Three Bottles of Soju Last Night, Slept Eight Hours... "Beep! License Suspended" The Trap of Hangover Driving [Reportage]

"I drank about three bottles of soju last night, but I slept for over seven hours..."

At 8:48 a.m. on March 4, in front of Singa Elementary School on a four-lane road in Songpa District, Seoul, police breathalyzers sounded and flashed red amid heavy morning traffic. The face of Mr. Kang (31), who was sitting in the driver's seat, turned pale. He had gone out for drinks with friends the previous night, only to be caught in the trap of "driving under the influence of a hangover." With a frustrated expression, Kang pleaded, "When I woke up this morning, I thought I was perfectly fine to drive." However, his blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.034%, a level that warrants a license suspension. "This is the first time I realized that if you're still tired, the effects of alcohol may remain," he said. "I'm just so shocked."

On the morning of the 4th, traffic police from Songpa Police Station in Seoul are checking drivers for alcohol consumption in front of Singa Elementary School in Songpa District, Seoul. Photo by Jaehyun Park

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Just ten minutes later, at around 9:00 a.m., the alarm sounded again-this time in the car of Mr. Hwang (37). He insisted that, although he had a drink with lunch the day before, he slept for more than eight hours. Still, the breathalyzer showed a reading of 0.035%. "I had no idea the number would come up after sleeping eight hours," Hwang said, adding, "I only drove for about 30 seconds, less than a kilometer." Both drivers were classic cases of driving with residual alcohol in their system. According to police regulations, a blood alcohol concentration of 0.03% or higher results in license suspension, and 0.08% or higher leads to license revocation.

At the checkpoint in front of Singa Elementary that morning, four patrol cars, twelve traffic officers, eleven members of the traffic mobile unit, and two motorcycle patrol officers were deployed to inspect every vehicle passing by the children on their way to school. In just over an hour of enforcement, six drivers were stopped by the breathalyzer, and two were ultimately found to be over the legal limit.

On the morning of the 4th, police conducted a drunk driving crackdown in front of Singa Elementary School in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jaehyun Park

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At the same time, tension was also high in front of Singye Elementary School in Nowon District. Seven members of the Nowon Police Station’s traffic safety team and five patrol cars were deployed, stopping about 300 vehicles near Singye Elementary. One driver, rushing to deliver flowers, grumbled, "Why a crackdown so early in the morning?" but, at the police officer’s polite request, "Please blow into the device for the children’s safety," he sheepishly complied. Fortunately, there were no violations detected.

On the morning of the 4th, police conducted a mass sobriety checkpoint during the morning school commute in a school protection zone near Singye Elementary School in Nowon-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hosoo Park

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Inspector Kim Sangsoo of the Nowon Police Station’s traffic safety team, who led the operation, said, "Children are short and can appear suddenly from anywhere, so even a 1% drop in a driver's judgment can lead to tragedy. We will continue to strengthen enforcement to ensure that school zones remain completely free from drunk driving."

Park, a parent who was observing the scene, said, "Every morning, I get nervous when cars speed by, but with the police here, I feel much more at ease. I hope these efforts for the children’s safety continue."

On the morning of the 4th, police conducted a mass sobriety checkpoint on the way to school in the child protection zone (school zone) near Singye Elementary School in Nowon-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hosu Park

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According to the results of the simultaneous school zone crackdown conducted from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in front of schools by 31 police stations across Seoul, a total of four drunk driving cases were detected (one license revocation and three license suspensions).

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, there were zero child fatalities in school zones during the intensive enforcement period last year. The number of accidents also dropped significantly by about 22.5%. Police plan to mobilize all available personnel across Seoul to continue conducting random sobriety checks on the way to school starting from this crackdown.

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