Korea Insurance Research Institute: "Punishment for Drunk Driving Passengers Should Be Strengthened Like in Japan"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

To reduce drunk driving accidents, there has been a suggestion to strengthen the punishment for passengers. Japan imposes responsibility on passengers who aid and abet drunk driving accidents, and this is evaluated as contributing to the reduction of drunk driving deaths and injury accidents.

Jeon Yong-sik, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Insurance Research Institute, made this suggestion in a report titled "The Influence and Implications of Passengers on Drunk Driving Accidents" on the 25th.

Although South Korea already punishes passengers involved in drunk driving under criminal law, it is limited to cases where there is active instigation or assistance. Jeon explained, "Even if the passenger's intent is not recognized, riding in a drunk driver's vehicle can promote or facilitate drunk driving, and riding with others has a strong linear relationship with the occurrence of drunk driving accidents and fatal accidents. Therefore, there is a need to punish the act of riding in a drunk driver's vehicle itself."

This claim is supported statistically. Among automobile insurance claims including the insured themselves, the proportion of accidents involving other passengers has decreased from 2001 to 2023, while the proportion of accidents occurring while driving alone has increased. However, the trends of passenger accident rates and drunk driving accident rates are similar, and there is a positive linear relationship between the rates of accidents with other passengers and drunk driving accidents. This means that when other passengers are present, the likelihood of drunk driving is higher.

Furthermore, the study found a positive linear relationship between the trend of accidents involving other passengers and the rate of drunk driving recidivism. Jeon commented, "This raises suspicion that passengers may be aiding and abetting drunk driving."

Accordingly, there is a need to strengthen punishment for passengers involved in drunk driving, similar to Japan. In Japan, following the 2007 amendment to the Road Traffic Act, those who provide vehicles, passengers, and providers of alcoholic beverages face up to three years imprisonment or fines up to 5 million yen when caught for drunk driving. In the eight years before the 2007 amendment, the average number of drunk driving fatal accidents was 942, but after the amendment until 2022, the average number of fatal accidents decreased to 220.

Jeon stated, "Japan is evaluated to have strengthened social awareness of drunk driving after the June 2007 legal amendment regarding passenger punishment, but South Korea still shows a high recidivism rate. It is necessary to clarify the concept of aiding and abetting drunk driving and to strengthen punishment for passengers to the same level as drunk drivers to raise awareness and enhance regulations for accident prevention."