between large urban areas such as Shanghai and Beijing. Overall, it is clear that these developments sound progressive insofar road transport services in China goes.

Nevertheless, the booming economy, large population, large urban population and large number of automobiles have exerted huge pressure on road transport networks. For instance, Cheung (2008) reasons that an increase in the number of vehicles in the country has posed a huge road safety challenge. As a matter of fact, Zhang (2008) shows that the number of automobiles in the country grew from 42.2 million to 145.2 million between 1997 to 2006, with 57.9% of those being motorcycles, 16.4% passenger vehicles, 7.5% heavy trucks and 9.4% light trucks.

Even as China enjoys the world’s largest network of expressways (Zhang et al., 2008), the growing number of automobiles poses a huge challenge to the country. This pressure is exhibited by the frequent traffic snarl-ups in most cities across the country especially during morning and evening hours when many people are commuting to and from their places of work. Further, and as Murphy (2012) shows, this huge pressure has made it very hard to effectively implement traffic regulations in the country. Consequently, is also exhibited by the growing number of traffic accidents across the country. For example, in August 26, 2012, a tanker ferrying methanol collided with double-decker bus near Yanan, Shaanxi, killing 36 people (Murphy, 2012). Overall, a report presented in the United Nations 10^th road safety collaboration meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand by Baluja (2009) shows that at least 87,000 road accident deaths are reported in China every year compared to India’s 100,000 deaths.

A number of studies have been undertaken to discuss and quantify the road safety problem in China (Baluja, 2009; Cheung, 2008; Kayani et al., 2011; Li et al., 2006; Murphy, 2012; Li et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2008; Zhang and Pei, 2005; Zhao, 2006; Zhao et al., 2011). Nevertheless, it is clear that none of these studies has narrowed down its scope to exhaustively discuss the influence of drunk driving and poor roads on the problem. This has created a lack of comprehensive, actionable information that Chinese authorities can rely on in rolling out reforms to tackle the escalating problem. Therefore there is a need to narrow down to specific causal factors and explore their specific impacts on road safety in China and then explore different ways on how these impacts can be mitigated.

To this effect, this report will offer a comprehensive set of information regarding the impact of poor roads and drunk driving on road safety in China. While paying cognizance to the fact that the Chinese government has instituted tremendous measures to address these two challenges, the report will show that to reduce traffic accidents, Chinese authorities must: (1) curb drunk driving by enacting punitive legislations and liaising with advocacy groups to create awareness on the ills of drunk driving, and (2) building new roads while keeping the existing ones in good shape as well as liaising with members of the public to reduce instances of vandalism.

Current Situational Analysis – A general Overview

Road safety is a major challenge among developing countries such as China. Based on a 2009 report presented to the 10^th United Nations Road Safety Collaboration meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand, China has the second largest deaths from road traffic accidents – as many as 87,000 people die every year in China as a result of grisly road traffic accidents including pedestrians and riders of non-motorised vehicles such as bicycles and carts (Baluja, 2009). Arguably, this is a high fatality index because it converts to more than 230 deaths per day, an alarming figure that according to United Nations Road Safety Collaboration standards pronounces doom to the country given it can harness modern technology to monitor and reduce road traffic accidents. Comparatively, it is arguable that this is an alarming figure especially going by a road safety report by the World Bank which finds that traffic accidents form developing countries account from more than one million deaths per year, about 90% of all deaths emanating from traffic accidents across the whole world (Kayani et al., 2011). Moreover, and as Kayani et al. (2011) show, about 265,000 people are killed annually by traffic accidents across South Asian countries alone, with countries such as Pakistan, India and China taking the lion share of these deaths courtesy of their large populations, poorly maintained road networks, and ill-implemented traffic regulations.

Interestingly, a great number of road traffic fatalities do not emanate from motor vehicles. According to a study done by Zhang et al. (2008), in 2005, automobile drivers contributed to only 9.0% of road traffic fatalities compared to their counterparts in the US who accounted for as much as 53.4% fatalities in the year 2000. Further, Zhang et al. (2008: 3) find that “Pedestrians, users of non-motorized vehicles, motorcycle drivers, and passengers in motor vehicles accounted for 24.8%, 15.5%, 22.2%, and 20.5%, of fatalities, respectively.” Correspondingly, pedestrians accounted for 11.3% and non-motorised vehicle users for 1.6%, with motorcyclists accounting for 6.3%, and passengers accounting for 25.5% in the US in 2000 (Zhang et al., 2008). Indicatively, and as Appendix 1 shows, most road traffic accident fatalities in China are occasioned by pedestrians, drivers of motorcycles, as well as users of non-motorized vehicles such as bicycles while in the US automobile drivers who bear the biggest brunt.

Nevertheless, there are no accurate road traffic accident records in China. According to Murphy (2012), it is very difficult to quantify road accidents in China simply because some accidents go unreported by the traffic police department. Arguably, this is for obvious reasons that sometimes the traffic police may want to create an impression that they are performing their duties of enhancing the adherence to the set road safety regulations in the country which according to McLaughlin (2011) puts too much blame on drivers in the event of a road traffic accident. For instance, and according to the Traffic Administration Bureau which falls under the Ministry of Public Security, and which acts as the main source of traffic-accident-related data in the country, only about 25,864 people died in the first half of 2011 form road traffic accidents, a low figure which according to Zhao et al. (2011) may even represent a half of the actual deaths emanating from road traffic accidents in the country especially when past data collected between 2002 and 2007 is anything to go by. Further, a study carried out by the WHO found that the official road traffic accident fatalities given by Chinese authorities are far from true especially when data collected from hospitals, mortuaries and other healthcare facilities are put into consideration. In addition, the WHO study found that the official road traffic accident fatalities reports are faulty because they are collected from the police force. Nevertheless, Murphy (2012) shows that even with the lowered road traffic accidents statistics, the figures are comparatively alarming especially when corresponding figures from developed countries like the United States are taken into consideration. For instance, Murphy (2012) shows that in 2011 there were 32,310 traffic accident deaths in the US yet the country had 240 million registered automobiles against China’s 80 million.

 

The reasons for this damning trend range from lack of proper implementation of road safety regulations by local authorities, poor roads, bad weather, faulty vehicles, to reckless attitudes on the part of drivers. For instance, and as Zhao et al. (2011) find, the reason why road safety challenges have continued to increase over the years in China is because authorities are known for reacting to road accidents after they have occurred instead to taking preventive measures. For instance, the authorities have failed to curb reckless driving among riders of the infamous scooter motorbikes that according to Murphy (2012) are referred to as the “silent killers” because they are fond of appearing when they are least expected, they do not indicate when changing lanes and they do not observe traffic lights. Moreover, and according to Zhao et al. (2011), the Chinese government lacks the political goodwill to implement strict road safety regulations for fear of public backlash. As a matter of fact, Murphy (2012) shows that the Chinese government lacks the political goodwill with politicians, police and the judiciary considering road safety as a low priority problem in a country that has more “serious” issues to address such as territorial aggressions by neighbours such as Japan.

