"After one or two glasses of champagne I drove because home was close...", "I drank at a restaurant about 300m from home..."
Another drunk driving warning has sounded in the entertainment world. Pop artist Nancy Lang and broadcaster Lee Hyuk-jae were both caught for drunk driving. What makes the two stars' drunk driving more painful are their careless excuses, and considering that many entertainers have fallen into ruin because of drunk driving, such precedents raise concerns that moral laxity and a lack of safety awareness may be spreading across the entertainment world.
On the 8th, Nancy Lang's drunk driving arrest was confirmed. The Gangnam Police Station in Seoul said it has booked Nancy Lang on charges of drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act. According to the police, Nancy Lang was arrested around 3:45 a.m. driving under the influence in the Gangnam-daero area after a report prompted officers to respond. At the time, Nancy Lang's blood alcohol concentration was reported to be at a level warranting license revocation. However, it was reported that there were no casualties or property damage resulting from the drunk driving.
In response, Nancy Lang vehemently denied, saying, "I was not arrested and taken to the police station at dawn today, and I was not detained or booked at the police station. I returned home safely with the help of an acquaintance," while admitting to drunk driving by saying, "At an acquaintance's birthday gathering yesterday I had one or two glasses of champagne and then, because my home was close, I took the wheel. It was a careless judgment."
A day later on the 9th, Lee Hyuk-jae was caught for drunk driving. The Yeonsu Police Station is investigating Lee Hyuk-jae without detention on charges of drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act. Lee Hyuk-jae is accused of driving while intoxicated around 10 p.m. the previous night on a road in Songdo-dong, Yeonsu District, Incheon, and hitting a motorcycle that was waiting at a signal. The motorcyclist reported the accident to the police, and Lee Hyuk-jae's blood alcohol concentration at the time was reported to be at the license suspension level, between 0.03% and less than 0.08%.
Through multiple media outlets, Lee Hyuk-jae said that at the time of the accident he had had two shots of bomb cocktails and explained, "I drank at a restaurant about 300m from home. I left the table and returned home, but I should have taken a designated driver. Because the distance was short, I thought, 'I didn't drink much, let's go carefully.'" He added, "I was waiting at the intersection for a signal and there was clearly no one, but a delivery motorcyclist seemed to have stopped in front of me to make a left turn. In that instant I noticed, but my phone happened to fall onto the passenger seat. I reached for it but barely missed; my foot came off the brake slightly, the car rolled forward and there was a minor collision."
Nancy Lang and Lee Hyuk-jae appeared to be downplaying their wrongdoing by saying they drank little and drove only a short distance. But no matter how short the distance, driving after drinking does not change. Viewing drunk driving as potential murder, netizens expressed great disappointment at the two people's careless thinking and attitudes.
Looking at cases such as Shin Hye-sung, Kwak Do-won and Lizzy, drunk driving is regarded as a serious crime that can ruin a person's career, harm numerous staff and colleagues, and even take the lives of innocent citizens. To dismiss this grave reality with a light phrase like "it was careless" and minimize the wrongdoing raises suspicion that moral laxity may be permeating the entertainment world as a whole.
Photo = OSEN DB, provided by KBS
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