A man in his 30s was fined by a court after being discovered unconscious behind the wheel while severely intoxicated, a condition that met the criteria for license suspension, despite having a prior history of drunk driving.
On the 8th, Judge Park Ki-ju, presiding over Criminal Division 3 of the Changwon District Court, announced that A, charged with violating the Road Traffic Act (drunk driving), had been sentenced to a fine of 13 million Korean won.
A was referred to trial after allegedly driving about 4 kilometers while intoxicated around 2:11 a.m. on June 5 in Uichang-gu, Changwon, Gyeongnam. The individual fell asleep inside the car while stopped at a traffic signal and was subsequently apprehended by police who arrived at the scene.
According to the investigation, A’s blood alcohol concentration at the time was 0.163%, more than double the level that triggers license revocation (0.08%).
It emerged that A had previously been fined 1 million Korean won in September 2016 by the Masan Branch of the Changwon District Court for drunk driving. Initially, the court issued a summary order of 13 million Korean won for this current offense, but A appealed, seeking a formal trial.
The court stated, “The defendant disrupted regular traffic flow by dozing off on the roadway and created a substantial danger of causing a traffic accident. Given the exceptionally high blood alcohol level and the prior conviction for drunk driving, the original fine amount is considered suitable,” outlining the reasoning behind the sentence.
Leave a Reply