 

Moreover, road traffic accidents cause more deaths in China because of lack of political goodwill. It is has been argued that in China, just like other developing nations there is a fear of public backlash when the government commits huge sums of monies in rehabilitating roads because this financial burden is ultimately transferred to members of public in the form of increased taxes and bus fare (Zhang et al., 2004). Further, and as a study by the Zhang et al. (2008) show, fast economic growth which has culminated in rapid motorisation in the country play the major roles of traffic accidents. Other factors include lack of proper training for drivers, lack of a stringent legal framework as well as lack of sufficient public awareness on the best measures to uphold road safety regulations. As a matter of fact, Chinese drivers have tendency to flout traffic regulations by engaging in illegal actions such as drunk driving, overloading, reckless driving without care for other road users, and driving without proper licences. For instance, public transport drivers are known to overload their vehicles in order to maximise profits (Hays, 2012). McLaughlin (2011) clarifies that the Chinese moral fabric is so rotten such that, drivers run over knocked down bodies for several times without even caring to report for fear of reprisal. Overall, this moral rottenness begins from the top leadership and has trickled down to common citizens.

 

These are damning findings given that road traffic accidents cost the government and the citizens so much, financially and emotionally. As a matter of fact, it has been established those road traffic accidents in developing nations costs as much as 2% of the GDP because they consume scarce medical, technical and financial resources in the form treating the injured, compensating the families of the injured and replacing the damaged vehicles (Bradsher, 2011). Overall, these damning figures highlight the rottenness on the part of the existing medical, insurance and legal systems in the country. As matter of fact, and as McLaughlin (2011) finds, sometimes drivers find it very cheap to kill by running over someone even several times rather than having to take them to hospital and foot their medical care bills. For example, McLaughlin (2011) tells of a story where a 21-year-old driver hit a 26-year-old waitress and proceeded to stab her to death because he was convinced if the woman survived the accident she would badger his family with endless compensation claims. Arguably, and as Zhang et al. (2004) posit, this is moral decadence of the highest order given the young age of the driver – it shows that Chinese drivers are only concerned about their welfare and are more likely to disregard the welfare of other road users.

 

Nevertheless, it is fair to point out that though China still holds the second position after India in terms of the reported road traffic fatalities, there are signs that things are changing for the better. According to statistics from the WHO, in 2009 about 67,759 people were killed by road traffic accidents, about 7.8% decline from the previous year (Hays, 2012). Further, 2008 traffic fatalities were down by 10%, injuries went down by 20% and total accidents went down by 19% compared to the case in 2007. As Hays (2012) show, in 2008, 73,484 people were killed and 304,919 survived with injuries in about 265,204 reported accidents across the country. In 2006, some 76,000 people were killed, about 9.4 decline from the situation in 2005 (Hays, 2012). These are interesting figures which to some extent point out to the return in sanity among Chinese drivers as well as proper implementation of the set traffic rules especially on critical issues such as use of safety belts, speeding, drunk driving and overloading.

Influence of Poor Roads on Road Safety in China

Relevant Statistics

Developing countries like China have been known to have poorly constructed and maintained road networks. Though China boasts for having the most extensive network of expressways in the world (at more than 95,000 kilometres as of 2012), even surpassing developed countries such as the US (Li and Shum, 2012), the country experiences numerous road traffic accidents as a result of poorly built or maintained roads especially in the country’s mountainous areas (Baluja, 2009). Arguably, and as Zhang et al. (2008) reason, the expansive nature of the country’s geographical space is partly responsible for the lack of proper maintenance of road network as this is likely to cost the government large sums of funds. Further, China has been experiencing rapid motorisation and growth in urban centres as a result of economic growth and movement from rural to urban areas. For instance, and as Appendix 2 shows, the country’s GDP has grown by almost 10% since the 1990s, urban population has increased by more than 40% and motor vehicles have by more than 30 times during the same period of time and hence putting pressure on road network in the country (Zhao, 2006).

The country has made phenomenal steps in the last 20 years to revamp its national road network. For example, in the late 1990s when the Asian crisis broke out, the Chinese government made stringent fiscal measures in order to streamline investment in the national road infrastructure (Zhang et al., 2008). As Appendix 3 shows, this culminated in the increase of the total kilometres covered by the country’s expressways and highways to reach a total of 1.9 million kilometres in 2005 or a density of about 20 kilometres or road network per 100 kilometres squared (Zhao, 2006). Nevertheless, with the increased rate of motorisation and the accompanying dense road infrastructure network, China continue to experience increased rates of road traffic accidents. As a matter of fact about 100,000 road traffic accident deaths and 500,000 injuries were reported in the country in 2005 alone, about 20% of the all road traffic fatalities in the world in the same year (Zhang et al., 2008). With the number of automobiles slated to grow exponentially by 2020 in China, pressure on the country’s road network will increase and road traffic accidents will most likely increase due to the obvious difficulties in road maintenance.

The immense pressure resultant road maintenance challenges have caused numerous road traffic accidents. For instance, back in July 1997, two buses enroot to Emei Mountain tumbled down a steep road and down into the Yangtze River killing at least 43 passengers (Hays, 2012). Another bus plunged into another river in the southern part of the country almost the same time when the earlier two buses were involved in the grisly accident. Further, in 2002, a mini bus carrying students tumbled about 70 meters down a mountain road and down into a river in Yunnan province killing 17 people (Hays, 2012). Another 34 people were killed in 2002 when a long distance bus plying between Urumqi and Kashgar went off a bridge in Xinjiang and a year later, another bus killed 27 people when it plunged into a ravine when the driver swerved to avoid a head-on collision with an oil truck in Shaanxi province near Ya’an (Hays, 2012). Around 22 people were killed in May 2004 when a bus veered over a cliff in Sichuan Province near Wanyuan. Yet another accident involving the poor conditions of Chinese roads killed 16 people when a truck packed with migrant workers crashed over a guardrail in Chongqing region, near Jiangjin on June 2004 (Hays, 2012). Another accident resulted in several unconfirmed deaths in September 30, the same year when a bus was swept off by a swollen river near Chongqing. Further, in November, the same year, 23 people were killed alongside other 46 who survived with severe injuries in Shaanxi Province when loaded bus tumbled into a river on the north-western side of the province and another bus killed 19 people when it veered into a road sidewalk also injuring several pedestrians walking home (Hays, 2012). In essence, these accidents would not have occurred if the roads surfaces were in good condition and the guardrails were working right.

