Eulwangri 'Chicken Delivery Tragedy' Drunk Driving Passenger... First Case Prosecuted Under 'Yoon Chang-ho Act'

Drunk Driver Also Arrested and Prosecuted
Prosecutors: "Passenger Instructed Drunk Driving"

A drunk driver, Mr. A (center), who fatally struck a chicken restaurant owner in his 50s delivering near Eulwangri Beach in Incheon, is leaving Jungbu Police Station in Jung-gu, Incheon, to undergo a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing). September 14, 2020.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Both the drunk driver and the passenger involved in a fatal accident near Eulwangri Beach in Incheon, where a man in his 50s delivering chicken was hit and killed by a vehicle, have been prosecuted under the 'Yoon Chang-ho Act.'

This is the first case where a passenger riding in a drunk driving vehicle has been prosecuted under the Yoon Chang-ho Act.

On the 6th, the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office Marine and Safety Crime Division (Chief Prosecutor Hwang Geumcheon) announced that A (33, female) was arrested and indicted on charges of causing death by dangerous driving under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act.

The prosecution also indicted the passenger B (47, male) without detention on charges of instigating drunk driving causing death under the Aggravated Punishment Act and the Road Traffic Act.

Enacted in December 2018, the Yoon Chang-ho Act refers to the combined amendments of the Aggravated Punishment Act, which strengthens penalties for drunk driving fatal accidents, and the Road Traffic Act, which tightens standards for license suspension and revocation. Under the Yoon Chang-ho Act, drivers causing fatal accidents can be sentenced to imprisonment for three years or more, or life imprisonment.

A is accused of driving a Mercedes-Benz passenger car under the influence of alcohol at 12:55 a.m. on the 9th of last month on a two-lane one-way road near Eulwangri Beach in Jung-gu, Incheon, hitting and killing C (54, male), who was delivering chicken on a motorcycle.

The Mercedes-Benz vehicle driven by A crossed the center line at the time of the accident, and her blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.194%, far exceeding the license cancellation threshold of 0.08%.

B is accused of effectively encouraging drunk driving by opening the door of his company's corporate Mercedes-Benz vehicle to allow A to get into the driver's seat before the accident.

The prosecution confirmed that B did not merely aid A's drunk driving but actively instigated it, considering him an accomplice in causing death by dangerous driving.

A prosecution official stated, "The passenger is judged to be a co-principal offender of causing death by dangerous driving," adding, "If a driver who has no intention of drunk driving is made to commit the crime, the instigator is liable."

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