The National Police Agency's proposal to stiffen penalties for drunk driving reflects recent public demand for severer punishment of drunk drivers. At the same time, the proposal prods the public to drastically change its own attitude toward drinking and driving.

The proposal not only calls for stiffer penalties for drunken drivers but also envisages applying the same penalties to those who provide alcoholic beverages to potential drivers or vehicles to drunk drivers. It prohibits people from riding in vehicles driven by drunk drivers, stipulating punishment for violators. The proposal will be written into a revised Road Traffic Law. The NPA hopes that the revision will come into force by yearend following Diet deliberations.

Stronger calls for severer punishment of drunk drivers were spurred by the deaths of three young children in Fukuoka last August. A sport utility vehicle carrying a couple and their children plunged into Hakata Bay from a bridge when it was rear-ended by a car driven by a Fukuoka municipal government employee. The mother dived under water many times in an attempt to rescue one child who was trapped inside the car. The public was moved by the story and was at the same time angered by the media report that the city-government employee had called a friend to bring him bottled water so that he could dilute the smell of alcohol on his breath.