Fewer dangerous driving offenses prosecuted amid China's judicial reform

BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- In the first half of 2024, Chinese prosecutors accepted, examined and prosecuted 171,000 individuals for suspected dangerous driving offenses, marking a decrease of 38.7 percent from the same period last year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said on Tuesday.

This reduction is attributed to a nationwide initiative that began at the end of 2023 to standardize the law enforcement and judicial standards for drunk driving, according to the SPP.

In cases where the circumstances were minor and did not constitute a crime, prosecutors supervised police organs in withdrawing nearly 20,000 cases.

Prosecutors also strengthened the review of the legality of evidence in dangerous driving cases, issuing over 3,900 correction notices for illegal investigative activities.

For cases that were legally not prosecuted but where suspects were deemed deserving of administrative penalties, prosecutors issued recommendations to relevant departments for more than 9,300 individuals, accounting for over one-third of non-prosecution cases.

Some offenders who voluntarily participated in community service were also given relatively lenient punishments, according to the SPP.