Multiple car accidents involving older drivers have occurred in the Greater Seoul area recently, once again touching off debate about whether the state should regulate driving for senior citizens.
Officers at Bupyeong Seobu Police Station in Incheon are investigating a case where a car driven by a man in his 70s injured a young woman and her two-year-old daughter on the pavement on Tuesday.
Both victims are currently being treated at a local hospital, with the driver having sustained non-fatal injuries.
The driver reportedly told police he believes he made a mistake while driving, with officials suspecting he stepped on the gas instead of the brake pedal.
This follows an accident caused by a 67-year-old man last week in Bucheon, Gyeonggi province, when his truck rammed into a market, resulting in four deaths and 17 injuries as of yesterday.
Dashcam footage of the vehicle showed the driver mistakenly stepping on the gas.
Another car accident involving an aged driver occurred last week in Incheon.
In that incident, a woman in her 60s ran over and killed a woman in her 20s with an SUV at a crosswalk.
Officials at the Incheon Seobu Police Station are still investigating the exact cause of the accident.
The driver in the case had said she could not see clearly in front of her at the time of the accident.
In a quickly ageing society, a growing number of South Koreans aged 65 and older are driving.
Government data shows that car accidents caused by senior citizens have also increased.
According to the Korea Road Traffic Authority, there were 42,369 car accidents caused by those aged 65 and older in 2024, which was the highest figure ever and a sizeable increase from 31,072 in 2020.
The portion of car accidents involving senior citizens of all car accidents also went up from 14.8% to 21.6% in the same period – also the highest number since the government started keeping tally in 2005.
Regional governments across South Korea have introduced a system providing incentives to senior citizens who turn in their driver’s licence, and drivers aged 75 and above are mandated to renew their licence once every three years – more frequently than once every five years for those aged 65 and older and once every 10 years for those under 65.
With the proportion of senior citizens in the country surpassing the 20% mark in 2024 – officially making South Korea a superaged society by the United Nations’ definition – more people have been calling for measures to ensure safety with more aged people behind the wheel.
The government said last month that it is pushing for a law revision that would mandate the installation of the Acceleration Control for Pedal Error system in all new cars starting in January 2029. — The Korea Herald/ANN
