Organizations that operate company vehicles or assign field staff whose work includes driving need to decide what standard they will use to check for alcohol before driving. At this point, the blood alcohol concentration limit in Korea's Road Traffic Act and the company's internal standards for driving and work assignment tend to end up in the same table. But even when the two refer to the same number, they answer different questions and their results are used in different scopes.
Blood alcohol concentration is the concentration of alcohol in the blood. The Road Traffic Act uses this concentration as the basis for prohibiting driving while intoxicated. A company standard, on the other hand, is an operating standard for deciding whether to give an employee that day's driving or hazardous work. So it is important not to turn a reading on a company breathalyzer screen or an internal approval result into proof that someone may legally drive.
The question the legal limit answers is whether driving is prohibited
Article 44(1) of the Road Traffic Act provides that no one may drive a motor vehicle, etc., a tram, or a bicycle while intoxicated. Article 44(4) defines the intoxicated state in which driving is prohibited as a blood alcohol concentration of 0.03 percent or higher. This is the driving prohibition standard set by law, not a basis for calculating how much one can drink or when one can drive after a certain amount of time.
The law allows police officers to conduct breath tests in cases such as when they deem it necessary for traffic safety and hazard prevention, and it separately provides that a driver who disputes the result may be retested, with consent, by methods such as a blood draw. That is why the legal figure should be understood in the context of the driving prohibition and the testing procedures the law sets, rather than lifted out and read as an approval value on company equipment.
Company standards are for dispatch and work assignment
The purpose of a company's pre-drive check procedure is not to settle an employee's legal penalty. It is closer to an operational decision to reduce risk during work by deciding whether to send the vehicle out, assign another driver, or postpone deployment to the site. Even if an internal standard is set lower than the legal limit or is run with a different display method, its result alone does not determine whether someone may legally drive.
In company rules, it is better to write out the actual actions rather than simply "no driving if the standard is exceeded." For example, you can set out which equipment or procedure is used for the check, who reviews the result, and how the vehicle and driver are handled when no result comes out or it is hard to read. This reduces cases where a site supervisor interprets a number at their own discretion to allow or block departure.
| Category | Question it answers | What happens after the result |
|---|---|---|
| Road Traffic Act standard | Did the person drive in a state prohibited by law? | Handled in the context of the driving prohibition standard and legal testing procedures |
| Company driving standard | Can this employee be assigned driving work? | Dispatch change, work on hold, alternative transport arranged |
| Company test result | What is the result of the check done in the set way? | Result review and follow-up under internal rules |
The three items in the table may be connected, but they do not mean the same conclusion. In particular, even if company equipment displays a value in a format similar to blood alcohol concentration, you cannot conclude that it is the result of a legal procedure such as a police breath test or blood draw. It is also appropriate not to create materials that plug internal results into a legal limits table to automatically tell people about penalties or license consequences.
Define how results will be used before looking at numbers
When reviewing company test values, first decide what you will decide with them. The guidance needed and the actions of the person in charge differ depending on whether the value is used for a pre-drive safety check or to judge whether a driver must be replaced. If you carry the legal limit of 0.03 percent over as is into a company approval setting or a target value for being fit to drive, it can give the false impression that driving is allowed below it.
Operating wording can be built around actions. For instance, you can provide that when the internal check has not been completed or the result is unclear, the employee does not start driving work and the dispatcher arranges alternative transport. This is not a judgment that replaces the legal standard; it is an operating method to avoid sending a company vehicle out before the check is finished.
In a hypothetical case, keep the legal violation question separate
As a hypothetical example, suppose an employee assigned to a morning delivery vehicle took the company test before driving, but the check result required by internal rules did not come out. The fact to observe here is not that the legal limit was exceeded but that the scheduled pre-drive check procedure was not completed. You cannot conclude from the company test result alone whether the Road Traffic Act was violated or what legal effects follow.
In this situation, you can interpret that the employee's driving work cannot start right away. Possible actions include assigning another driver, adjusting the delivery schedule, and arranging alternative transport. The right completion criterion is not to wait until a particular number appears, but to reach a state where the driver and dispatch responsibility for the vehicle are settled and the driving decision under internal procedures is complete.
Keep equipment and training materials separate from legal judgment
An interlock is a device that controls vehicle starting based on factors such as breath test results. When reviewing such devices or pre-drive breathalyzers, treat the equipment's display and start control function as the organization's means of managing vehicle operation. Having the equipment does not change the Road Traffic Act's driving prohibition standard or police testing procedures.
Safety training materials can accurately state that a blood alcohol concentration of 0.03 percent or higher is the legal driving prohibition standard. However, this must not be turned into a sentence like "you can drive below this number" or into a chart of when driving is allowed based on amount consumed and time elapsed. When explaining company standards as well, presenting what the dispatcher and the driver should each do when the check is not finished, rather than the number alone, reduces misunderstanding.
In the end, the legal standard defines the state in which driving on the road is prohibited, and the company standard is one the organization runs to assign driving work. Both can be explained in the same document, but company test results must not be treated as if they prove legal permission to drive or replace legal procedures. A standards table needs to set out separately the question each standard answers and the actual actions taken after the result.
Note: This article is general information, not legal advice on any individual case. For specific matters, consult a lawyer or other professional. Laws may be amended, so check the latest version at the Korea Law Information Center.
