Driver consumes additional alcohol after accident to hide drunk driving

(123rf)

The South Korean prosecutors said Monday it indicted a man in his 50s for causing a fatal traffic accident last month, despite the man consuming more alcohol after the accident to hide his drunk driving.

Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office said it indicted the suspect on charges of drunk driving and violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents.

The suspect is believed to have driven his Porsche vehicle into a compact car at around 12:45 a.m. on June 27 in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, while speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol. The accident killed the 19-year-old driver of the compact car and severely injured a passenger.

But the police neglected to conduct a breath test on the Porsche driver, only testing his blood-alcohol content two hours and 20 minutes later. He had drunk beer near his home by then, and his BAC level was tested to be 0.084 percent.

He told investigators that he consumed alcohol only after the accident.

Despite the suspect's effort to hide his drunk driving, the police used a calculation called the Widmark formula to deduce the BAC level for the suspect at the time of the accident. The prosecution ultimately indicted him for drunk driving with an estimated BAC level of 0.36 percent, enough to suspend his license.

The Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency has launched an inquiry about the police officers who were at the accident site, for potential violation of their duties regarding drunk driving cases.

He is not the first driver to have consumed alcohol right after causing a DUI accident to conceal their intoxication at the time of the accident. One suspected such case was an accident involving singer Kim Ho-joong, who was found to have consumed a large amount of alcohol after causing an accident while allegedly drunk.

The prosecution in Kim's case eventually decided not to press drunk driving charges, believing it would not likely secure a conviction given that he was tested 17 hours after the accident.

To prevent such actions, Rep. Shin Yeong-dae of the main opposition Democratic Party in June proposed a bill that would impose additional punishment for suspects who are found to have consumed additional alcohol to hide drunk driving.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)