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Do drunk drivers deserve the death penalty?
By Wang Yong |
August 7, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
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THE death of a girl in Hangzhou on Tuesday night under the wheels of a Porsche has stirred nationwide debate over whether illegal driving deserves the death penalty.
Wei Zhigang, a 29-year-old man who killed 16-year-old Ma Fangfang, who was legally crossing the road, had been drinking and was speeding. The son of a rich businessman who plys his trade in telecommunication equipment in Hangzhou, Wei has been arrested and is awaiting charges.
Wei is not just any other illegal driver. Public opinion has identified him as yet another second-generation rich man who would try every means to show off his wealth ?? often in wanton disregard of others' lives.
On May 7, 20-year-old Hu Bin, whose parents are rich but not identified, killed a 25-year-old young man in illegal high speed driving in Hangzhou. Hu was not drunk. On July 20, Hu was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of causing a traffic accident. Hu would have been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison or even to death if he had been charged with threatening public security by dangerous means.
In a sense, knowingly driving at an illegal high speed or drunkenly is nothing short of wanton disregard of public security, and the death penalty cannot be said to be too much for the criminals. But can the death penalty deter these second-generation rich men ?? so-called because they are the lazy and idle sons and daughters of the nouveau riche - from becoming a menace to the public? Unlikely.
Hu only got three years in prison, but there were precedents in which a driver had been sentenced to death and some other drivers had been arrested on charges of dangerously threatening public security.
Last month, 30-year-old Sun Weiming was sentenced to death - subject to appeal ?? for having killed four people with his drunk driving in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at the end of last year. Two other arrests have been made, one in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, in late June, and the other in Chengdu in May, on the same charges, though final sentences have yet to be announced.
In an era of great vanity, car worship in particular, speeding and drunk driving by the nouveau riche is here to stay, whether there's a death penalty or not. In a way, they're victims of their parents who pamper them so much that they imagine they are above the law - any law. They're also victims of a culture which urges them to show off nothing but money, cars, houses and sex partners. So strong is such an urge that they're blind to law, to order, to lives.
One of my colleagues suggested yesterday that China cancel traffic lights and let pedestrians be the kings and queens of the road. In that case, cars would either have to slow down or disappear altogether. I hate cars no less than him and welcome his idea wholeheartedly, although I know it's impractical, given China's dependence on car sales for tax revenue.
But even if the roads were free from cars, will pedestrians be safer if the culture of vanity lingers on? No. The vain nouveau riche may well stalk around with demonic dogs that are no less a menace to life than cars.
It's not the cars that kill, it's the mentality of the drivers. During my week-long tour in Hokkaido, Japan, last month, I didn't see a single car running a red light. On the contrary, all the drivers there yielded to my right of way. Cars are bad enough ?? they pollute - but worse is our culture that worships cars at the expense of the pedestrian, or material wealth at the expense of morality.
It doesn't take a law to correct morality. Morally low persons have the least respect for the law. Good morality begins at home, in school, and spreads through mass media.
Unfortunately, many TV programs spare no effort in spreading ultimate material pleasure and many schools see students and parents locked in material competition - whose daddy has the most expensive car or whose mother has the most luxurious bag.
Wei Zhigang, a 29-year-old man who killed 16-year-old Ma Fangfang, who was legally crossing the road, had been drinking and was speeding. The son of a rich businessman who plys his trade in telecommunication equipment in Hangzhou, Wei has been arrested and is awaiting charges.
Wei is not just any other illegal driver. Public opinion has identified him as yet another second-generation rich man who would try every means to show off his wealth ?? often in wanton disregard of others' lives.
On May 7, 20-year-old Hu Bin, whose parents are rich but not identified, killed a 25-year-old young man in illegal high speed driving in Hangzhou. Hu was not drunk. On July 20, Hu was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of causing a traffic accident. Hu would have been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison or even to death if he had been charged with threatening public security by dangerous means.
In a sense, knowingly driving at an illegal high speed or drunkenly is nothing short of wanton disregard of public security, and the death penalty cannot be said to be too much for the criminals. But can the death penalty deter these second-generation rich men ?? so-called because they are the lazy and idle sons and daughters of the nouveau riche - from becoming a menace to the public? Unlikely.
Hu only got three years in prison, but there were precedents in which a driver had been sentenced to death and some other drivers had been arrested on charges of dangerously threatening public security.
Last month, 30-year-old Sun Weiming was sentenced to death - subject to appeal ?? for having killed four people with his drunk driving in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at the end of last year. Two other arrests have been made, one in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, in late June, and the other in Chengdu in May, on the same charges, though final sentences have yet to be announced.
In an era of great vanity, car worship in particular, speeding and drunk driving by the nouveau riche is here to stay, whether there's a death penalty or not. In a way, they're victims of their parents who pamper them so much that they imagine they are above the law - any law. They're also victims of a culture which urges them to show off nothing but money, cars, houses and sex partners. So strong is such an urge that they're blind to law, to order, to lives.
One of my colleagues suggested yesterday that China cancel traffic lights and let pedestrians be the kings and queens of the road. In that case, cars would either have to slow down or disappear altogether. I hate cars no less than him and welcome his idea wholeheartedly, although I know it's impractical, given China's dependence on car sales for tax revenue.
But even if the roads were free from cars, will pedestrians be safer if the culture of vanity lingers on? No. The vain nouveau riche may well stalk around with demonic dogs that are no less a menace to life than cars.
It's not the cars that kill, it's the mentality of the drivers. During my week-long tour in Hokkaido, Japan, last month, I didn't see a single car running a red light. On the contrary, all the drivers there yielded to my right of way. Cars are bad enough ?? they pollute - but worse is our culture that worships cars at the expense of the pedestrian, or material wealth at the expense of morality.
It doesn't take a law to correct morality. Morally low persons have the least respect for the law. Good morality begins at home, in school, and spreads through mass media.
Unfortunately, many TV programs spare no effort in spreading ultimate material pleasure and many schools see students and parents locked in material competition - whose daddy has the most expensive car or whose mother has the most luxurious bag.
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