Prior Drunk Driving (DUI) Record | A Fine Defended for a Client with Four Prior Drunk Driving Offenses

In addition, under Article 44 (4), a blood alcohol concentration of 0.03% or higher is regarded as constituting drunk driving.

Since the enactment of the Yoon Chang-ho Act in 2018, the standards for punishing and cracking down on drunk driving have been strengthened.

If drunk driving is caught two or more times, strong punishment may follow, and a driver with a record of two or more drunk driving offenses who again drives under the influence and causes an accident will find it difficult to avoid heavy punishment.

The levels of aggravated punishment set out in the 2025 amendment to the Road Traffic Act are as follows.

Simple Drunk Driving Detection | Sentence for One Drunk Driving Offense Within 10 Years

When a Drunk Driving Accident Occurs

The client argued that, with a repentant heart for his wrongdoing, he writes a daily diary of repentance each day expressing his remorse.

He stated that, through daily transcription of the Bible, he is seeking to repent his wrongdoing by the power of religion and to strengthen his resolve to prevent reoffending, and he submitted a written pledge and a letter of reflection in which he vowed to eradicate drunk driving and to abide by the law.

In addition, he submitted dozens of handwritten 🔗drunk driving petitions written by his wife, family, and coworkers, requesting that consideration be given to the fact that his social ties are strong enough that the likelihood of reoffending is low, and that he is reflecting deeply, to the extent of stating that he will devote himself to preventing reoffending for the sake of his family.

The traffic accident attorney requested leniency on the ground that the client had sold the vehicle registered in the spouse's name as a preventive measure so as not to repeat the same mistake.

The attorney also requested that consideration be given to the fact that, in order to address the drinking problem that was the fundamental cause of the drunk driving, the client had recognized and become aware that there was a problem with his own alcohol use habits and was consistently attending hospital treatment in order to cope appropriately with stress.

The attorney argued that the client, in order to more substantively correct his conduct related to this drunk driving, was completing the mandatory education of the Korea Road Traffic Authority and had separately completed private education as well, and that through his active response and efforts he was sincerely repenting of his wrongdoing.

Because the client had four prior convictions for drunk driving, the traffic accident attorney presented arguments aimed at obtaining as lenient a disposition as possible.

The attorney requested leniency on the grounds that all of the client's prior sentences had been fines, that more than 10 years had passed since the date the drunk driving sentence became final, which is the period for aggravated punishment in cases of repeat drunk driving, and that, since the previous fine sentence, the client had diligently used designated drivers and taxis whenever he needed to travel.

The sentences for drunk driving offenses are becoming heavier, and for a third or subsequent drunk driving offense it has become difficult to avoid aggravated punishment.

Drunk driving also falls under the 🔗12 categories of gross negligence in traffic accidents, so it may be punishable by imprisonment without labor for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 20 million won, making the assistance of a traffic accident specialist attorney critical.

Drunk driving cases are decided by considering comprehensive factors such as the scale of harm, whether an accident occurred, the blood alcohol concentration, and the driving distance, so we hope you resolve the matter with the assistance of a 🔗traffic accident attorney at Daeryun LLC, which has extensive experience handling drunk driving cases.