“I Thought I’d Sobered Up Completely” ... Drivers Caught One After Another for Morning-After Drunk Driving in School Zone on the School Run [On-the-Scene Report]

[Financial News]“I only had two beers last night. I thought I’d be fine.” On the morning of the 22nd, in the school zone in front of Shinga Elementary School in Songpa-gu, Seoul, parents who had gotten behind the wheel to take their children to school were caught one after another in drunk-driving checks because of alcohol they had consumed the previous day. The drivers thought they had sobered up, but their blood alcohol levels were all above the threshold for license suspension. The successive cases of morning-after drunk driving during the busy school commute raised concerns about traffic safety in school zones.
At 8:38 a.m. that day, when a police breathalyzer reacted in front of Shinga Elementary School, Driver A, a woman in her 40s, could not hide her alarm. Immediately after being stopped, she claimed, “I only drank a beverage in the car; I didn’t drink alcohol,” but after police questioned her repeatedly, she admitted that she had drunk beer the night before. Before the evidentiary test, A asked for more time, saying, “I’ll take the test in five minutes.” While waiting, she was also seen repeatedly taking deep breaths.
A was confirmed to have driven about 1 km that morning to take her child to school. Her final blood alcohol level was 0.040%, enough to warrant license suspension. “I drank two beers until 10 p.m. yesterday and went to bed at 1 a.m.,” A said. “I still thought I’d be fine.”

Just 10 minutes later, a similar situation unfolded at a checkpoint about 100 meters away. Driver B, a man estimated to be in his 40s, was caught in a drunk-driving check while returning home after taking his child to school. B’s blood alcohol level was 0.034%, also enough to warrant license suspension.
“I drank a bottle of wine until 1 a.m. this morning,” B said. “I didn’t feel hungover and even had coffee in the morning, so I didn’t think I’d get caught.”
Both drivers had drunk the previous night but thought they would have no problem driving the next morning. However, tests confirmed alcohol remained in their systems, making both subject to license suspension.
Morning-after drunk driving is dangerous because alcohol may remain in a driver’s system even if they feel they have sobered up. It has been pointed out that drivers should not decide they are fit to drive simply because they have no hangover symptoms.
Go Jun-ho, a professor at Hanyang University’s Graduate School of Urban Studies, said, “Alcohol consumed the previous day can affect you into the next morning, so it is dangerous for drivers to decide for themselves that they have sobered up. Children often behave unpredictably in school zones during the school commute, requiring quick judgment and response, so the risk of an accident can increase even if only a small amount of alcohol remains.”
That day, the Seoul Songpa Police Station conducted an intensive crackdown on drunk driving and traffic violations in the school zone in front of Shinga Elementary School from 8 to 9 a.m. About 10 traffic personnel, including police officers, and five police cars were deployed.
Police used two of the three one-way lanes in front of the school to check passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles for alcohol use. Every vehicle passing through the checkpoint lanes, except city buses, was screened with a breathalyzer. Officers asked drivers to roll down their windows and checked whether they had been drinking; if the device reacted, they conducted additional checks followed by an evidentiary test.
A police official at the scene explained, “We conduct regular checks near school zones, including around daycare centers and elementary schools. We launched an intensive crackdown today as well, in line with that effort.”

Meanwhile, during the one-hour crackdown that day, two drivers whose blood alcohol levels were high enough to warrant license suspension were caught. Police also recorded 10 traffic violations and issued guidance in seven cases.
Lee Gyeong-jin, head of the traffic division at the Seoul Songpa Police Station, stressed, “School zones are places where children may suddenly behave unpredictably, so drivers need to take particular care at all times. If people drive after drinking the previous day while they have not fully sobered up, during the time children are going to school, the children may be put at even greater risk.”
Lee added, “This crackdown is intended to raise awareness of these risks and prevent drunk driving in school zones. We plan to continue enforcement through winter break.”
[email protected] Lee Dong-hyuk Reporter