On 11th November 2018 a student from Korea University died after being hit by a drunk driver. When the man who went to Busan for Korean Thanksgiving day waited for a signal at a crosswalk, a drunk driver hit him. The driver’s alcohol level was over 0.181% intoxication. The victim’s name was ‘윤창호.’ After he had been brain dread for 45days, he died. Everyone was shocked by this terrible accident and then the victim’s friends tried to strengthen the Road Traffic Act for drunk driving criterion.

His friends’ efforts made big changes regarding the Road Traffic Act for drunk driving. Because of their efforts, ‘윤창호 법’ was created. ‘윤창호 법’ starts from 25th June 2019. Let’s look at the following chart:

The standard of losing your driving license has been strengthened compared to the past.

Most people believe that this law can protect the future victims from road traffic accidents, but some people worry about drawbacks appearing since the law came into effect. They said that this blood alcohol level limit is too heavy when checking drivers. According to a road traffic survey about drunk driving, 1/10 of drunk driving offences occur via morning drivers. People who get arrested for drink driving were drinking alcohol the previous night. Because the alcohol still stayed in their body, they had no choice but to get arrested for drunk driving.

Despite some people’s concerns, the law has been enforced since 25 June this year . When we look at the result of the law so far, it has gone smoothly in Korea. If the progress of the law is expressed numerically, the number of drunk driving accidents has decreased 30% compared to before enforcing the law. Furthermore, drunken culture has improved since enforcing a stricter tolerance on blood alcohol level when driving.

We shouldn’t be satisfied with the above facts and should still try to stop drunk driving little by little. In terms of government, they should enforce driver training for drivers who get arrested for drunk driving. We always think that death by drunk driving is same as murder.

L.L.F Reporter Ha- Yeong Yang