Drunken driving record crashes careers

Motorists who are sent to jail for drunk driving end up with a criminal record that can affect their career advancement and their ability to travel abroad, the public security bureau of Yuhang district in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, warned on its official Sina Weibo.

The online posting said drunk drivers who serve time in jail cannot be recruited as government employees, lawyers or soldiers. Their application for a travel visa from other countries may also be denied, as can an application for a business license.

"The posting aims to warn the public of the consequences of drunk driving," Hu Bing, a police officer with the district bureau, told the Xinhua News Agency Wednesday.

The amended Criminal Law, which came into effect in May 2011, stipulates that motorists caught with a blood alcohol concentration of 80 milligrams are subject to immediate detention.

The amended law on road traffic safety, which also came into effect May last year, rules that drunk drivers will face criminal prosecution.

People with an alcohol reading above 20 and below 79 milligrams will be given administrative punishment that can include some days behind bars.

The Chongqing Evening News confirmed earlier this month that drunk drivers are not qualified to take the civil service exam or be licensed as lawyers.

Those who have received administrative punishment are not allowed to join the army, and they are less preferred in interviews as government employees even after they pass the written test.

The British Consulate General in Chongqing said the visa application form asks applicants if they have a criminal record, which applicants are obliged to answer truthfully.

"These restrictions are set for all violations of the Criminal Law," Zhao Hu, a lawyer with Beijing Hanzhuo Law Firm, told the Global Times.

Statistics of the Ministry of Public Security show that a year after both amendments on drunk driving took effect, the number of drunken driving cases declined by more than 40 percent.

Guangdong Province also said that government employees will be fired if they are caught drunk driving.