Drunk Driving & Traffic Accidents

For a first offense, your blood alcohol range sets the statutory penalty. If you were previously sentenced to a fine or heavier for drunk driving, the first thing to check is whether this offense falls within 10 years from the date that sentence became final. A repeat offense within 10 years falls under a provision with a minimum of 1 year in prison, even if your level is low.

Even if your prior offense was more than 10 years ago, it is still considered at sentencing as a similar prior conviction. If you find the earlier judgment or summary order (약식명령) and note the exact date it became final, we can quickly confirm which provision applies.

What is punished is your level at the time you were driving. Depending on the gaps between your last drink, when you started driving and when you were tested, and how far the result is from the legal threshold, there may be room to dispute your level at the time of driving. However, the mere possibility that your level was still rising is not enough to decide the case.

We also check whether you were given a chance to rinse your mouth before the breath test, whether you asked for a blood test, and whether the times in the police report on the intoxicated driver (주취운전자 정황진술보고서) match what actually happened. If you were booked for test refusal because you could not complete the test after several attempts, we need to carefully go back over the situation and what the officer told you.

• When you started and stopped drinking, and how much you drank
• Where and when you started driving, how far you drove, and why you drove
• Designated driver call records and card payment records
• The time you were stopped, the time you were tested, and how many tests were taken

For an ordinary traffic accident, prosecution is not allowed if you have comprehensive insurance or if the victim does not want you punished. However, an accident while drunk driving is one of the exceptions under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents, so you can be punished regardless of insurance or a settlement. If you are found to have been unable to drive normally, dangerous driving causing injury under the Aggravated Punishment Act applies.

After an accident, you must stop immediately, help the injured and give your contact details (Road Traffic Act Article 54). If you leave the scene without doing so, failure to take measures after an accident or fleeing after causing injury also becomes an issue, and this part often makes the punishment the heaviest. Write down why you left the scene and how you were contacted afterward, with dates and times.

Suspension or revocation of a driver's license is an administrative penalty imposed by the provincial police agency, so it proceeds separately from criminal punishment. The standards are in Attached Table 28 of the Enforcement Rules of the Road Traffic Act. At a blood alcohol level of 0.03% or higher but below 0.08%, you receive 100 penalty points and your license is suspended; as a rule, each point counts as one day of suspension. Your license is revoked if your level was 0.08% or higher, if you caused an accident that injured someone while drinking, or if you refused the test. If you have a prior drunk driving record, a level of just 0.03% or higher leads to revocation. After revocation, you cannot get a new license for a set disqualification period.

If your license was revoked for drunk driving again within 5 years from the date of a previous violation, you must get a conditional license with an ignition interlock device to drive again (Road Traffic Act Article 80-2). If you drive for a living, you can file an objection asking the provincial police agency to reduce the penalty within 60 days from the date of the decision. However, you are not eligible for a reduction if your level exceeded 0.1%, you injured someone, you refused the test, or you have any drunk driving record since June 30, 2001. We also check, within the deadline, whether the decision can be challenged through an administrative appeal. If you decide to challenge it, Jisan Law also handles the administrative appeal and administrative lawsuit.

A letter of apology alone is not enough. What counts are materials that can actually be verified, such as proof that you sold your car or stopped driving, records of alcohol counseling or treatment, and a petition from your family promising that you will not drive again. If you need to drive to make a living, you should support this with a certificate of employment or income records.

If you receive a summary order imposing a fine and feel the amount is too heavy, you can request a formal trial (정식재판) within 7 days of receiving notice (Criminal Procedure Act Article 453). In a formal trial requested by the defendant, the court cannot impose a heavier type of punishment than the summary order, but the fine amount can go up, so think it through before you request one.