Drunk Drivers Protest Brazil Crackdown as Traffic Deaths Plunge By Carlos Caminada
Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Ioram Finguerman's 36th birthday on June 27 was marked by a new question for partygoers in Brazil: Who gets to drink and who has to drive?
Responding to a traffic fatality rate nine times that of the U.S. and 14 times Australia's, Brazil a week earlier imposed some of the world's strictest drunk-driving penalties. Drivers caught after having two glasses of beer or the equivalent go to jail for six months to three years. One beer brings a 957-real ($600) fine and loss of license for a year.
While traffic casualties have fallen by more than half in Sao Paulo since the rules were enforced, they are too restrictive for a country known for its love of celebration, Finguerman said.
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