[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Gwangju police will conduct intensive drunk driving crackdowns for the next month.
The Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency announced that, together with the Gwangju City Autonomous Police Committee, it will significantly strengthen drunk driving enforcement activities, including morning hangover driving during the commute, for one month starting from the 3rd.
So far, traffic fatalities in the region have increased by 5, from 16 last year to 21 this year.
Among these, drunk driving fatalities rose from 2 to 4, and the number of drunk driving enforcement cases also increased by 16.3%, from an average of 10.4 cases per day to 12.1 cases per day.
In particular, drunk drivers were mostly caught between 9 PM and 1 AM, accounting for 69.3% of the total during this time frame.
Comparing before and after the lifting of social distancing on the 18th of last month, the daily average number of cases increased by 20.4%, from 11.2 cases in January to March to 13.5 cases in April to May.
Using the same criteria, late-night hours (1 AM to 6 AM) increased from 12.5% to 16.5%, and morning hours (6 AM to 11 AM) rose from 2.7% to 4.7%.
On the 26th of last month, an incident occurred in Buk-gu where a vehicle that violated a traffic signal ignored the police stop signal and fled, hitting a patrol car and then refusing a breathalyzer test. On the 28th, a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.282% caused a series of accidents by crashing into three parked vehicles, showing that accidents continue unabated.
Accordingly, to strongly respond to drunk driving traffic accidents, Gwangju police plan to mobilize all available personnel, including the city police traffic patrol team, undercover patrol team, traffic police from each police station, riot police, and community police, regardless of day, night, or late-night hours throughout the year. They will conduct focused crackdowns by moving locations centered on drunk driving reports, accident-prone areas, and high-risk drunk driving zones.
Since daytime hangover driving also poses a high risk of accidents, surprise hangover driving crackdowns will be carried out considering the morning commute traffic conditions.
A police official explained, "Many people easily drive when they cannot find a designated driver or taxi after drinking late at night, and many drive without awareness of the problem even though they are still intoxicated in the morning, leading to accidents."
He added, "Drunk driving significantly impairs normal driving ability, and even a single traffic signal violation or incorrect steering can take away the precious lives and property of oneself and others. It must be remembered as a serious crime."
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