A late-night traffic stop in Miaoli turned into a car chase and a crash, ending with drug charges — bad news for the driver, who now faces both criminal referral and a stack of heavy fines.

• A 47-year-old man sped off when police in Zhunan tried to pull him over for speeding and not signaling.
• He circled around under a highway interchange to shake off the patrol cars, then rammed one when police boxed him in.
• A roadside saliva test came back positive for methamphetamine, so prosecutors are now handling the case.
• He told police he ran because he has no driver's license and feared a ticket.
• Police are writing him five separate tickets, with fines that could reach NT$187,200.

Outlook: Lab results will confirm whether he was driving under the influence, which would add drug charges on top of the public endangerment case.