Records of road traffic accidents in China involving poor roads are many. For instance, 24 people were killed and 13 survived with injuries when a bus plunged down snow-covered mountainous road in the south-western part of the country in November 2005 (Hays, 2012). Further still, and in December the same year 28 people went missing and were presumed to be dead after a bus skidded off a weak and frozen section of a road landing into the Yellow River. Another bus tumbled down a cliff in December 2006, killing at least 17 people in the south-western part of China and in February 2007, a tour bus caused 18 deaths and 75 injuries after it collided head-on with a bus while attempting to navigate a pot-holed section of a road near Hecho, Guangxi Province (Hays, 2012). Moreover, in March the same year, 22 people were killed in Shaanxi Province when the bus they were travelling in plunged into a reservoir, while another bus plunged some 20 metres down an overpass killing at least 24 people in Chongqing as a result of slick road surface (Hays, 2012). A further, 20 people were killed when a tractor transporting women from a hard-day labour job overturned in a mountainous road in Liaoning Province hence crashing a cart that was attached to it. Another 9 people were killed in July 2007 when a bus tumbled into a river while attempting to drive into a ferry, and in August the same year at least 3 people were killed and 13 others injured when a tour bus collided with a car near Xian following a mix-up in road signs (Hays, 2012). Overall, these accidents highlight the level of vulnerability when driving along Chinese roads especially for drivers of heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks who are faced with difficulties in controlling their vehicles when driving in steep, unprotected road sections.

Mountainous roads in China lack strong barriers for protecting vehicles from tumbling down hill when they lose control. For instance, in January 2008, a bus lost control and rammed past highway barriers and into a ravine (Hays, 2012). The accident was blamed on poor roads that made it difficult for the driver to apply brakes or even to rely on the guardrails to at least prevent the bus from plunging into the ravine. In March 2008, a long distance passenger bus plunged into a river killing 12 people and injuring 33 others when the driver of the bus was unable to control the bus after an attempted overtaking due to poor road condition when travelling from Chongqing to Shenzhen (Hays, 2012). Further, 9 people were killed and 20 others surviving with injuries when a bus they were travelling in plunged into a 9-metre ravine on May 2008, in near Huangshan, Anhui Province. Poor roads were partly blamed for the accident. In June 2008, a bus and a truck collided head-on with an on-coming truck, killing 22 people in Shanxi Province when the bus driver lost control due to poorly maintained roads that made navigation difficult (Hays, 2012). A bus travelling on a remote mountain road in Xinjiang overturned and rolled down hill, killing 24 people and injuring 20 others on June 2008. The accident was blamed on poorly maintained roads that made the driver of the bus carrying high school students to lose control while manoeuvring bends and potholes. In September 2008, a bus tumbled into a 100-metre valley killing 51 people in Sichuan Province. During the same month, another passenger bus plunged into the Tibetan mountains killing 18 people and injuring 29 others (Hays, 2012). Majority of these accidents were blamed on poor roads that make it difficult for drivers to quickly regain control of their vehicles when navigating patchy road sections.

Poorly constructed roads that do not provide enough ramps, parking bays, bus stops, and sidewalks are responsible for increased road traffic accidents. Further, in August 2011, a bus ferrying migrant workers rammed into a stationary semi-trailer parked along the road near Zhangjiakou (Hays, 2012). Another 12 people were killed in February 2011 after a minibus plunged into a reservoir following a swerve from the road while trying to avoid hitting a motorbike that veered out of its lane to avoid potholes. Another accident occurred in March 2011 when a bus veered from the road without proper guardrails and rammed into a passing train killing at least 3 people and injuring 80 others (Hays, 2012). Further, in October 2009, a bus that plunged into a deep valley form a mountainous road in Shanxi Province killing 13 and injuring 40 others due to poor road guardrails. During earlier the same year in October, a bus over run a hilly road killing 17 people, injuring 54 others due to poor road guardrails and poor road markings. Earlier the same year in April, poor roads were blamed on an accident where a bus collided with a truck head-on killing 20 people and injuring 12 others on a narrow section of the road near Kuqa in Xinjiang (Hays, 2012). Overall, these accidents highlight the challenges that China as an expansive country, home to rugged terrain, tall mountains, deep valleys and severe winters faces a great challenge of keeping its road networks in good conditions. For instance, repeated rain erosion during winter weakens the sides of the roads and guardrails in mountain roads making it very dangerous for bus drivers.

Poor roads continue to increase the level of road traffic accidents in China at a time when the country boasts the most extensive road network in the world. For example, and according to Qiang (2013), about 7 people were killed and 12 others seriously injured early in 2013 when an overloaded van tumbled down a ravine on a poorly-railed mountain road in Daxin County, Guangxi Zhuang region. Another 12 people were killed when an overloaded coach tumbled down past a poorly-railed road down into a 100-meter slope in the south-western region of Guizhou Province early in 2013 (Qiang, 2013). Another coach tumbled down a ravine and caught fire killing all on board near Ningxian, Qingyang City (Qiang, 2013). Rescue operations could proceed successfully because of the poor terrain. Further, a coach tumbled over a 100-meter slope while carrying 2 passengers, killing 11 with the others sustaining sever injuries (Qiang, 2013). Together with other reported and unreported road traffic accidents contribute to more than 87,000 deaths and more than 400,000 injuries annually in China.

Overall, the lack of reliable and accurate road traffic accidents in China is a huge hindrance to telling the actual cause of road safety incidences in the country. According to Watkins (2010) and WHO (2009), most road traffic accidents in developing nations have multiple causes and therefore it is very difficult to accurately associate any single factor to them. The case of China is no different. For instance, it is very difficult to tell the actual cause of an accident where a drunk driver driving a heavy truck along a pot-holed section of a mountain road if the driver decides to swerve to avoid a pot hole and end up plunging into a valley. Depending on the specific conviction of the analyst, it could be concluded that the poor state of the road was the main cause of the accident while in actual sense it was a case of drunk driving. As a matter of fact, Li et al. (2006) and Zhang et al. (2008) reason that while poor roads may be a huge hindrance to smooth driving along hilly roads, it is entirely what the driver does on them that determines if an accident is going to take place or not. For example, when driving along a patchy stretch of a mountain road, a driver may exercise due diligence when overtaking, when changing lanes, when stopping, when parking or even when applying warning signs. Arguably, and as Zhao (2006) justifies, if a driver obeys traffic rules such as slowing down when negotiating bends the chances of an accident happening will be minimal. To this end, it is only wise to clarify that, though China has the second highest numbers of road traffic fatalities after India (Baluja, 2009), it is very difficult to differentiate between accidents caused by drunk driving, poor roads, poorly maintained vehicles, natural disasters such as storms and lack of sufficient driving skills.

Comparison with the United States

China may have the longest road networks than the US (Zhang et al., 2008), but the conditions of its most roads are in deplorable state (Zhao, 2011). According to Zhang et al. (2008), a comparison between road safety situation in China and the US as regards to the condition of roads must touch on issues such as economic development, road infrastructure, miles travelled, and number of motorised vehicles. In regards to these four benchmarks, the road safety situation in China is more risky than that of the US. It is more risky because China’s GDP is way smaller compared to the US case – Chinese GDP is $8.25 trillion and US GDP is $16 trillion as of 2012 (Morrison, 2013). This argument is based on the notion that countries with large GDP are most likely to commit a large chunk of their funds to the development of their national road infrastructure network (Watkins, 2010). That the US GDP is almost double that of China makes it fairly reasonable to assert that the country has a huge budget for developing its road infrastructure than China, at least by a margin of 50%. This argument is true since developed nation (countries with huge GDP’s) have well developed road infrastructure than their developing counterparts.

