A Defense Case Against Punishment for Failure to Take Measures After an Accident | A Client Who Also Faced a Drunk Driving Charge, Non-Referral

The client, a first-time driver who ordinarily complied with traffic laws, caused this accident while moving from an evening gathering, where he had one drink, to the main drinking gathering.

Because the vehicle owner who was with him at the time had consumed a larger amount of alcohol, the client, who had drunk relatively less, was driving the vehicle to move to another location when a minor contact accident occurred.

The client immediately stopped the vehicle and handed his business card to the owner of the damaged vehicle, and after saying, “Please contact me after you decide whether to settle in cash or process it through insurance,” he left the scene.

Afterward, while he was drinking additional alcohol at another gathering, he suddenly received a call from the police.

The police asked him to appear, saying, “An accident occurred, so why did you just leave without completing the handling of the accident?” and he was then subjected to a breathalyzer test (a blood alcohol concentration of approximately 0.1%).

Based on this result, the police requested the client to appear on charges of violating the Road Traffic Act (drunk driving and failure to take measures after an accident), and the client requested the firm's assistance.

First, the drunk driving attorney thoroughly prepared so that the client would not make any statements detrimental to his case during the investigation.

Through this process, the client maintained control over his statements throughout the investigation and was able to complete it without making any detrimental statements.

The key issue in this case was whether the duty to take measures after an accident under Article 54 of the 「Road Traffic Act」 had been fulfilled.

The client had, immediately after the accident, stopped the vehicle at once and handed his business card to the victim, providing his personal information.

Composition of Supporting Evidence

Accordingly, the drunk driving attorney specifically demonstrated that the client “did not leave the scene without authorization, but rather completed all of the minimum measures required by law”.

The police also brought a charge against the client for a violation of Article 44, Paragraph 1 of the 「Road Traffic Act」 (drunk driving). However, the drunk driving attorney scientifically established that the time of the accident and the time of drinking were clearly distinct.

In particular, by applying the Widmark formula (estimation of blood alcohol concentration), the attorney calculated the blood alcohol concentration corresponding to the amount and proof of the alcohol the client drank additionally after the accident.

As a result, the increase attributable to that amount of alcohol was calculated to be approximately 0.11X%, and subtracting this from the breath test result measured by the police, the blood alcohol concentration at the time of the accident was estimated at approximately 0.02%.

The Standard for Drunk Driving

This is a level below the statutory threshold for punishing drunk driving, and it was decisive scientific evidence supporting the fact that the client was not in a state of intoxication at the time of driving.

Accordingly, the drunk driving attorney clearly established that this was a case of ‘drinking after the accident,’ based on objective calculation and legal review rather than relying on a mere statement.

Under Article 54 of the Road Traffic Act, a driver who has caused a traffic accident must immediately stop and take the following measures.

If a driver leaves the scene of an accident without taking such measures, the driver is subject to the following punishment.

Level of Punishment

According to Article 44 of the 「Road Traffic Act」, a driver must not operate a motor vehicle or similar vehicle while intoxicated.

Here, a ‘state of intoxication’ means a blood alcohol concentration of 0.03% or higher, and the level of punishment is divided according to the measured value as follows.

Level of Punishment

In drunk driving cases, the precise distinction between the time of the blood alcohol concentration measurement and the time of drinking is very important.

In particular, as in this case, where the matter involves ‘drinking after the accident,’ drunk driving is not established by the measurement result alone, and a defense can be made on scientific grounds, such as a calculation using the Widmark formula.

What Is the Widmark Formula?

As in this case, a complex matter to which both failure to take measures after an accident and drunk driving are applied can produce greatly differing results depending on the direction of the initial statement and the interpretation of the law.

Daeryun Law Firm provides assistance tailored to each case through the following system.

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