Supreme Court Upholds Drunk Parking Verdict

The Supreme Court has ruled that crossing just 30 centimeters of road boundary while parking under the influence of alcohol is categorized as drunk driving.

A man named Lee (45) with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.134 percent was arrested on charges of crossing about 30 centimeters of crosswalk between a parking lot and a road while parking his car (which would be legally drunk driving according to the Road Traffic Act) in the parking lot of a multi-purpose residential building in Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province last February. The second division of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice Kim Neung-hwan) said on April 10 that the original judgment of fining him five hundred thousand won would be upheld.

The court explained, “Roads need to secure a safe and smooth traffic flow as they are, in effect, open for traffic of an unspecified number of vehicles,” adding, “If a car moves to an area so that the front part touches upon the crossing boundary connected to the entrance of a parking lot, it is considered to be drunk driving.”

The Supreme Court judged that even if a part of a car enters a space that technically is a “road” under the influence of alcohol, it is categorized as drunk driving. In addition, as long as drunk driving is concerned, its rulings will be strict and that there will be no exceptions regarding individual circumstances.

On the same day, the first division of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice Kim Ji-hyung) sent a Kim (50) to the High Court of Busan, nullifying Kim’s original victory, who had his license cancelled by driving his car one meter with the blood alcohol concentration of 0.11 percent as he had to park for a poor driver. The court said, “Canceling the driver’s license is appropriate given the need to protect the public good.”

The Supreme Court ruled last February that depriving Mr. E, a truck driver with a third degree physical disability, of a driver’s license after he was found with a blood alcohol content of 0.146 percent was justifiable.

will71@donga.com