Further, China has an expansive geographical space compared to the US. China covers 9.6 million square kilometres while the US covers 7.7 million square kilometres (Zhang et al., 2008). An expansive geographical space makes it likely that motorised vehicles travel long distances from one end of the country to another in China than in the US. According to Watkins (2010), this makes it very hard for the country to construct and regularly rehabilitate its extensive road infrastructure. Moreover, China has a high number of motorised vehicles than the US (Li et al., 2006). Arguably, this exerts immense pressure on Chinese roads than on the US roads because more vehicles are likely to travel for longer miles from one end of the country to another. In addition, Chinese terrain is rugged than the US – China is home to some of the longest rivers such as Yangtze and Yellow River as well as tallest mountains such as Tibet (Cheung, 2008; Zhang et al., 2008). This makes the construction and maintenance of roads very challenging in China compared to the case in the US. For example, constructing and undertaking rehabilitation works along roads in the mountainous and expansive Tibetan region poses huge financial and technical burdens for the Chinese government. Notwithstanding the expansive geographical space and rugged terrain, building and rehabilitating roads in China is more challenging than in the US because of the immense pressure exerted by the many motorised and non-motorised vehicles.

Road traffic accidents kill those outside the motorised vehicles involved in accidents than those aboard them in China than in the US. According to Zhang et al. (2008), most road traffic fatalities in China result into more deaths of pedestrians, motorcyclists than drivers and passengers in motorised vehicles in China than it is in the US. As a matter of fact, Zhang et al. (2008) show that drivers of passenger vehicles accounted for only 9.0% road traffic fatalities in 2005 compared to their counterparts in the US who contributed to 53.4% of all road traffic fatalities in the country. Further, Zhang et al. (2008) show that pedestrians, motorcyclists and passengers in motorised vehicles contributed to 24.8%, 15.5%, 22.2, and 20.5% in China and 11.3%, 1.6%, 6.3%, and 25.5% in the US. Moreover, Appendix 1 show that China has the highest fatalities per every 10,000 motorised vehicles, that is, 15.6, 13.7, 9.9, and 6.2 in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006 respectively, compared to the situation in the US where only 1.8 fatalities were reported in 2005 per every 10,000 motorised vehicles (Zhang et al., 2008).

From the figures, it is arguable that Chinese roads are more risky in terms of causing fatalities compared to their US counterparts. Specifically, and as Cheung (2008) show, it can be deduced that Chinese roads are very risky for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and users of non-motorised vehicles. For example, they do not have proper guardrails to prevent vehicles from veering off from their lanes, they do not have proper markings and indications to guide and warn drivers in various sections, they do not have properly designated and guarded path walks where pedestrians and cyclists can use, and they do not have proper parking bays and ramps. These arguments are in tandem with Zhao (2006) arguments that poorly constructed roads or roads that are not regularly maintained are dangerous not only to drivers and passengers of motorised vehicles but also to pedestrians and users of non-motorised vehicles. Further, and as Appendix 1 shows, China leads the US in terms of road traffic fatalities per $ billion GDP with figures for 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006 showing that for every $ billion GDP, China experienced 59.6, 59.2, 48.3, and 31.8 respectively while the US experienced 3.5 fatalities per $ billion GDP in 2005 (Zhang et al., 2008). Arguably, these figures put more pressure on the Chinese GDP than the US and therefore making it very hard for China to effectively undertake proper rehabilitation of its road network to meet the growing number of motorised vehicles in the country.

3.3 Summary

The state of Chinese road infrastructure network has to blame for the high road traffic fatalities and injuries experienced in the recent years. Though it is true that the country has made phenomenal developments in terms of extending its national highway infrastructure grid, a lot needs to be done to address the runaway problem of road traffic accidents. Several accidents have been reported across the country partly in the mountainous regions of the country where roads the condition of the roads is in deplorable state. Specifically, most accidents happened because the roads lacked proper guardrails to protect vehicles from plunged down valleys. Other accidents were caused by poorly packed trucks while others resulted into death of pedestrians and other non-motorised vehicles leading to the conclusion that a good number of Chinese roads lack adequate path walks. Comparatively, China experiences a lot of road traffic fatalities involving poor conditions of roads than the US. A big chunk of these fatalities involved pedestrians, motorcyclists and users of other non-motorised vehicles. Overall, it can, therefore, be deduced that Chinese roads are dangerous than their counterparts in the US not only to drivers and passengers of motorised but also to third parties.

Influence of Drunk Driving on Road Safety in China

Drunk driving simply means driving while under the influence of alcohol or any other intoxicating substance. In the recent years, China has caught the attention of both the public and the international community as traffic accidents have increased rapidly in the country along with increased vehicle ownership (Mattimore, 2011). The local authorities have taken a number of measures to respond to these concerns through enactment of strict laws and penalties on those driving under the influence (DUI) as well as the implementation of rigorous enforcement programmes since the prevalence of DUI increased exponentially in 2008 (Jurberg, 2011). Generally, the level of drunk driving is measured using a metric for checking levels of alcohol intoxication either for legal or medical reasons called Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), which is also called blood alcohol concentration, blood alcohol level or blood ethanol concentration (Mattimore, 2011). Blood alcohol content is given as the percentage of alcohol in the blood. For example, if a driver has a BAC of 0.1 it means that 0.10% (a tenth of 1 per cent) of the driver’s blood by volume or by mass in some countries is composed of alcohol or alcoholic substances.

4.1 Drinking Under Influence (DUI) Legislation in China

In China the legal for presence of blood in the alcohol or breath in the alcohol limit (BAC) is 0.02. Chinese DUI laws are largely a reflection of laws in other nations (developed and developing, alike). Drivers found with BAC of 0.02% in China are considered to be drunk and are exposed to a fine of Chinese Yuan Renmimbi (CNY) 200 to 500 or one to three months suspension of the driving license (The Economist, 2009).  If the BAC is 0.08%, the driver under the influence can be committed to prison for up to 15 days and three to six months suspension of the license and an additional fine of between CNY 500 and 2000, or all of them. Starting May, 1, 2011, the Chinese DUI law provides that the driver is committed to six months penal detection if convicted for drunken driving (Mattimore, 2011). This sentence takes a form of penal detention but with less severity than actual imprisonment.

The Chinese DUI law provides that the punishment for a first offender conviction found with BAC ranging between 0.02 and 0.79 is fined to a maximum of CNY 500 as well as a provisional suspension of their licenses for one to three months. If the BAC of the driver is gauged above 0.08, the penalty for DUI involves incarceration until the driver regains soberness and it can include penal detention of 15 days along with a minimum penalty of between CNY 500 and CNY 2,000 with a temporary suspension of the license for six months (Richburg, 2012).

Chinese DUI legislation provides stricter laws and penalties for commercial and business drivers. A first offender is convicted when having a BAC of below 0.79 through a compulsory suspension of license for three months along with a fine of CNY 500. In other cases when the BAC is higher than 0.08, the minimum penalty for the offence is incarceration for up to 15 days in jail until the offender sobers. In addition, the driver gets a suspension of their driving license for a period of six months and a fine of CNY 2,000 (Mattimore, 2011).

