A woman in her 30s who drove at speeds of up to 178 kilometers per hour while heavily intoxicated with her two young daughters in the car, killing a motorcyclist, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Presiding Judge Lim Hwi-jae of the Hongseong Branch of the Daejeon District Court sentenced A, 38, to 12 years in prison on the 10th on charges of fleeing after causing death and failing to take action following an accident under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, drunk driving, and child abuse under the Child Welfare Act.
The court also ordered A to complete an 80-hour child abuse treatment program.
A is accused of driving a passenger car while intoxicated on a road in Hongbuk-eup, Hongseong-gun, South Chungcheong Province, at around 9:20 p.m. this past January, striking a motorcycle ahead of her and killing its rider, B, who was in his 20s.
At the time, A was traveling at 178 kilometers per hour on a road with a speed limit of 60 kilometers per hour, exceeding the limit by 118 kilometers per hour.
A's blood alcohol level was 0.211%, far above the threshold for license revocation. Her two daughters, aged 6 and 4, were also in the vehicle.
Prosecutors applied the child abuse charge, viewing A's act of driving at excessive speed while heavily intoxicated and endangering her children as emotional abuse.
The victim, B, was a prospective groom preparing for marriage, and the investigation found he was returning home from work when the accident occurred.
Immediately after the crash, A checked B's condition but did not report the incident or take any rescue measures. Instead, she was found to have cursed at the victim and witnesses, making remarks that shifted blame, such as "Isn't this all because of you?" and "My kids were startled."
When a police car and ambulance arrived at the scene, A walked away without a word. An accident witness then spotted A from behind and alerted police, leading to a pursuit.
In court, A claimed that she was so heavily intoxicated that she did not realize the victim had died and that she had no intention of fleeing. The court, however, did not accept this argument.
"Looking at A's overall behavior, including conversing with witnesses and others at the scene immediately after the accident, it is recognized that she was fully aware that a traffic accident had occurred," the court said. "When a police car and ambulance arrived, A walked away from the scene without a word, and an accident witness spotted A from behind and tipped off police, leading to a pursuit."
The court added in explaining the sentence, "She drove recklessly while heavily intoxicated, failed to take action even though she could have tended to the victim's condition, and instead shifted her own responsibility onto others, making the blameworthiness extremely high. In particular, despite her duty to protect her children, she drove recklessly while heavily intoxicated, causing considerable harm to her children's mental health and development, which is also a serious crime."
