An earlier proposal for conditional driving licences for seniors had met with strong public backlash.
SEOUL - A deadly accident on the night of July 1 which saw a car crashing into pedestrians at a busy central Seoul intersection has reignited a debate about the elderly driving in South Korea.for nearly 200m, subsequently hitting other vehicles before mounting the pavement and ramming into pedestrians waiting to cross the road.
The proposal was mooted as road accidents involving drivers aged 65 and older have been increasing annually since 2020, hitting a record high of 39,614 cases in 2023, up from 31,072 in 2020, an increase of 27.5 per cent. With South Korea’s rapidly ageing population, the number of senior drivers is projected to increase from the current 4.74 million to 7.25 million by 2030.Some called for detailed medical examinations for drivers over a certain age to determine their driving capabilities, while others said there was a need to tighten licence revalidation guidelines for senior drivers.
Office worker Sung Hye-jin, whose company is located in the Seoul City Hall area, was shocked at the news of the accident, telling The Straits Times that it made her even more adamant that there should be more stringent guidelines for senior drivers. Netizen Baek Yong-dam said that while it is true that reflexes may be dulled from age, it was unfair to accuse elderly drivers of bad driving, and suggested imposing mandatory detailed medical examinations on drivers above a certain age.
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