Drunk Driving Continues Despite Stricter Penalties Since 2018
Penalties are being strengthened, including requiring drivers who cause accidents while driving under the influence of alcohol to pay up to 200 million KRW in automobile insurance deductibles.
Despite the enforcement of the Road Traffic Act in 2018, which strengthened penalties for drunk driving offenders, drunk driving and resulting fatal accidents have not ceased.
According to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Direct and others on the 17th, from 2018 to 2020, there were 52,336 traffic accidents caused by drunk driving. This means an average of 50 drunk driving traffic accidents occurred daily.
During this period, the number of deaths and injuries caused by drunk driving traffic accidents were 928 and 86,976 respectively. This translates to an average of 0.8 deaths and 79.4 injuries per day.
Looking only at the number of drunk driving crackdowns, due to increased social awareness and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number decreased from 130,772 cases in 2019 to 115,882 cases in 2021. However, the proportion of repeat offenders during the same period actually increased from 44.7% to 44.8%.
Additionally, among those whose licenses were revoked due to drunk driving, the proportion of repeat offenders with two or more offenses rose sharply by 40%, from 7.5% in 2018 to 10.5% in 2021.
In response, since July last year, the government has increased the automobile insurance deductible to a maximum of 200 million KRW for drivers who cause accidents while driving under the influence. The intention is to strengthen not only social awareness of drunk driving but also the responsibility of drivers.
On the 30th of last month, police were conducting a drunk driving crackdown at the entrance of Gwanggyosan in Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Previously, the deductible for bodily injury damages in drunk driving accidents was up to 10 million KRW per person, including death during treatment. The deductible for property damage was up to 5 million KRW per case, totaling a maximum of only 15 million KRW.
However, since July last year, bodily injury damages have been raised to a maximum of 180 million KRW per person (including death during treatment), and property damage up to 20 million KRW per case.
In the past, when a drunk driving accident occurred, insurance companies paid compensation to the victims and only sought reimbursement from the driver up to certain limits for bodily injury and property damage. However, this method had limitations in preventing drunk driving and was criticized for leading to a vicious cycle of increased automobile insurance premiums borne by many policyholders.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance explained, “At drunk driving accidents, the burden has changed from covering only up to the mandatory insurance limit to bearing the full deductible amount for the mandatory insurance.”
They added, “Automobile insurance is not meant to cover negligence such as drunk driving. Therefore, in accidents caused by such reasons, responsibility should not be evaded through insurance.”
Meanwhile, in the United States, it has been analyzed that significantly increasing insurance premiums for drivers caught drunk driving has effectively reduced the frequency of drunk driving.
On the 5th, the Korea Insurance Research Institute stated in its report titled ‘Cases and Implications of Drunk Driving Suppression in Japan and the United States’ that “In the U.S., not only judicially but also through automobile insurance, drivers with a history of drunk driving are charged with high premium surcharges ranging from 28% to 159%. In contrast, in South Korea, insurance premiums increase by only 9% for a first offense and 12% for a second offense.”
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