| A police officer conducts a sobriety test on a driver arriving at work at Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the morning of June 24, a day before tougher drunk driving regulations took effect, in an effort to deter people from driving in the morning following a night of binge drinking. / Yonhap |
By Kim Rahn
Tougher drunk driving rules are making a growing number of people seek chauffeur services in the morning to avoid driving drunk following a night of binge drinking.
According to Kakao Mobility, a chauffeur service provider, Friday, the number of calls requesting the services between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on July 1 jumped 106 percent compared to the same time period on June 3.
On July 2 as well, the number of calls grew 85 percent during the morning compared to June 4.
More people are avoiding driving to work if they had been binge drinking the previous night, after reports that such people have failed sobriety tests conducted in the morning after stricter regulations on drunk driving took effect on June 25.
The Korean Association of Relief Drivers, a group of chauffeurs, also said the number of service requests between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on June 25 increased 82 percent compared to the same time slot four weeks earlier.
For one week after the rules took effect, the police caught 24 drunk drivers per day on average between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., about 20 percent up compared to before the new rules were implemented.
According to police, it takes four to six hours on average for a person to sober up after drinking a bottle of soju, so people who drink late into the night are likely to get caught if they drive in the morning.
The new regulations apply tougher criteria for driving under the influence ― drivers whose blood alcohol concentration is 0.03 percent or higher will have their license suspended as well as being subject to one year in jail or a 5 million won fine, a tougher standard than the previous 0.05 percent. Those with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher are subject to license cancellation, also a stricter standard from the previous 0.1 percent, along with up to two years in jail or a 10 million won fine.