Unlicensed Driving Traffic Accidents Reach 5,000 Annually... Punishments Are Lenient

An Average of About 7,000 Injured Annually... 696 Deaths Over 5 Years
Many Sentenced to Less Than 10 Months in Prison... Probation and Fines Also Imposed

On the 3rd, a driver in their 20s who caused an 8-car pileup while driving without a license in the heart of Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was apprehended by the police. Mr. A is accused of driving without a license on lanes 1 to 3 of Teheran-ro near Gangnam Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, hitting 7 vehicles and driving in the wrong direction. As a result of this accident, 9 people were injured, and 2 of them were transported to the hospital.

It has been revealed that traffic accidents caused by unlicensed drivers exceed 5,000 cases annually on average. More than 7,000 injuries have occurred due to these accidents, but punishments for unlicensed drivers remain minimal, highlighting the urgent need for stricter regulations.

According to the Korea Road Traffic Authority on the 5th, from 2019 to last year, a total of 25,341 traffic accidents caused by unlicensed drivers were recorded. This averages about 5,068 cases per year. Looking at the yearly figures, unlicensed driving accidents numbered 5,177 and 5,307 in 2019 and 2020 respectively, slightly decreased to 4,626 in 2021, but rebounded to over 5,000 in the following year, with 5,165 accidents occurring in 2023.

Over the past five years, the number of deaths and injuries caused by unlicensed driving accidents were 696 and 35,169 respectively. This means that annually, 139 people lose their lives and 7,033 are injured due to unlicensed driving accidents. Despite thousands of such accidents occurring each year, the level of punishment remains minimal. If the driver was not separately charged with drunk driving at the time of the accident, the penalty for unlicensed driving is limited to a maximum of one year imprisonment or a fine of up to 3 million KRW.

An analysis by Asia Economy of 14 first-instance court rulings on defendants charged solely with unlicensed driving found that 9 cases resulted in actual imprisonment of less than 10 months. The remaining cases included 3 suspended prison sentences and 2 fines of 3 million KRW, indicating that the severity of punishment was not high.

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Due to the light severity of punishments, some drivers repeatedly drive without a license despite having prior convictions. In 2021, the Jeonju District Court sentenced defendant Mr. A, who had been punished four times for unlicensed driving between 2000 and 2018, to one year in prison with a two-year probation. Mr. A was prosecuted again in 2020 for driving a 1-ton cargo truck without a license in Gochang-gun, Jeollabuk-do. In August, the Wonju branch of the Chuncheon District Court sentenced defendant Mr. B to four months in prison for driving without a license during his probation period. Mr. B was confirmed to have been punished three times for unlicensed driving and had a history of causing a fatal traffic accident.

Experts point out that it is difficult to expect the eradication of unlicensed driving solely through lenient punishments by the courts. Professor Lee Yun-ho of Dongguk University's Department of Police Administration emphasized, "Even though the maximum sentence for unlicensed driving is one year imprisonment, most defendants receive suspended sentences or actual imprisonment of less than one year. When the legal responsibility imposed on defendants is light, it does not have a significant effect in deterring the motive for the crime."