South Korean man escapes drink driving charges by chugging soju bottle in 39 seconds
A South Korean man ended up being cleared of drink driving charges by drinking more alcohol.
The Korea Herald reported that the suspect was driving in the city of Daegu on 16 Sept.
Police pulled him over at 11.38pm on suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol.
However, the 60-year-old man then chugged an entire bottle of soju in 39 seconds before he stepped out of the car.
Source: 4kodiak on Canva, for illustration purposes only
Eyewitnesses claimed the suspect appeared to be staggering the moment he alighted.
As he had just consumed an entire bottle of alcohol, police officers could not get an accurate test for his blood alcohol content (BAC) when he was driving.
The officers instead attempted to use the Widmark formula to determine his prior alcohol levels.
They calculated that he had a BAC of 0.128% during his 2.4km drive prior to chugging the soju bottle.
Drivers with a BAC of 0.03% and above can be punished for drink driving, with a potential revocation of their driver’s license for a 0.07% BAC.
Since his estimated BAC was much higher than that, the suspect faced charges.
In court, it was also noted that the driver should not have been immediately intoxicated and staggering right after drinking a bottle of alcohol.
However, the court ultimately cleared him of drink driving charges.
They cited the lack of sufficient concrete evidence that he had been drunk while driving, calling the eyewitness reports “circumstantial evidence”.
Proposed laws aim to close drink driving loophole
This isn’t the first time the loophole in South Korea’s drink driving laws allowed drink drivers scot-free.
On 9 May, singer Kim Ho-joong performed a hit-and-run while allegedly drunk. He only appeared before the police 17 hours afterwards, too late for a proper BAC test.
Source: The Korea Herald
While Kim faced numerous charges, the prosecution did not indict him for drink driving due to this.
As such, South Korean lawmakers have proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Act meant to tackle these loopholes.
These include making it punishable to intentionally consume additional alcohol to prevent accurate tests.
Also read: Drunk driver hits stroller in Joo Chiat & gets punched by baby’s father, jailed 2 weeks
Drunk driver hits stroller in Joo Chiat & gets punched by baby’s father, jailed 2 weeks
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