Driver sweating profusely while leaning on the handle... Woke him up out of concern, only to find "Drunk Driving"

A man in his 70s who fell asleep leaning on the steering wheel and sweating at a rest area was punished after causing an accident while driving under the influence.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] A man in his 70s who woke up sweating while leaning on the steering wheel at a rest area for drowsy drivers was punished for causing an accident while driving under the influence.

On the 29th, Judge Park Jinyoung of Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 2 announced that he sentenced Mr. A (70), who was indicted for drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act, to one year in prison with a two-year probation period. He was also ordered to attend 40 hours of compliance driving lectures.

Mr. A was tried for driving a truck about 20 meters in a drunken state at a drowsy driver rest area on a national road in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, around 2:30 p.m. on August 1 last year. At that time, Mr. A's blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.195%, which is at the license cancellation level.

In the investigation, Mr. A claimed his innocence. He argued that he only briefly drove the truck, which was driven by an acquaintance, to handle the situation after it suddenly reversed near the rest area for unknown reasons and collided with a passenger car.

However, the testimony of Mr. B, the owner of the passenger car, differed from Mr. A's claim. According to Mr. B, he saw Mr. A leaning on the steering wheel sweating and sleeping in the truck driver's seat with his wife, thought it was dangerous, and woke him by knocking on the window. At that time, Mr. A was already intoxicated, and he was alone in the vehicle.

Mr. A instead demanded that Mr. B move his car. Mr. B testified that while he and his wife moved to go to the restroom, the truck reversed and hit the passenger car. This scene was also fully captured on Mr. B's passenger car black box footage.

Judge Park explained the sentencing by stating that the defendant Mr. A had already been punished once for drunk driving but drove under the influence again, causing a traffic accident by hitting a parked vehicle, which shows poor criminal behavior, and that his blood alcohol concentration was considerably high.