"I Only Had Two Drinks"...Why a License Was Revoked Even with a Suspension-Level BAC

Nationwide Drunk Driving Crackdown on the Night of the 31st Kicks Off Summer Vacation Season

One Caught at Seocho IC, Two at Yanghwa Bridge

Police to Conduct Weekly Nighttime Crackdowns Every Friday Through the End of the Month

"Keep blowing until I say 'stop.' More, more, more."

On the night of July 31, the Seoul Seocho Police Station conducted a drunk-driving crackdown on roads around Seocho IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jaehyun Park

Around 10 p.m. on July 31, at the entrances and exits of Seocho IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul. When the breathalyzer beeped, Baek, a driver in his 20s, looked visibly flustered. When the police officer asked how much he had drunk, Baek insisted, "I only had two 500cc glasses of beer," waving his hands in protest. Baek, having stepped out of the car as instructed by the officer, rinsed his mouth with water and then blew into the breathalyzer again. The reading on the screen was 0.045%. Under current law, a blood alcohol concentration of 0.03% or higher but less than 0.08% results in license suspension, while 0.08% or higher leads to license revocation.

Baek had consumed alcohol just six hours earlier, around 4 p.m. After drinking with friends in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, he was on his way home when he was stopped. Looking frustrated, he sighed, saying, "Since I drank in the early evening and it was just two beers, I thought I would be sober by now."

On July 31, the blood alcohol concentration of Baek, a driver in his 20s caught driving under the influence on the roads around Seocho IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul, was measured at 0.045%. Photo by Jaehyun Park

"There is a prior record of drunk driving. Even a suspension-level reading will result in license revocation."

Although Baek's reading would normally result in a suspension, his license is set to be revoked due to a previous drunk driving offense found on record. According to current law, if someone is caught drunk driving again, the license will be revoked regardless of the blood alcohol level.

On this night, the Seoul Seocho Police Station deployed 14 officers and 5 patrol cars for the crackdown. As the hours grew later and more drivers were returning home after social gatherings, the police activity became even more intense. There were some incidents as well. One driver, startled by the breathalyzer warning, got out of the car, but a retest showed no evidence of alcohol consumption. It was a temporary error. A police official explained, "Sometimes mouthwash or hand sanitizers containing alcohol can cause the sensor to react temporarily."

On the same night, at Yanghwa Bridge in Mapo-gu, Seoul, where a drunk-driving crackdown began at 9 p.m., a woman in her 30s was caught. Her blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.116%, far exceeding the threshold for license revocation. She reported having split two bottles of soju with a friend in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, and was heading to Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, via Seoul. She had already been driving for about an hour.

On the night of July 31, the Seoul Seocho Police Station conducted a drunk driving crackdown on the roads around Seocho IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jaehyun Park

The National Police Agency has launched a nationwide drunk-driving crackdown as the summer holiday season reaches its peak. With a sharp increase in outdoor activities and travel to vacation spots expected, the aim is to proactively prevent drunk driving by targeting Friday nights right before the weekend, when many are driving to vacation destinations in a festive mood. During the approximately two-hour operation by the Seocho Police Station and Mapo Police Station in Seoul on this night, a total of three drivers were caught.

The police selected 733 locations across the country, including major vacation spots and nightlife districts where drunk driving is likely to occur, mobilizing the maximum available workforce (4,225 personnel and 1,580 patrol cars), including traffic officers and local police. In Seoul alone, crackdowns were conducted at up to 50 locations, with 222 officers and 83 patrol cars deployed. To maximize effectiveness, the police used mobile (spot-type) crackdowns, suddenly changing locations at intervals.

The police plan to conduct nationwide crackdowns every Friday until the 31st. In addition, each provincial and regional police agency will conduct ad-hoc crackdowns twice a week. A police official emphasized, "Drunk driving threatens not only the lives of drivers and others, but also families. No matter how festive the mood, you must never get behind the wheel, even for a moment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.