By Kim Rahn
The National Police Agency (NPA) said Tuesday that it will soon conduct a public survey about lowering the legal limit of drunk driving from the current blood alcohol level of 0.05 percent down to 0.03 percent.
The 0.03 percent level is usually equivalent to a glass of soju, with fluctuations between each person tested. Those with a blood alcohol level between 0.05 and 0.1 percent are subject to a 100-day suspension of their driver’s license, and those with a level of 0.1 percent of over will have their licenses canceled.
The survey will ask people whether the 0.05 percent level is appropriate and whether the current punishment on drunk driving is proper. Other questions will include whether the nation should apply stricter rules on re-obtaining a driver's license for those whose permits were cancelled due to drunk driving, and whether education for habitual drunk drivers should be reinforced.
“Public calls are growing over rooting out drunk driving,” an NPA official said. “It is time for us to consider revising related regulations.”
Japan lowered the legal limit from 0.05 percent to 0.03 percent in 2002 and the annual number of deaths from drunk driving was cut by 75 percent, according to the NPA.