China’s recently enacted DUI legislations provide zero tolerance for DUI repeat offenders. If an offender is convicted for the second time within the same year, the person is sentenced with a compulsory revocation of the driving for a period not less than a year and ban is placed for five years on driving any business or commercial vehicle or any other vehicle meant for commercial use (Richburg, 2012).

Drunken driving laws in China allow the police to commence an investigation of an accident after it happens or in the event that they observe driving behaviours that indicate or signal driving under influence of alcohol. These signals include speeding and lack of steady lane travel. The police officers are also allowed to carry out indiscriminate breath tests and put up DUI checkpoints whenever they deem necessary and wherever they like (Mattimore, 2011).

4.2 Relevant Statistics of Drunk Driving in China

There is a need by the legislators to draft new and stricter because of an influx in the number of cars on the Chinese roads. By the end of 2010, there were more than 200 million cars using Chinese roads, while another 20 million was added to the cars existing stock in 2011 according to another report released by China Daily reports (Richburg 2012). An increase in the number of cars on the roads has also seen increased the number of drunk drivers. In 2010 alone, police officers caught about 526, 000 boozing cruisers, which signalled a 68 per cent increase in 2009 according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Public Security (Hu and Baker, 2012). Further, and as Zhang et al. (2008) shows, statistics show that China experienced 2.3, 3.1, 3.1, 3.8, 4.3 and 4.8 percent of total fatalities in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 respectively in all categories of its roads. As Cheung (2008) and Worley (2006) posit, these are damning figures which underscore the challenge China is facing insofar as the influence of drunk driving on road safety goes.

During the initial years of the car boom, the government did little to arrest the problem of driving under influence, until recently when it has put its foot down through various legislations. Cases of hit and run have been the highest in China especially among students and children (Cheung, 2008). The first incidence when the law made its impact felt was in 2009 when the courts ruled a death sentence for a thirty-year old company executive who ran over for people killing all of them and injured another one in Chinese western city of Chengdu in another incidence of drunk driving (Li et al., 2012). After an appeal, the man was sentenced to life prison. In spite of the rampant incidences of hit and run in China that is in most instances occasioned by driving under influence, article 133 passed in 1997 only offers 3 to 7 years in prison and decapitation if it leads to death (Richburg, 2012). However, in a sad and immoral incidence that went viral after two vans ran over a two-year old gal and another drunk driver ran over a toddler in another hit and run, they were sentenced to only three years imprisonment.

In spite of the heavy penalties provided for in the DUI laws, driving under influence war is yet to be won in China. The China daily gives statistics that 65,000 people were killed through traffic accidents in 2011; however, the statistics do not specify the number of deaths caused by drunk driving within the 65,000 deaths. In another recent incidence of drunk driving in 2011, a 23 year old driver Li Qiming ran over two university students while under alcohol influence and killed one of them who were roller-skating around a campus (Hu and Baker, 2012). The drunken student was a son of a deputy chief of a district police bureau and went ahead to warn guards against charging or reporting him. This habit is also characterized by abuse of power in China. The student was later charged with “causing traffic casualties” a minor offence that carries light charges and only 7 years imprisonment.

In another drunk driving incidence in 2010, a man aged 38 years killed 11 people and injured 20 other people after he ran over his customer at the coal depot. He then went ahead and rummaged into cars on the road, buses, motorbikes, shops and lorries, and killed extra 10 people and injured 20 others. He was sentenced to death penalty. Another person in the same year was also sentenced to a death sentence after he killed 4 people in a multicar accident in the case of drunk driving (London Evening Standard, 2010). In 2009 alone, the incidences of drunk driving rose by more than 9% of the first half of 2009 (Richburg, 2012). In the same year, by the end of the month of July 1997 persons had been killed by drivers under the influence of alcohol as per the reports issued by city police (CRTAS, 2006). This can be attributed to increase in income that has seen increase of cars that replace bicycles. For instance, there are 1,200 new cars being introduced to the roads everyday in Beijing. In the same year, between 15 august and 28 of the same month, the police had arrested 28,800 persons for drunk driving as per the statistics issued by the ministry of public security (Hu and Baker, 2012). Various Chinese cities have seen police officers staking restaurants and hotels as well as roadblocks to fish out offenders.

In 2010, the government started a campaign to clean out individuals involved in drunken driving. In 2011, for the period between 15^th and 24^th of august, approximately 17,078 were arrested by the police for driving under the influence of alcohol. Since the introduction of the zero-tolerance policy, a lot of benefits have been evidenced in the fight against increased traffic fatalities from driving under the influence of drugs. During the same period of the crackdown for instance, only 32 individuals lost their lives to traffic accidents originating from driving under the influence.  Since the zero-tolerance policy on DUI, China has witnessed a 23.8% decline in the number of traffic fatalities caused by unqualified drivers that also obtain their licenses through illegal and dubious means that also drive under influence (Hu and Baker, 2012).

The incidences of drunk driving in China have dropped by about 40 per cent in the one year period between 2011 and 2012 after the implementation of the legislation amendments that imposed strict penalties for DUI offence according to a report given by public security. Since May 1, 2011, when driving under influence was criminalized through legal amendments to around the same period in 2012 the Chinese police have dealt with 368,000 cases of driving under influence according to a speech by minister for public security (Xinhua, 2012).

The largest and busiest cities also with highest traffic fatalities in China Beijing and Shanghai have witnessed a sharp decline of approximately 70 per cent in the cases of drunk driving. In 2011 alone, drunk drivers in China are responsible for 3,555 traffic fatalities and 1,220 deaths that occurred through the same that represented a decline of about 18.8 percent in accidents and 37.7 percent in deaths from 2010 statistics. This is due to the fact that drunk driving has plummeted after being defined as a criminal law punishable by law (Li et.al, 2012). On the same note, the market for chauffeurs has grown immensely in the same period in China as more persons avoid being caught on the wrong side of the law, because drunk driving is a criminal offence even when it does not amount to any traffic accident (The Economist, 2009). Serious penalties such as revocation of licenses and driving bans have played a big role in the reduction of accidents caused by drunk driving.

A study carried out by Li et al. (2012) showed that there are currently scattered statistics on the levels of drunk driving. However, a survey they carried out in two southern cities using a random breath test showed that out of the drivers surveyed between 4.5% and 4.6% had alcohol levels that were above the minimum legal requirement BAC of 0.02 (Calum, 2009). The research also showed that 20 percent of all serious and fatal road crashes within the city are caused by drunken driving. The research findings also established that the statistics reported by the national bodies such as ministries of public security or China Daily only showed 4% which was much lower and could have been due to reasons such as measurement difficulties. Another report produced by World Health organization showed that the statistics reported by the national bodies understate the number of people losing their lives to drunk driving. For instance in 2009 alone, the number of traffic fatalities were underreported by 124,000 by Chinese national reports. Li et al. (2012) used the similar study to establish the effect of publicity, campaigns and policy enforcements and found out that after these efforts saw a decline of about 87 and 68 per cent in the cases of drivers exceeding the legal limit.

