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| Over 10,000 senior drivers in Seoul have returned their license since March in a city government's program to reduce traffic accidents caused by elderly drivers. / Gettyimagesbank |
According to the city, 10,183 people aged 70 or older decided to stop driving and have returned their licenses since March when the city government launched the program.
In return, the city gives them a 100,000 won ($85) public transport card.
The city initially expected around 1,000 people to follow the program, but more than 3,000 applied within two weeks of its launch. So the city expanded the budget for it.
The figure is a huge increase considering that only 1,387 out of about 630,000 drivers aged 65 or older in Seoul returned their licenses last year.
With the nation's population aging, the number of accidents caused by elderly drivers has jumped.
In Seoul alone, the number more than doubled from 13,662 in 2014 to 30,550 last year, according to the Seoul Institute. So the ratio of accidents involving elderly drivers rose from 6.8 percent to 14 percent during the period.
To cope with the growing number of accidents involving elderly drivers, police are considering "conditional" licenses for senior citizens.
Korean National Police Agency Commissioner General Min Gab-ryong said last week that police were considering restricting driving on expressways or at night for elderly drivers who fail to pass a capability test.
"Age cannot be the absolute standard to decide license cancelation," Min said in a written answer to reporters' questions. "We are considering allowing conditional driving ― such as limiting driving on highways or permitting driving only when they install specific devices in the car to aid driving ― after tests."
