Can I be punished if I drive the day after drinking?

Hello. This is the DUI specialist attorney at Daeryun Law Firm.

As you asked, just because you drove the day after drinking does not exempt you from DUI punishment.

This is because DUI is judged based on whether the blood alcohol concentration at the time of driving exceeded the legal standard, not when you drank.

Under the Road Traffic Act, if a blood alcohol concentration of 0.03% or higher is measured, you are subject to DUI punishment, and this applies the same regardless of whether you drank the day before.

In actual practice, there are not a few cases where people thought they had rested enough after a workplace dinner or gathering and drove, only to be caught in a crackdown due to alcohol remaining in the body.

In particular, depending on individual constitution, drinking amount, sleep time, and detoxification speed, the level may remain even the next morning in many cases.

Also, claims that "I didn't feel drunk" or "I had no problem driving" are difficult to directly affect the judgment of punishment.

Since DUI is a crime centered on objective numbers, if the measurement result exceeds the standard, criminal punishment and administrative disposition can be combined regardless of intent or perceived state.

You should also be aware that depending on the blood alcohol concentration level, this can lead not only to fines and the possibility of imprisonment but also to driver's license revocation.

However, not all cases lead to the same result.

Depending on the legality of the measurement process, accuracy of the measurement timing, problems in the crackdown procedure, minor nature of the level, first offense status, and whether an accident occurred, there is sufficient room to dispute the punishment level or the scope of administrative disposition.

If you have been caught for driving the day after drinking, rather than judging that "it's the next day so it should be okay," it is very important to accurately organize the case circumstances from the early stages and set the response direction with the assistance of a DUI specialist attorney.

Wrong initial response can lead to unnecessarily heavy punishment, so we recommend preparing specific solutions through prompt legal consultation.