Drug-Impaired Driving Surge: KMT Caucus Proposes Stricter Penalties

Recent incidents of drug-impaired driving have sparked social concern in Taiwan. The KMT legislative caucus proposed a direction for legal amendments today, including expediting legislation to increase penalties for drug-impaired driving, explicitly stating that "death caused by drug-impaired driving can be punishable by death," confiscating vehicles used in such offenses, adding joint liability for passengers in the same vehicle, and establishing an inter-ministerial joint defense mechanism to curb drug-impaired driving. During a press conference today, caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang stated that "zero tolerance for drug-impaired driving" should not just be a slogan but a system and law that is truly implemented. According to National Police Agency statistics, there were 2,619 drug-impaired driving cases in 2024, which surged to 8,659 in 2025, and 4,725 cases have already been detected in the first four months of this year, averaging nearly 40 cases per day. Lin believes the government must honestly face the fact that "the speed of drug evolution has exceeded the speed of institutional reform." The KMT caucus proposed three specific demands: expediting legal amendments to increase penalties, including the death penalty for fatal cases, restricting commutation of sentences for repeat offenders, and establishing an inter-ministerial task force. Deputy secretary-general Hsu Yu-chen emphasized the need for upgraded drug screening equipment for frontline police to immediately intercept new types of synthetic drugs. Legislator Lo Ting-wei clarified that the opposition's freezing of budgets is not malicious but a check on the abuse of media promotion funds.