The National Police Agency plans to review the driver's license system to help prevent traffic accidents by elderly drivers. In doing so, it should consider how to build a network among the police, local governments and health care professionals that can properly deal with problems involving elderly motorists.
As of the end of last year, 5.13 million people 75 or older had a driver's license — an increase of 2.55 million from a decade earlier. With the aging of the nation's population, their number is expected to reach 6.13 million by 2021. The annual figure of fatal traffic accidents fell from 6,100 in 2005 to 3,400 in 2016. But the number of such accidents caused by elderly drivers has remained at roughly 400 a year, meaning that they account for a growing portion of fatal accidents.
A revision of the Road Traffic Law went into effect in March, stipulating that if people 75 or older are judged to be at risk of suffering from senile dementia in a cognitive function test given when they renew their driver's license, they must undergo a medical examination by doctors. If they commit certain types of traffic violations, such as driving on the wrong side of the road, they also have to get a medical checkup. If they are diagnosed as suffering from dementia, their license will either be invalidated or suspended. The NPA expects that some 15,000 drivers annually will have their license revoked or suspended as a result of the amendment.