The number of traffic accidents caused by drivers older than 65 has been on the rise in recent years. (image: DB Insurance Co.)
BUSAN, Apr. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 5,000 people over 65 years of age voluntarily turned in their driver’s license in Busan last year.
Ever since a new policy was first implemented allowing senior drivers to turn in their driver’s license, the number of fatal car accidents committed by senior drivers has dropped by 41 percent.
The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said on Tuesday that since the policy went into effect in July of last year, a total of 5,280 senior drivers have returned their licenses.
As of 2018, there were 1,983,000 driver’s license holders in Busan, 10.6 percent (210,900) of whom were over 65 years of age.
The new policy has helped reduce the number of fatal car accidents committed by senior drivers from 36 cases in 2017 down to 21 cases in 2018.
Considering that the total number of car accidents committed by senior drivers increased by 10.1 percent over the same period, the number of fatal car accidents has dropped significantly in relative terms.
For those who voluntarily turn in their driver’s license, the city government issues transportation cards charged with 100,000 won (US$87).
As more than 5,000 people turned in their license last year, authorities struggled to issue transportation cards as turnout was 10 times larger than initially expected.
Busan allotted 700 million won to provide transportation cards to senior drivers who turned in their driver’s license last year. More than 10,000 senior drivers are expected to turn in their driver’s license this year.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