Overall, it is arguable that these statistics are consistent with the WHO road traffic accidents fatalities records for 2010. The records show that in 2010, there were about a million fatalities mostly pedestrians, cyclists as well as motorcyclists who are known to be notorious abusers of traffic regulations. Further, the records show that 92% of these fatalities came from developing nations in South-East Asia and Africa (Watkins, 2010). The fact that 3 out of 4 of the road traffic accident deaths in 2010 were men underscores the fact that drunk driving is a major cause of road traffic accidents in developing nations like China where the use of sophisticated gadgets for testing the level of alcohol among drivers have not gained much support (Jurberg, 2011). This argument draws its impetus from the fact that men engage in uncontrolled drinking than men. Further, the fact that majority of the road traffic accident deaths (59%) affected adults between 15 and 44 years makes it more true that indeed drunk driving enhances road traffic accidents (Mattimore, 2011). This argument draws from the notion that this is the age bracket when men engage in excessive drinking due extreme peer pressure.

4.3 Comparison with Other Developing Economies

Most developing nations especially those at the “emerging” stage such as China, Brazil, India and UAE are struggling with road safety issues amid changes in the levels of income, structural changes and transition into advanced road infrastructure (Jurberg, 2011). Developing or emerging economies are characterized by unanticipated economic growth and hence increased consumer purchasing power due to huge income flows. Therefore, there is increased ownership of cars both for private and business use, and this presents challenges in traffic control and safety to such governments.

4.3.1 Comparison with Brazil

Brazil is faced by similar problems of drunk driving given the alcoholic and partying nature of Brazilians. It has then been difficult to control cases of drunk driving among Brazilians given this cultural background. In Brazil, there are approximately 600,000 accidents and out of these 40, 000 lose their lives annually, and accidents are the second largest killer in the country after homicide according to the ministry of health. Brazil is ranked 12^th in the world for traffic fatalities, especially for children aged between 1 and 19 years. The government in collaboration with a non-profit organisation, Sangari Institute found that between 1998 and 2008, traffic fatalities in Brazil had increased by 20% (Jurberg, 2011).

The Brazilian government has drawn on drunk driving laws as the only weapon to fight against traffic fatalities. The government has enforced laws for zero tolerance that are known as Lei Seca. The government loses about $32 billion in addition to the loss of lives suffered each year and has then tried its best to implement laws that do not allow drunk driving at all costs. These zero-tolerance laws provide that fines should be doubled for persons that are found driving drunk. The fine is an increase from R$957.65 (US$486.54) to R$1,915.65 (US$978.77) that is similar to three months Brazil’s minimum wage. This law is an amendment to an earlier one imposed in 2008 that failed due to lack of enforcement. The law prohibits selling alcohol along federal roads in rural stretches because in Brazil alcohol is available even in gas stations. Lei Seca prohibits concentration of above 0.2 grams in a litre of blood meaning that the standard is below the international minimum requirement. Alcohol level above 0.02 BAC calls for a fine of about R$ 957 fine ($600 set to increase) and a year suspension from driving. So far, this year, the government statistics indicate that deaths due to drunken driving have fallen by about 12% (Jurberg, 2011).

Clearly, it is difficult to get the exact and detailed statistics for drunk driving in Brazil and its contribution to the overall traffic fatalities due to scattered statistics. There are only two states that have religiously enforced the traffic regulations on driving under influence; Brasilia and Rio De Janeiro State. So far, these policies have been extremely successful in Rio De Janeiro State as it is the leading the way in campaigns, arrests and revocation of licenses of drunken drivers. In Rio De Janeiro State traffic death rates have dropped by around 34% after the implementation of Lei Seca in the state as per statistics given by the public safety institute. Since 2009 to 2011, over a million motorists have stopped in Rio De Janeiro State checkpoints and 194,000 have been fined while other 82,000 have been slapped with different fines (Jurberg, 2011).

4.3.2 Comparison with India

India has far devastating statistics compared to both Brazil and China. All these countries are densely populated with Brazil being the fifth most populated and India being also most populated in the world in the category of developing economics. As it stands, India is leading in terms of traffic fatalities due to drunken driving in the world (Jurberg, 2011). Obviously, there are drinking driving laws, however, they are not as stringent as those in Brazil and China. In India, it is also more difficult to get statistic on driving under influence due to poor implementation of the laws. Actually, in India, the responsibility of fighting against driving under influence seems to be vested more on non-governmental movements and institutions than on the state government. In India, a first offence comes in when the driver is found with alcohol content of above 0.03 BAC through a breathalyzer. This is punishable by a maximum term of six months or fines of 1,000 rupees or both. The second offence occurs when the first offender is caught again within three years. The imprisonment is up to a maximum of two years alongside a fine of 3,000 rupees or both. The laws are fairly realistic however; motorists and drivers bypass them to record increased prevalence of drunk driving in the country.

India loses about 130,000 people every year to traffic fatalities; however it is not well established how many of those die from drunk driving-related causes. Most of the victims are between the age of 5 and 29 years. The problem in this country is lack of enforcement and widespread corruption. Cases of drunk driving have increased by about 50% since 2010 in majority of the states in India. Drunk driving varies among states because some states such as Manipur and Gujarat have prohibited alcohol consumption. In some states such as Uttar Pradesh, west Bengal and Andhra Pradesh the increase has exceeded by more than 50% between 2007 and 2012. In other states, drunk driving-related deaths have declined in other states such as Maharashtra and Mumbai. In UP, for instance, drunk driving deaths reached 4,400 in 2009 from 2850 in 20077, and in Andhra Pradesh, 4,469 accidents are said to be caused by drunken driving in 2009 from 2,432 in 2007.

4.4 Summary

The Chinese government has put up policies and legislation to handle growing prevalence of traffic fatalities caused by drunk driving. The laws formulated under Chinese DUI have strict penalties and have so far achieved considerable amount of success in reducing traffic fatalities. However, the biggest challenge in understanding the effect of drunk driving on road safety in China is posed by lack of well documented statistics especially on the part of the government or national bodies. Therefore, it is not possible to assess the fraction of traffic fatalities attributable to drunk driving and policy makers have to rely on estimates. All together, the biggest challenge, not just for China but all developing economies particularly Brazil and India lies in the implementation of the set traffic policies. In Brazil, for instance, implementation has failed so much that the legislation had to be revised to enhance implementation. Even then, only two states have successfully implemented the laws and managed to enhance road safety in both India and Brazil. Though the laws are suitable for achieving road safety, there appears to be lack of political goodwill or other underlying factors that inhibit the implementation process because it is one thing formulating good laws and a different one making them work.

Recommendations

There is no doubt that China needs to address the runaway road safety issue. Even so, and as section 4.0 above shows, China has in the past made commendable efforts in curbing road traffic accidents through making laws that limit the effect of causal agents such as drunk driving. These efforts have only made very minimal impact. To this end, and as discussed in subsection 5.1 and 5.2 below, the Chinese government should consider rolling out creative ideas to address this menace. The bottom-line is that, the government should take a proactive stance by showing real interest and partnering with relevant authorities and stakeholders in order to discourage drunk driving through way of rewards and punishments (OECD, 2002). Further, the government should invest more in improving the overall conditions of the national road network by way of constructing new roads as well as rehabilitating the existing ones.

