위드마크 공식의 법적 성질과 적용 범위

Abstract

There are a lot of drunk-driving cases in which the police did not measure the BAC(Blood Alcohol Concentration). In order to punish the drivers or cancel or suspend their driver's licenses, Korean Supreme Court allowed the estimation of BAC by the use of Widmark Equation under the limited situations. Widmark Equation considers several factors such as gender, weight, consumed alcohol amount, and the time of consumption and drive. In 1931, Widmark insisted that there is the following relation between the total amount of alcohol in the organism and that in the blood: a=cpr. By adding the concept of time and other scholars' study to the Equation, it is expressed presently as 'C=a×0.7/(p×r)-b×t'. It is not a complete law, because it does not include drinking speed, consumed food, race and age of the drinker, weather and the other specific conditions which can affect the BAC. Thus, the estimation of BAC via the Equation must be done in favor of the accused. The most important thing in applying the Widmark Equation to the case is that it is available only on and after the BAC climes on the highest peak of the BAC curve. Its relatively irregular course due to random changes in absorption rate and the time for the appearance of diffusional equilibrium give no clear picture of the spread and conversion of alcohol in the organism. Accordingly, if the driver's BAC was not on the highest point when he was driving after drink, the Equation cannot be applied to the driver's case by the back calculation method.