Elderly driver fatalities rise for third straight year

Last July, a 68-year-old man driving near Seoul City Hall Station in Jung-gu, central Seoul, hit pedestrians, leaving nine dead. In December of the same year, a driver in his 70s with mild cognitive impairment—a pre-dementia stage—drove into a market in Mokdong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, resulting in one death and 12 injuries.

South Korea transitioned into a super-aged country last year, with those aged 65 and above exceeding 20 percent of the population. There are an estimated five million elderly drivers nationwide. The National Police Agency reports that traffic fatalities involving elderly drivers reached 761 last year, marking the third consecutive annual increase (735 in 2022 and 745 in 2023). This upward trend runs counter to the overall decline in traffic deaths, which recorded a historic low of 2,521 last year.

Advanced countries have various systems in place to address elderly driver safety, such as allowing family members to request driving ability reviews for elderly drivers and mandating the installation of crash-preventive devices.


세종=김수연 기자 syeon@donga.com