Recommendations Related to Poor Roads

China has done a very tremendous job in building new roads as well as rehabilitating the existing ones. For example, as of 2012, the country grew its expressways network by more than 10,000 kilometres to bring a total of over 95,000 kilometres. Today, the country boasts as the leading country in the world in terms of the total number of kilometres covered by its expressways. Nevertheless, and as section 3.0 above shows, the country has been experiencing numerous accidents especially among its mountain roads where vehicles veer off the poorly maintained roads and plunge into valleys and ravines. These accidents have caused many fatalities every year and it is time that the country consider rehabilitating its roads by erecting strong barriers especially along mountainous roads to prevent vehicles from tumbling down hill. To this end, the Chinese government should dedicate a bigger chunk of its GDP to developing new roads as well as rehabilitating its existing roads to meet international standards (Zhang et al., 2008). China is known for winding traffic jams which sometimes results into fatal car crashes (Zhao, 2006), and therefore these additional funds will help ease these rush hour traffic jams by building additional feeder roads, highways and even expressways (Watkins, 2010). Further, the rehabilitation of existing roads is very crucial given that China is home to extreme summer and winter weather which end up destroying roads hence making them dangerous. For instance, mountainous roads which in most cases result to grisly accidents especially during foggy weather should be regularly rehabilitated in order to replace broken guardrails, street signs, walkways, ramps, and parking lots (WHO, 2009). Overall, and as Watkins (2010) posts, building new roads and rehabilitating the existing ones should be the first action the Chinese government should take towards reducing road traffic accidents caused by poor roads.

Moreover, China needs to change drivers, passengers, cyclists and other road users’ attitudes in regards to their collective responsibility towards road safety. Based on expert advice from the WHO (2009), it is arguable that no matter the amount of funds the state spend in building new roads and rehabilitating existing ones, road traffic accidents will always occur if the attitudes of all those who use these roads do not change. For instance, McLaughlin (2011) finds that there is a growing carefree attitude among Chinese drivers towards road use in the country. McLaughlin (2011) tell show a number of hit and run cases well as cases where after realising that they have knocked a pedestrian, drivers particularly those driving small cars proceed to run over them again or even use other crude methods to kill them so as to avoid costly medical compensation for the victims. For instance, in December 2010, a woman beggar was knocked and left lying on the side of the road for more than an hour yet she was screaming. Drivers who heard her thought she was just in her normal begging theatrics until a 23-year old truck driver came along, not to pick her but to kill her. After hitting her, the driver drove off home but he was unable to find clam down and therefore decided to come back and killer so that he could have some peace of mind. His plan almost worked but not long before the police narrowed down on him following a tip-off by a well-wisher. As McLaughlin (2011) shows, it took about two months to arrest and charge the driver for intentional murder. Hays (2012) reasons that incidences like these depict a morally rotten society where drivers do not care about other road users’ welfare or even the welfare of state resources such as roads. As such, there is an urgent need for the Chinese government to carry out civic education on the importance of showing respect to other road users as well as on the roads themselves.

Alternatively, China should as well develop other means of transport in the country in order to ease pressure on the national road network. China enjoys a large network of railway line including the modern electric lines connecting major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai (Zhang et al., 2008). Other transport methods include air, water and pipeline. However and just as is the case in other developing nations such as India and Brazil, these alternative methods of transport cannot equal road transport network which is considered by many commuters to be cheap and convenient (Zhao, 2006). To this end, the country can greatly reduce the pressure on its road network and hence reduce the number of road safety incidences if it invests huge sums of funds in developing alternative methods of transport (WHO, 2009). For example, the country can increase the number of electric railway lines connecting major cities as well as construct new normal speed railway lines especially for long distance routes connecting geographically sparse cities. Arguably, this will reduce the number of long-distance buses which in the past have been involved with grisly accidents which result in heavy casualties (Hays, 2012). Still on this, the government should create incentives for riding normal speed and high speed trains so as to encourage members of public to use rail transport at the expense of motorised vehicles. To this end, the government can subsidise rail transport and encourage private investors to venture in the sector so as to increase the railway network in the country (Zhang et al., 2008). Such subsidises should ultimately trickle down to the commuters in the form of reduced ticket prices (OECD, 2002). Further, and as WHO (2009) advices, the Chinese government can as well consider constructing more airports and airstrips so as to bring air transport services near all major towns and therefore encourage commuters to fly to long-haul destinations instead of using road transport. The idea behind this solution is to encourage commuters to utilise alternative transport methods and therefore ease pressures on road networks in the country.

The Chinese government should invest more in proper road designs and plans based on current research and development data. As Watkins (2010) finds one of the causes of rampant road traffic fatalities in developing countries is the fact that most road designs and plans are not suited to the terrains they are built one. As a matter of fact, Downing (1991) reasons that through human error is the most cause of road traffic fatalities, the engineering and planning of the road has a direct role in affecting the condition of specific section of a road during different times of the year. Further, and as Downing, Baguley and Hills (1991) reason, the engineering planning design of a road directly influences driver behaviours and therefore determines the chances of an accident happening or not happening. To this end, good road designs and plans help to prevent accidents especially when the road is constructed in a manner that allows water to drain fast and therefore avoid creating a slippery surface. To this end, the Chinese government should invest more funds in research and development in order to come up with the best road designs and plans that suits specific regions in the country. Designs for mountainous roads should be more robust and sustainable since these terrains are known to be more vulnerable to weather changes (Gen and Yerrell, 1983). Further, China should conduct seminal studies on the effect of road design and road traffic accidents as it applies to different regions of the country. As Downing (1991) clarifies, such research will go a long way in solving the problem of poor roads in the country as it will factor in crucial factors such as projected road usage, projected motorisation rates, and projected weather factors among other crucial factors. This is true since traffic mix and road usage differs between urban areas and rural areas.

Recommendations Related to Drunk Driving

As discussed earlier in section 4.0 above, China already has tough laws that govern drunk driving. However, in spite of the existence of such laws there are still cases of drunk driving and the leaders are considering even stiffer penalties for offenders. There has always been a question of whether drafting of stiff laws is automatically followed by implementation and interpretation of the laws in a bid to deal with the issue of increased accidents and resultant deaths from driving under influence (Mattimore, 2011). According to a report that appeared in the state-owned China Daily, Beijing lawmakers are considering and debating a fresh law that will see fines imposed on offenders of drunk driving go up to CNY 5,000 or about $770, as well as empowering the licensing authorities to revoke the license of the offender  for a period of 10 years (Jurberg, 2011). Although this report does not specify the exact day for enactment, it is expected that the lawmakers will soon reach a decision and save the country a lot of resources. Overall, and as Gen and Yerrell (1983) find, the government should implement regulations regarding the use of alcohol breathers to test drunk driving as it is the only proof towards the commencement of meaningful legal proceedings that result into fines, suspension of driving licence or even incarceration.

