Chengdu police arrested a female motorist driving under the influence Friday, as part of a recent nationwide campaign against drunk driving. Dubbed the "drunken lady driver" or "hotpants drunk driver" by the press due to her party-going getup and slurred phrases caught on video ("Stop thinking I'm a hick; my boyfriend is abroad, and I'm about to get a green card," for instance), she was detained at around 4 a.m. last Friday.


The driver, surnamed Liu, was allegedly on her way home from the Internet bar, where she and her friends had stopped after a house party, where she said she had consumed a little Wuliangye baijiu and beer, when police stopped her.

The 28-year-old works in real estate and in marketing for local liquor giant Wuliangye.

Local media coverage of the incident touts the fact that she is the first woman driver detained in Chengdu since the onset of the drunk-driving crackdown as well as her sassy backtalking to policemen. A common headline reads something like "Chengdu chief scolded by arrested woman driver; hotpants-wearing booze-guzzling madwoman hits police" (成都首个被拘醉骂女司机 穿热裤耍酒疯打人).

Upon her arrival at the police station, chief deputy Zhang Yongming intercepted her. "I wanted her to take the breathalyzer as soon as she got out of her car, but when she got out of the car, she said she needed to use the toilet. She refused to take the breathalyzer. I said the test would be very quick, and when she was done she could go to the toilet. She grabbed onto my clothes and threw my glasses onto the floor. And she yelled, 'I didn't drink--you guys are bullying me!'"

After 20 minutes, Liu submitted to the test. The result came back: 164mg per 100 mL. Liu replied, "Impossible! Something's wrong with your test!" and again requested to go to the toilet. Permission was granted, and a female officer accompanied her to the restroom, where Liu allegedly consumed several bottles of a substance meant to remove the smell of alcohol on her breath.

Despite that--and to the apparent delight of the reporters who were for whatever reason lined up in the police station to video, photograph, and otherwise record the spectacle--the results of a second breathalyzer test Liu insisted upon came back even higher at 171.3 mg per 100 mL.

Along with 17 other drunk drivers caught during the operation, Liu faces a fine of RMB1,500, a half-year suspension of their driver's licenses, and a 12-point penalty on their driving record.

Image: Chengdu QQ