Rep. Lee Hyung-seok Proposes Amendment to Revoke License for Drivers Fleeing Breathalyzer Tests

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] A bill has been proposed to revoke the driver's license of drivers who flee to avoid police breathalyzer tests.

On the 17th, Rep. Lee Hyung-seok (The Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Buk-gu Eul) announced that he has taken the lead in proposing the "Partial Amendment to the Road Traffic Act," which cancels the license of drivers who flee from breathalyzer tests and imposes a maximum imprisonment of up to 5 years depending on the case.

Under the current Road Traffic Act, if a driver refuses a police breathalyzer test, the city or provincial police chief must revoke the driver's license, and the driver faces imprisonment from 1 to 5 years or a fine ranging from 5 million to 20 million won.

The problem is that the punishment regulations for those who flee to avoid breathalyzer tests are ambiguous, leading to situations where drivers initially evade police checks but comply with the breathalyzer test once caught.

This is because if no secondary accidents occur during the escape, the driver only faces penalties based on the breathalyzer results.

The amendment proposed by Rep. Lee aims to resolve this issue by adding fleeing to avoid breathalyzer tests as a condition for license cancellation, similar to refusing the test, and increasing the penalties for both refusal and fleeing.

If the law is amended, simply fleeing at the scene of a breathalyzer test will result in license cancellation. Additionally, offenders will face imprisonment from 1 to 5 years or fines ranging from 10 million to 50 million won.

The purpose is to strengthen penalties for fleeing breathalyzer tests to ensure drivers comply with testing.

Rep. Lee said, "Despite significant human and material damage caused by secondary accidents resulting from fleeing breathalyzer tests, the punishment regulations have been ambiguous," and added, "We need to consider multifaceted measures to eradicate drunk driving, including punishing fleeing from breathalyzer tests."

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