Ob Beer Introduces 'Drunk Driving Prevention Device' for Cargo Trucks for the First Time

(From left) Yudo Jun, CEO of Centec Korea; Jumin Lee, Chairman of the Road Traffic Authority; Younggil Park, Head of the OB Beer Truck Owners Branch; Hajun Bae, CEO of OB Beer; and Youngchae Yoon, Executive Director of Han Express, are posing for a commemorative photo in front of a truck equipped with a drunk driving prevention device at the OB Beer Icheon Plant on the 28th, marking the start of the pilot project for the drunk driving prevention device.

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] OB Beer announced on the 29th that, as part of a campaign to eradicate drunk driving in collaboration with the Korea Road Traffic Authority, Han Express, and Centec Korea, it will install and pilot test 'Drunk Driving Prevention Devices (Ignition Interlock Devices)' on trucks delivering beer from OB Beer's Icheon factory to direct stores nationwide.

To raise awareness about eradicating drunk driving among truck drivers, OB Beer will install Centec Korea's drunk driving prevention devices on 20 trucks belonging to Han Express that deliver beer nationwide from OB Beer's Icheon factory and conduct a three-month pilot operation until the end of September. The drunk driving prevention device is a system that measures blood alcohol concentration through a breathalyzer installed in the vehicle, and if alcohol is detected, it prevents the engine from starting altogether.

In major advanced countries overseas, to fundamentally block drunk driving, the installation of drunk driving prevention devices on vehicles of habitual drunk drivers has been made mandatory. California, USA, was the first to legislate the drunk driving prevention device in 1986, and it is currently enforced statewide. Canada, Australia, and several European countries have also passed related laws and use drunk driving prevention devices.

According to the Korea Road Traffic Authority's study on 'Measures for Introducing Drunk Driving Prevention Devices,' after the system was implemented, Maryland in the USA saw a 64% reduction in recidivism, Illinois 81%, Alberta in Canada 89%, and Sweden 95%.

Baehajun, CEO of OB Beer, said, "With social distancing lifted due to COVID-19 and increased drinking, there is concern about a rise in drunk driving," adding, "As a leading company in the alcoholic beverage industry, we hope that through the pilot operation of drunk driving prevention devices, the awareness that one should never get behind the wheel after even a single sip of alcohol will widely spread and become firmly established."

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