As accidents make the news, older adults are encouraged to give up driving. Some say they can't.

A taxi is parked at Seoul Station in central Seoul on Aug. 13, 2024. [NEWS1]

 
As more older drivers have hit the road in Korea over the last decade, a surge in accidents has sparked renewed debate over how to manage road safety in an aging society, with persistent calls for them to voluntarily yield their licenses.
 
For some, however, it's simply not an option.
  

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“If I give up the wheel, I have no way to take care of my wife,” Jang Yong-won, 69, said. “My eyesight grows dimmer by the day, and my strength isn’t what it used to be, so hearing about major traffic accidents makes my heart sink. But hospital bills already weigh heavily on us, and I can’t afford taxi fares every time." 
 
In the parking lot of a general hospital in southern Seoul on Wednesday, Jang finished parking his car and pulled out a wheelchair. He carefully helped his 66-year-old wife from the back seat into the chair.
 
"In the end, I have no choice but to drive myself as carefully as I can," Jang said. 
 
That afternoon, at a restaurant in Gangdong District, eastern Seoul, a taxi driver surnamed Jeong, 71, finished his meal and returned to his car.
 
He leaned back in the driver’s seat and closed his eyes for a moment. Jeong stopped driving at night last year after he found himself getting tired easily, before deciding this year to limit even daytime driving to six hours.
 
“If I stay home, people treat me like an old man,” he said. “When I come out, I can talk with passengers and earn a living. For someone over 70 like me, holding the steering wheel is the only thread that still connects me to the world."




More older adults stay behind the wheel
 
Korea has entered a super-aged society, with one in five people now over 65.
 

A civil servant sorts returned driver’s licenses at the Suwon City Hall in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on July 3, 2024. [NEWS1]

 
The number of older drivers continues to rise, but more remain unable or unwilling to give up driving for personal and economic reasons.
 
Drivers aged 65 and older increased from 3.68 million in 2020 to 5.17 million in 2024, a jump of more than 40 percent, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
 
Over the same period, the share of older adults among all licensed drivers rose from 11 percent to 15 percent. At this pace, one in four drivers could be 65 or older by 2035.




Accidents involving older drivers rise
 
As the number of older drivers increases, traffic accidents involving them have climbed even faster. Overall traffic accidents in Korea declined from 232,000 cases in 2015 to 196,000 in 2024. Accidents involving drivers aged 65 or older, however, rose from 23,000 cases in 2015 to 42,369 in 2024.
 
Such drivers now account for 21.6 percent of all traffic accidents. These crashes also tend to carry higher risks. The fatality rate per accident stood at 1.3 percent in 2024, but accidents involving older adults behind the wheel recorded a higher rate of 1.8 percent.
 

A taxi is broken after crashing into a wall while driving on a road in Ulsan on March 6, 2025. [NEWS1]

 
In November of last year, a driver in his 60s plowed through Bucheon Jeil Market in Incheon with a 1-ton truck, killing four people and injuring 18. In January, a taxi driven by a man in his 70s crashed near Jonggak Station in central Seoul, killing one person and seriously injuring 15 others.
 
Experts cite age-related cognitive decline and slower reaction times in emergencies as major concerns.
 
A road-driving simulation test conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency showed that older adults took 2.28 seconds to respond to sudden pedestrian crossings, compared with 1.2 seconds for younger drivers.
 
Operational errors such as pedal misapplication also play a role, with drivers aged 65 or older accounting for 25.7 percent of such accidents between 2019 and 2024, according to Samsung Traffic Safety Research Institute. 






Incentives to surrender licenses fall short
 
In response, the government and local authorities have sought to reduce accidents involving older drivers. Most local governments offer transportation cards or local currency vouchers worth 100,000 to 500,000 won ($68 to $340) to older adults who voluntarily surrender their driver’s licenses.
 
The policy has had limited effect, however, as only about 2 percent of those eligible have given up their licenses.
 

A traffic accident occurs on a snow-covered road near Kyungpook National University in Daegu on Feb. 2. [NEWS1]

 
Many older adults say a one-time incentive does little to make up for losing the ability to get around, especially for regular hospital visits. For those who rely on driving to earn a living, giving up a license is often not an option.
 
“If I don’t drive myself, I can’t run my business,” said Lee Yong-su, 67, who runs a fruit and vegetable shop in Seongbuk District, central Seoul. “Auction markets open at different hours depending on the items, often late at night or early in the morning, and I can’t afford to hire a driver for a small shop, so driving myself is the only option.”




Experts call for flexible licensing and safety technology
 
Experts argue that policy should move beyond a blanket license surrender and instead focus on strengthening social infrastructure. Since physical ability varies widely among people of the same age, they say, policies should aim to preserve mobility through tailored restrictions and support.
 
The United States takes a different approach. Many states allow older drivers to keep their licenses under specific conditions, such as bans on night driving, restrictions on highway use or limits on driving within a set distance from home.
 

A vehicle sits on the curb after sliding onto the sidewalk in a traffic accident on an icy road in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on Nov. 27, 2024. [NEWS1]

 
Japan, which entered population aging earlier than Korea, introduced a dedicated license system in 2022 that allows seniors to drive only vehicles equipped with emergency braking and pedal misapplication prevention systems. The system enables older drivers with declining physical abilities to continue driving with technological assistance.
 
Pedal misapplication accidents fell by about 40 percent after the system’s introduction, according to Japanese police.
 
“It’s time to move away from uniform license surrender policies and adopt a more flexible licensing system alongside technology-based safety support,” said Jung Young-jae, a research fellow at the Seoul Institute. “Policymakers should also consider offering subsidies and insurance benefits for vehicles equipped with government-certified misapplication prevention devices."


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HWANG KUN-KANG [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]