Korean Job Discussion Forums

deizio · Joined: 15 Jun 2007

Was walking on the road around Namsan the other night looking for somewhere to sit with a bit of a view and enjoy the goodies we'd just picked up in the Buy The Way near the Hilton. Turns out the cops were setting up a checkpoint near the entrance to Namsan Park so we climbed the steps overlooking the checkpoint and settled in.

3 collars in the first 20 minutes. After testing positive, drivers were pulled to the side, given something in a paper cup to rinse their mouths out and had to wait about 20 mins to be retested. The first guy caught was driven off in his own car with a cop at the wheel about 30 mins after being pulled over. Gave up after that, as we were walking away one of the other offenders was on his phone with a "this-isn't-good" expression on his face.

As a motorcyclist, it's nice to see the cops actually bothering.

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

The police have really started cracking down on drunk driving in the last 5 or so years. It used to be pretty bad, especially if the driver was older, then essentially he was let go. If you go back even further into the 90's and 80's, well say that it was practically normal to drive drunk (like Canada up to the mid-80's). Also ,now they usually they have one young cop with a more senior cop paired together.

Confused Canadian · Joined: 21 Jan 2003

Years ago, the drunk driving test used to be a paper cup!

You stopped your car at the checkpoint, the cop held a paper cup in front of your mouth, asked you to breath out, and then he smelled the cup. If he smelled alcohol, the pulled you over and I assume did some further testing.

The first time I saw that, my immediate reaction was, "How badly did that guy have to mess up to spend his evening smelling other people's breath?!?"

But yes, there has been a real crackdown as of late, and I think I remember reading the legal limit is going down to 0.03% by the end of the year. No excuse for driving drunk in this country, especially in the city, with taxis and 'daeri woonjeons' (people who will meet you and drive you and your car home, for a very reasonable price).