Asia: S.Korea’s drunk driving fatalities post double-fall on tougher punishment
Editor: xuxin
August 27, 2019
SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s drunk driving fatalities posted a double-digit fall for the past two months on tougher punishment over driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), police data showed Tuesday.
The number of deaths from DUI traffic accidents was 21 from June 25 to Aug. 24, down 65 percent from the same period of last year, according to the National Police Agency (NPA).
The figure for nationwide traffic accidents, caused by drunk driving, was 1,975 in the two-month period, down 37.2 percent from 3,145 tallied a year earlier.
The lower drunk-driving accidents and fatalities came as the revised anti-DUI law took effect on June 25 to harshly punish the drunk drivers.
Under the amendment, a diver’s license is suspended when the driver’s blood alcohol level is 0.03 percent or higher, tougher than the previous 0.05 percent or higher.
The requirement for a driver’s license revocation was also toughened to the blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher from the previous level of 0.1 percent or higher.
The minimum penalty for DUI offenses resulting in deaths was raised to at least three years in jail from the previous imprisonment of one year or longer.
The number of drunk drivers caught by police for the past two months was 19,310, down 30.9 percent from 27,935 recorded a year earlier.
Among the total, 13,237 drivers had their licenses revoked, with another 5,483 seeing licenses suspended.