Drunk Mother Who Caused Fatal Crash at 178 km/h Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison in Appeal

A mother in her 30s who caused a fatal motorcycle crash while driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding with her two young daughters in the car has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in her appellate trial.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court sentenced 37-year-old A, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (resulting in death and fleeing the scene), to 12 years in prison, upholding the lower court ruling.

A was indicted for crashing into a motorcycle ahead of her while driving at a speed of 178 km/h under the influence of alcohol at a level warranting license revocation on a road in Hongseong-gun, South Chungcheong Province, at around 9:20 p.m. on January 4, resulting in the death of the 28-year-old motorcycle driver, B.

She was also charged with fleeing the scene without taking measures to rescue the victim, despite being aware that she had caused an accident.

A's young two daughters were in the car at the time of her reckless driving, and prosecutors also indicted her on child abuse charges, determining that A had inflicted emotional abuse on her daughters.

The first trial found all charges against her guilty, sentencing A to 12 years in prison and ordering her to complete an 80-hour child abuse treatment program.

Both A, who argued her sentence was too harsh, and prosecutors, who argued it was too lenient, appealed the decision, but the appellate court dismissed both appeals.

The appellate court stated, "The culpability is extremely heavy as she drove a vehicle significantly exceeding the speed limit while unable to drive normally due to alcohol consumption, struck a victim driving a two-wheeled vehicle, and fled without taking any rescue measures despite realizing it." The court added, "The degree of blameworthiness is high because she drove under the influence again despite a past record of receiving a fine for drunk driving, and her blood alcohol concentration at the time was also very tinggi (very high)."

The court further noted, "Severe punishment is inevitable as she has not been forgiven by the bereaved family to this day and engaged in drunk and reckless driving for a considerable period with her victimized children on board. However, since all circumstances favorable or unfavorable to the defendant were fully considered in the lower court, the arguments by both the prosecutor and the defendant regarding unfair sentencing are not accepted."

Reported by Son Hyeong-an | Video by Kim Na-on | Design by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.