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Car Accident Arouse Debate about Making Drink Driving a Crime Frequent car accidents caused by drunk drivers have recently caused widespread public concern. They also have prompted促使 a heated debate over whether drunk driving should be considered a crime. Wang Ling has more:Reporter:Data released by the traffic authority show that there were more than 220,000 cases of drunk driving nationwide in the first half of the year, up nearly 9 percent year-on-year.As drunk driving has become increasingly serious in cities, many people have called for more severe punishment for violators.I think the punishment should be increased because many accidents are caused by drunk driving.If the penalty is light, people hardly will pay attention to the issue. Only under the threat of a severe penalty will they behave themselves.In China, drunk driving is currently considered a traffic violation违反, and drivers can only be detained拘留 for up to 15 days if they do not cause an accident. But many say the light penalty is the primary reason why drunk driving has been on the rise.A panel座谈小组 of legal experts recently suggested to judges on the countrys top court that drunk driving should be treated as a crime regardless of whether or not the driver causes a crash.Ruan Qilin, a law professor at Beijing-based China University of Political Science and Law, says drunk drivers should face criminal charges.Under the current law, only drunk driving that causes deaths and losses of more than 300,000 yuan that the driver cannot compensate can be treated as a crime. Otherwise, no matter how much alcohol the driver has consumed, drunk driving only can be considered a violation of traffic rules. So its a loophole漏洞 in the legal system.But some legal experts say that it would be overly harsh to treat drunk driving as a crime.Qu Xinjiu, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law.Considering Chinas current situation, I think right now its too early to treat drunk dri