A reminder to please do not drink and drive in Korea or wherever you may be!

[Mlatte]

This is a reminder for foreigners to please do not drink and drive while in Korea, or wherever you may be.  Sadly, this past weekend, an English teacher in Korea was struck in a crosswalk and killed by a drunk driver.  Also, this is a different country and rules are often significantly different from those abroad.  Thanks for your attention. 
       

[adamwatch]

It's not just  the drunks, I got hit on a zebra crossing by a guy with a cig in one hand and a mobile in the other!  And foreigners say Korea is safe!

Adam

[JJ72]

This is a reminder for foreigners to please do not drink and drive while in Korea, or wherever you may be.  Sadly, this past weekend, an English teacher in Korea was struck in a crosswalk and killed by a drunk driver.  Also, this is a different country and rules are often significantly different from those abroad.  Thanks for your attention. 
     

OMG 
Was the driver Korean or Western? What about the teacher?
That is terrible.
Is there a news link for this??

[runthegauntlet]

This is a reminder for foreigners to please do not drink and drive while in Korea, or wherever you may be.  Sadly, this past weekend, an English teacher in Korea was struck in a crosswalk and killed by a drunk driver.  Also, this is a different country and rules are often significantly different from those abroad.  Thanks for your attention. 
     

Was the drunk driver foreign?

Then why is this post (as unfortunate as the incident is) directed at us?

[S.Lee]

my condolences....

my korean friends have told me that drinking and driving is severely punished here...

[justanotherwaygook]

my condolences....

my korean friends have told me that drinking and driving is severely punished here...

License suspension for 3 months is severe punishment?

[runthegauntlet]

.especially being in a foreign country, as laws can be applied differently toward foreigners.

How?

[madison79]

my condolences....

my korean friends have told me that drinking and driving is severely punished here...

License suspension for 3 months is severe punishment?

The limit is .05 as well.  I'm from Wisconsin and it's .08 so that has caused problems too.  Sorry to hear about your friend. 

[conorsean]

my condolences....

my korean friends have told me that drinking and driving is severely punished here...

My co-teacher told me his sister-in-law was involved in a crash. The other driver was just out of prison, was drunk and had taken his friend's car without permission and without a valid license. The man was fined 3 million won. That might not reflect every case but it definitely makes me question how seriously people get dealt with for drink driving.

[Callie144]

Really sorry to hear that. Guess while crossing the road you just have to be careful just like in any other country.

[runthegauntlet]

My co-teacher told me his sister-in-law was involved in a crash. The other driver was just out of prison, was drunk and had taken his friend's car without permission and without a valid license. The man was fined 3 million won. That might not reflect every case but it definitely makes me question how seriously people get dealt with for drink driving.

Wow. That's just obscene.

I've noticed way more check points on the road in the last six months than in previous years. I've even seen them during the day on the weekends near wedding halls and was told it's because so many people drink too much at the wedding reception and then drive home.

Maybe they're starting to crack down on it a little bit more...

[Brit_1]

Why do people always need a tragic excuse to make this point?

I'm afraid that people will either do it or they won't.

If you drink and drive you are a scumbag. End of. Anyone who has lost someone to this will understand, but you can't reason with people and tragic circumstances like this only jolt this reaction from people who are directly associated with the victims. I echo this posters sentiments, however I feel that this is a life lesson everyone should already have learnt and doubt very much that this comment will ever make the slightest bit of difference.

[Denevius]

was the drunk driver a foreigner?

[boosh77]

Not drinking and driving goes without saying but I think it's worth reminding people to be careful on crosswalks. It seems to me the rule is: if they think there is no one there, they can continue to drive through the crossings regardless of the red light. Often drivers are blinded to pedestrians by other cars -and i've been very nearly knocked over a number of times. I'm sure if they're drunk this 'judgement' suddenly becomes incredibly dangerous. 

[dmhr25]

Unfortunately, we need to be extremely careful anywhere we are walking outside.  My husband was walking on the sidewalk and was hit by a car on Friday night.  Yes, walking on the sidewalk.  Luckily, the car was not going too fast, but fast enough my husband couldn't get out of the way (the car came up behind him - no warning honk or anything).  He wasn't hurt - just a little sore.  We've learned there isn't much you can do with these kind of things, so he didn't call the police or anything.  (For example, we've tried calling 119 when a drunk old Korean man was trying to break into our apartment at 2:30 a.m. one morning and there was not English speakers, so we just had to wait it out.)

I live in Incheon and we have seen many cars driving on the sidewalk in my neighborhood.  My only explanation is that there is some construction and driving on the sidewalk tends to be a little faster than driving on the regular roads...

I'm so sorry this happened to your friend.  It is such a needless shame.

[S.Lee]

my condolences....

my korean friends have told me that drinking and driving is severely punished here...

License suspension for 3 months is severe punishment?

i dont know how much your fines are back home but ~$3000 and a 3month suspension for blowing a 0.05 is pretty severe for me.

I'm not talking about the manslaughter  just the DUI.

[negacoca]

Also, please do not text and drive.  That is every bit as dangerous as drinking and driving, but it's way more common than drinking and driving.

[runthegauntlet]

my condolences....

my korean friends have told me that drinking and driving is severely punished here...

License suspension for 3 months is severe punishment?

i dont know how much your fines are back home but ~$3000 and a 3month suspension for blowing a 0.05 is pretty severe for me.

I'm not talking about the manslaughter  just the DUI.

Back home for .08 we have 2 days to 11 months in jail (over .2 is a min. mandatory 7 day jail sentence),  1 year suspended license, must participate in DUI class, $350-1500 fine, and you might have to get one of those ignition things put on when you get your license back which will cost around $800 for a year.

That's the first DUI offense. It progresses quite quickly after that (2nd time is a min. 45 days in jail)

[conorsean]

The UK are super-serious when it comes to drink-driving. There was a plan to make a zero-tolerance drink driving limit (anything over 0 was illegal) until the absurdity of it was pointed out (people drinking altar wine at mass or someone who ate a chocolate liqueur would be in danger of being arrested). My opinion would be that anything between 0.05 and 0.1 should be left to the discretion of the arresting officer. Anything above that should be dealt with severely.

I don't believe that someone who is caught flat out drunk behind the wheel without harming someone should get off any less than someone who did. It seems to me like rewarding someone for being lucky...