A man in his 20s who moved his car about 3 meters in a restaurant parking lot while heavily intoxicated received leniency in court.
According to Yonhap News and legal sources on the 10th, Chief Judge Jung Jong-gun of the Chuncheon District Court's Criminal Division 1 ruled to suspend the sentence of a 6 million won fine for A, 29, who was indicted on charges of drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act.
A, an employee of the Korea Expressway Corporation, was summarily indicted on charges of driving his car about 3 meters in a restaurant parking lot in Chuncheon on August 17 last year with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.137%.
A's side refused to accept the summary order and requested a formal trial. The argument was that "driving as defined under the Road Traffic Act means operating a vehicle on a road, but the location where the driving occurred on the day of the incident does not qualify as a road, so no crime is established."
The court rejected this argument, stating, "The Road Traffic Act stipulates that driving in places other than roads is also included in the concept of driving, and this is intended to prohibit drunk driving even in places that are not open spaces where an unspecified number of people or vehicles can pass."
However, the court cited in its sentencing reasons that A moved the car out of concern that an intoxicated acquaintance getting in and out of the vehicle might damage a car parked in the adjacent space, that the driving distance was short, and that he was a first-time offender.
"I Was Just Resting and the Wheels Moved"… 60-Something Who Drunk Drove Just 30 cm Ends Up
