January 9, 2026
SEOUL – The investigation into a deadly January traffic accident in central Seoul is sharpening attention on how South Korea regulates older drivers, amid mounting evidence that traffic fatalities involving seniors are rising faster than overall accidents.
Police are investigating a taxi driver in his late 70s for allegedly driving onto a sidewalk near Jonggak Station in one of Seoul’s busiest districts during the evening rush hour on Jan. 2. One pedestrian was killed and 14 others were injured.
While the exact cause of the crash has yet to be determined as of Thursday, authorities have ruled out alcohol or drug use. Investigators are examining whether the accident involved pedal misapplication or age-related factors affecting driving ability.
The incident has revived public concern over older driver safety, recalling another fatal crash in July 2024 near Seoul’s City Hall Station, where a 69-year-old driver plowed onto a sidewalk, killing nine pedestrians.
The number of older drivers has increased rapidly as Korea’s population ages.
According to data from the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, traffic accidents involving drivers aged 65 and older rose from 31,072 in 2020 to 42,369 in 2024.
Their share of all traffic accidents increased from 14.8 percent to 21.5 percent over the same period.
While the rise partly reflects demographic change, accidents involving older drivers have consistently recorded the highest fatality rate among all age groups, remaining more than 40 percent higher than that of the second-highest age group throughout the 2020-2024 period.
In 2024 alone, 761 people — about 30 percent of all traffic fatalities — were killed in accidents caused by drivers aged 65 and older, exceeding their share of total accidents.
Calls for stronger safety measures have grown louder, with critics pointing to possible declines in reaction time and cognitive recognition among older drivers.
However, efforts to encourage voluntary license returns have seen limited success.
Seoul offers transportation credits worth 200,000 won ($138) to residents aged 70 and older who surrender their driver’s licenses. Incheon, Daegu and other regions provide similar incentives, including taxi vouchers.
Despite these efforts, the license return rate among drivers aged 65 and older has remained just above 2 percent since 2020, according to National Assembly data.
Analysts attribute the reluctance largely to continued economic activity among seniors and insufficient public income support.
Korea’s income poverty rate for people aged 65 and older stood at 39.7 percent in 2023, about double the OECD average.
A man surnamed Kang said his parents, who live in a rural area on Jeju Island, continue to drive in their eighties because a car is essential for daily life.
“They want to keep working to earn income and receive agricultural subsidies, and a vehicle is necessary not only to reach their farms but also to travel into town,” he said.
Jeju provides older residents with taxi subsidies of up to 168,000 won a year, but Kang said the support is insufficient to meet their mobility needs.
Experts caution against blanket age limits, arguing instead for more targeted approaches.
“We can learn from Japan, which entered an aging society earlier than Korea,” said Lee Ho-geun, a professor of automotive engineering at Daeduk University.
“Japan requires vehicles to be equipped with systems that prevent accidental acceleration instead of braking. Korea should adopt similar measures, even if subsidies are needed.”
Lee also proposed using the country’s national health insurance as a framework for health-based assessments of driving eligibility beyond age-based renewal tests.
“Given Korea’s well-established national health insurance system, it could be used to more precisely assess individuals’ driving safety,” he added.
“Based on those assessments, authorities could consider introducing conditional licenses, such as allowing driving only during daytime hours or on certain roads.”
Currently, Korea relies largely on periodic license renewal to assess driving eligibility, with mandatory cognitive screening applied only to drivers aged 75 and older every three years.