I was a passenger in a drunk driving incident. If an accident occurred due to the driver's negligence, am I also liable?

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Recently at work, my superior asked me to forge a signature on a contract. I initially refused, but the pressure continued and I eventually complied. But another employee discovered that I forged the signature... I heard I could be charged with forgery of private documents. How should I legally respond in this case?

passenger of drunk driving

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作者: 박동일

Please note that this consultation is given without clearly understanding the inquiry.

In the case of being a passenger in drunk driving, even if you did not directly drive while drunk, you are subject to punishment.

This is because it falls under the crime of aiding by ignoring another person's crime. However, the punishment may vary depending on how you aided.

For example, if you knew your friend was drunk but knew he would drive and provided the car keys, this is regarded as physical aiding. If you encouraged or recommended driving while intoxicated and rode along, this is regarded as mental aiding.

In this case, if you actively aided, you may be punished with imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 10 million won.

If you simply did not stop the driver despite knowing about the drunk state, you may be punished with imprisonment of up to 1 year and 6 months or a fine of up to 5 million won.

However, this punishment applies when there was no injury to victims due to a traffic accident.

Passengers in drunk driving will undergo a police investigation after the drunk driving is detected. In this case, if you need to respond to the police investigation, we recommend receiving the assistance of a drunk driving specialist attorney.

In this case, whether you knew about your friend's drunken state and whether you tried to stop the driving become the core of the investigation.