Drunk driving incidents up sharply this year

A drunk driver in his 20s drove into a street vendor in Busan, Sunday, causing injuries to at least 12 people, police in the port city said, noting that the driver was taken into police custody. / Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

The number of traffic accidents caused by driving under the influence (DUI) has been increasing again this year, after it had decreased last year following the enforcement of tougher regulations against drunk drivers, according to a local traffic safety research institute Monday.

The number of DUI crashes has increased despite a reduction in traffic volume and the movement of people following the COVID-19 outbreak that began in January in the country.

According to the report issued by the Samsung Traffic Safety Research Institute that is affiliated with Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance, the number of DUI accidents reported to the insurance company from January to August has reached 4,627, having already exceeded 3,787 reported last year.

The insurance firm had received around 5,000 reports of DUI crashes annually between 2016 and 2018, but the number fell significantly to 3,787 last year, following the enforcement of the revised traffic laws in June of that year, which introduced a lower legal limit of drivers' blood alcohol level and stronger punishment of drunk driving.

The so-called “Yoon Chang-ho Act” calls on driver's licenses to be suspended when drivers' blood alcohol level is 0.03 percent or higher, and be revoked when the level is 0.08 percent or higher.

Previously, driver's licenses were suspended when drivers' blood alcohol level was 0.05 percent or higher, and revoked when the level was 0.1 percent or higher.

The law also states that offenders can face up to life imprisonment when their drunk driving results in death.

The National Assembly passed the bills to revise the traffic laws at the end of 2018 after Yoon Chang-ho, a 22-year-old military conscript, was killed by a drunk driver in Busan in November of that year.

The research institute noted that among 130,654 people whose driver's licenses were revoked from January to August, 59,102, or 45.2 percent, were involved with drunk driving.

The figure had stood at 58.1 percent in 2018 and fell significantly to 36.6 percent last year, but increased again this year.

Some drivers appear to drive under the influence habitually.

Among 158,000 people who were reissued driver's licenses again in 2015 after their licenses had been revoked due to drunk driving, 14 percent have been caught driving under the influence again up until last month, the research institute said.

“The Yoon Chang-ho Act aroused awareness of DUI among the public for a while, but people have tended to become blase about the issue this year,” said Lim Chae-hong, a senior analyst of the research institute. “In addition, people have tended to prefer their own cars rather than public transportation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The report was issued at a time when high-profile cases involving alcohol-fueled infractions have caused public uproar this month, promoting authorities to renew the war against drunk driving.

On Sept. 9, a man in his 50s who was delivering fried chicken by motorcycle was killed after a 33-year-old drunk driver ran into him.

On Sunday, a drunk driver in his 20s crashed into a street vendor in Busan, injuring at least 12 people.

Researchers called on the government to strengthen policing of drunk drivers, saying the country's countermeasures against them are relatively weak, compared to other developed countries.

“One-time punishments are not sufficient to resolve DUI issues,” the research institute said in its report. “The government needs to draw up more countermeasures against drunk driving such as offering psychological treatment for those caught driving under the influence repeatedly.”