Driver Sentenced to Prison for Drunk Driving and Running a Red Light... Causing the Death of a High School Girl at a Crosswalk

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] A man in his 50s who was driving while intoxicated was prosecuted and sentenced to prison for hitting and killing a high school girl crossing a crosswalk.

According to the Daejeon District Court Criminal Division 9 (Judge Lee Jeong-hoon) on the 2nd, A (54) was prosecuted for hitting and killing a teenage high school girl crossing a crosswalk with his BMW vehicle on a road in Yeonseo-myeon, Sejong City, at around 11:44 p.m. on October 28 last year.

Investigations revealed that A’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.175% at the time of the accident. Furthermore, police investigations showed that A caused the accident by ignoring the stop signal and proceeding with the vehicle while in a state of severe intoxication.

The court applied the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, which was amended to strengthen penalties for drunk drivers (enforced on December 18, 2018), and the Road Traffic Act (enforced on June 25, 2019), sentencing A to three years in prison.

The court stated, “The defendant violated the stop signal while severely intoxicated and proceeded with the vehicle, striking the victim who was crossing the crosswalk upon seeing the green light. The illegality of this act is very serious.”

However, the court explained the sentencing reasoning by saying, “Consideration was given to the fact that the defendant reached a settlement with the victim’s family and has no prior similar criminal record.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.