Drunk Driver Ends Up Under His Car
A passersby thought a pedestrian had been killed in a fatal accident when they saw a man’s body protruding from under a car near the entrance of a freeway interchange in Kaohsiung City yesterday.
Police and ambulance personnel were surprised to find the man had no traumatic injuries, but was only “dead drunk.”
Mr Lin, 48, had traveled to Kaohsiung to honor his ancestors during the Qing Ming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival. After the ceremonies, he consumed three bottles of Kaoliang sorghum liquor, then insisted on driving back to his home in the north.
Before the driver reached the freeway, however, he somehow stumbled out of his car, and ended up with his head under the vehicle.
An alcohol breath test resulted in what United Daily News called “a ridiculously high” breath alcohol content 2.02mg/l. The chart used by Taiwan English News to convert the BrAC values used by Taiwan police into approximate blood alcohol content (BAC) values used in most countries, only goes up to BrAC 1.43mg/l, which converts to 0.3%.
According to breathalyzer manufacturer Lifeloc Technologies, an alcohol reading of 0.30% – 0.40% has the following effects: “Extremely life threatening. You have little comprehension of where you are. You may pass out suddenly and be difficult to awaken. Complete unconsciousness. Coma is possible. This is the level of surgical anesthesia. Death may occur.”
Police handed Mr Lin over to the district prosecutor on charges on endangering the public. They said that it was fortunate that Lin had not made it onto the freeway, otherwise the consequences could have been tragic.
Taiwan English News is an independent publication with no corporate funding. If you found this article informative, and would like to support my work, please buy me a coffee or support me on Patreon. Subscribe to Taiwan English News for free to receive the latest news via email. Advertising queries are welcome. Share, like, comment below.