To curb drunk driving, Chinese government should intensify the use of alcohol breathers. Specifically, the government should consider deploying more traffic police officers at strategic places along highways especially on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays when most people are expected to engage in heavy drinking (Hays, 2012). Further, the government should supply these additional police officers with sufficient alcohol breathers which will be used in measuring the BAC of drivers at a random manner in order to discourage drunk driving vice (Zhao, 2006). This is in tandem with Watkins (2010) and WHO (2009) postulation that the random use of alcohol breathers helps to change drivers’ attitudes because every driver will have equal chances of getting tested for drunk driving. Moreover, since the Chinese DUI has specific limits for BAC for drivers, any driver caught exceeding this limit should be fined heavily. To this end, the government should increase the current fine as per a proposal by lawmakers to CNY 5,000 alongside a suspension of the driving licence for a period of not less than 10 in order to deter the vice (Jurberg, 2011). Further, it is arguable that these alcohol breathers will offer the best opportunity for the Chinese government to tame drunk driving because they create a sense of fairness among drivers since their results are perceived as fair as drivers will be able to see their BAC score (Watkins, 2010). In this regard, the Chinese government should carry extensive sensitisation on the use and applicability of these alcohol breathers and their effectiveness in curbing instances of drunk driving. This is important Zhang et al. (2008) and Zhao (2006) reasons that any successful measure to reduce drunk driving should be accompanied by a full stakeholder “buy-in.” The idea behind this solution lies on the conviction by McLaughlin (2011) that Chinese road users have a bad attitude towards regulations because they feel that the government is rotten (top government officials are corrupt and immoral) and therefore even the ordinary citizens ought not to follow regulations unless they are coerced to do so.

The Chinese government should partner with community based organisations to roll out anti-drunk driving campaigns. As Watkins (2010) advices, one of the most popular methods of reducing instances of drunk driving is to partner with known community-based organisations to discuss the ills of the vice such as fatalities and injuries, costs medical bills, financial losses, fines, suspension of driving licence and incarceration. These messages should be discussed using popular media such as TVs, radios, and billboards and should as well involve known celebrities such as movie stars, sports personalities and even religious leaders (Zhang et al., 2008). Specifically, drunk drivers should be encouraged to carry designated drivers with them (Hays, 2012; Watkins, 2010). To achieve this, people should be encouraged to plan ahead any alcohol encounter, and decide amongst themselves who will not drink for purposes of driving, consider taking turns being the designated driver in order to enhance the sense of taking care of others so as to get favour sin future (WHO, 2009). Awareness campaigns should clearly outline that the designated driver is a well respected person because he is perceived to be a saver of lives. Such campaigns can help reduce the usual stigma among drinking joints that persons who do not take alcohol are naïve and feminine (Zhao, 2006). In addition, other road users should be encouraged to report cases of drunk driving to the police especially if they notice a driver driving unusually such as weaving through lanes, overtaking dangerously, forgetting to turn off indicator lights, or even making wide u turns (Li et al., 2006). Arguably, this will not cost the reporters anything in terms of their time and money but it will go a long way in saving numerous lives just in case the drunk driver is involved in an accident.

Lastly, the Chinese government should establish a road traffic accidents database for the whole country. As Downing et al. (1991) posits, it is very crucial for the government to establish a national road traffic accident database where that is interactive and accessible to all members of public and other stakeholders such as hospitals, automobile engineers, insurance companies, police and non-governmental organisations. Such database will expedite the process of gathering, processing and reporting crucial data to aid in the actual implementation of the alcohol breather strategy as well as enforcing the accompanying rules. Further, databases will allow experts to easily categorise accidents according to their causes, a benefit which will lead to proper management of the menace (Loo et al., 2005). Moreover, keeping a database of drunk driving will help law enforcement officers to apply the necessary punishments to repeat offenders including applying positive reinforcement strategy which according to Loo et al. (2007) helps to reconstruct past relationships and therefore discourage drivers from taking revenge against past mistakes. Since positive reinforcement has been found to be a good solution for treating cases of repeat drunk driving (Zhang et al., 2008), keeping data in a form that can be accessed and actions taken on it in real-time will go a long way in addressing this menace.

Conclusion

This report has presented credible evidence showing the road safety problem in China in regards to poor roads and drunk driving. Firstly, the report shows that China is a country of opportunities and interesting developments. It (China) boasts as the world’s most populous nation, most rapidly growing economy, most vibrant automobile economy, it has an extensive geographical space, and the leading nation in terms of road infrastructure by kilometres. Even so, these positive developments have exerted a lot of pressure on the country’s road infrastructure network, leading to numerous fatalities. As a matter of fact, the country occupies the second position, after India in terms of annual fatalities (at 87,000 deaths) from road traffic accidents according to 2009 UN findings. The report also finds that the available road traffic fatalities figures in China may not present the actual situation because the police department records from where official figures are extracted from are in most instances faulty as the police are known to under-report traffic accidents. Nevertheless, the report presents sufficient evidence to the effect that poor roads and drunk driving alongside other factors are squarely to blame for these fatalities.

To this end, it is recommended that the Chinese government should undertake extensive reforms to improve its roads and curb drunk driving. Specifically, the government, in collaboration with other stakeholders should undertake to lower the current road traffic fatalities and injuries by a large margin. It is therefore recommended that the Chinese government should pump in more funds to finance road construction and rehabilitation projects especially in mountainous roads where most traffic fatalities resulting from poor roads have been reported. Further, the Chinese government should embark on a country wide campaign to sensitise the public on the importance of respecting other road users as well as state resources such as roads. This is crucial because no matter the condition of the road, it is the drivers’ attitudes towards the set traffic rules that determine if an accident is going to take place or not. In addition, China should consider investing in research and development in order to come up with road designs and plans that suit the specific terrains in various regions in the country.

Further, China should intensify the use of alcohol breathers in order to enhance the tracking of drivers with the habit of driving while under the influence of alcohol. These alcohol breathers should be reinforced by high fines alongside the suspension of driving licences and incarceration of drivers whose BAC is found to be above the maximum limit. Further, the Chinese government should consider undertaking nationwide anti-drunk driving campaigns that will educate citizens on important solution such as designating a driver during a drinking spree. Lastly, the Chinese government should establish a road traffic accident database that will make access, processing and interpretation of all accident related data will be done in real-time. This will ultimately enhance policy formation and implementation processes as they regard to the drunk driving menace in China.

Overall, it is expected that these recommendations will be effective. This conviction is based on the fact that figures for 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004 show that road traffic fatalities have been reducing in China by as many as 10% every year. These encouraging developments are as a result of a number of policy and infrastructural reforms the Chinese government has instituted in the recent years.

 

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• Appendices
  • Appendix 1: Comparison of Key Fatality Indices Between China and the US

Source: Zhang et al. (2008: 3)

• Appendix 2: Changes in Economics, Population, Urbanisation and Motorisation, 1986-2005.

Source: Zhao (2006: 1).

 

• Appendix 3: Highway Investments and Developments, 1986-2005.

Source: Zhao (2006: 2).

 

 

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