04 May,2011 04:33 PM IST | | PTI
As China began implementing new stringent rules against drunk driving, an intoxicated driver bit the hand of a police officer to avoid an alcohol test in China's Shanxi province.
The man, surnamed Hao, is being charged with dangerous driving after a breath alcohol test showed that his alcohol level was at 129 milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood, exceeding the legal threshold of 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, municipal traffic police said.
When the policeman asked the driver to take a breath alcohol test after smelling alcohol on him, the man bit the policeman's left hand.
The police officer tried to use his phone to call for reinforcements, but the man knocked the phone out of his hand and grabbed the officer by the neck, police was quoted as saying by the 'Xinhua' news agency.
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The fight lasted for about 20 minutes before other officers arrived. Hao was the first person to get caught drunk driving in Taiyuan since a newly amended law took effect on Sunday which imposes harsher punishments on drunk drivers.
The newly amended Road Traffic Safety Law states that anyone caught drunk driving will have their driver's license revoked upon conviction, have to wait five years to apply for a new license and face detention for one to six months.
The nationwide crackdown on drunk driving has led to dozens of other drivers being caught. Nine drivers have been caught drunk driving in Beijing since Sunday morning, three of whom were involved in car accidents, according to statistics from the city's municipal traffic management bureau.
In recent years, fatal car accidents in Chinese cities such as Chengdu, Nanjing and Hangzhou have triggered a public outcry, calling for stricter penalties for drunk driving.
The crackdown has already had an effect on the three-day Labor Day holiday, a time reserved for family reunions and weddings.
These gatherings often involve heavy consumption of alcohol.
According to a statement by the traffic management authority, the number of alcohol-related road accidents that occurred during this year's Labour Day holiday dropped 27.6 per cent year-on-year, with a total of 1,458 accidents reported.
