"Culture Tolerant of Drunk Driving Has Not Changed"
"Will Watch to See If Offenders Are Properly Punished"
The delivery riders' union submitted a petition to the prosecution demanding severe punishment for a 20-year-old club DJ who killed a rider while driving under the influence in Gangnam. The Rider Union branch of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union (KPTU) held a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the morning of the 13th, stating, "Although laws regarding drunk driving accidents have been strengthened, punishments remain lenient, and the driving culture tolerant of drinking has not changed," and added, "We will closely monitor whether the perpetrator in this case is properly punished."
Earlier, in the early hours of the 3rd, Club DJ A, who was driving a Mercedes-Benz under the influence in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, is under investigation after being handed over to the prosecution on charges of hitting and killing a rider.
A delivery rider in a restaurant district in Mapo-gu, Seoul. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Goo Gyo-hyun, chairman of the Rider Union, emphasized, "Delivery workers' workplace is the road," and said, "For many workers such as freight, parcel, and substitute drivers working on the road, drunk driving by other vehicles is like someone wielding a weapon and rampaging in my workplace."
The Rider Union submitted 1,500 petitions from riders and citizens demanding severe punishment for Mr. A to the prosecution on the same day. They also disclosed the results of an urgent survey on 'drunk driving accident experiences' conducted on 40 riders during the recent holiday period. More than 30% of respondents said they had either been directly involved in an accident caused by a drunk driver or had heard about accidents involving fellow riders.
Rider Union Submits Petition Urging Strict Punishment for Drunk Driving Offenders [Image Source=Yonhap News]
About 60% of respondents reported having witnessed drunk drivers during work, mostly seeing drivers who were heavily intoxicated swerving ('zigzagging'), falling asleep on the road, or staggering out of bars and grabbing the steering wheel. One rider reportedly suffered trauma after being hit by a drunk driver in the early morning of December 17 last year, being thrown into the air and falling to the ground.
The Rider Union also plans to form a 'Rider Drunk Driving Monitoring Team' to systematically monitor drunk driving. Jeon Seong-bae, head of the Rider Safety Guardians, said, "From June to November last year, 20 union members organized 'Safety Guardians' and reported over 500 cases of road damage and hazardous materials, rescued three people, and reported one drunk driving case," adding, "This year, we will significantly expand our activities to monitor road hazards such as drunk driving throughout Seoul."
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