Seoul car crash that left 9 dead reignites debate on senior drivers

Accident involving 68-year-old driver leads to renewed calls for more stringent rules

- Wendy Teo

SEOUL A deadly accident on the night of July 1 which saw a car crashing into pedestrians at a busy central Seoul intersection has reignited a debate about the elderly driving in South Korea.

A 68-year-old driver apparently lost control of his car and drove in the wrong direction for nearly 200m, subsequently hitting other vehicles before mounting the pavement and ramming into pedestrians waiting to cross the road.

The accident left nine dead and four injured, and is one of Seoul's worst traffic accidents in recent history.

Back in May, the Seoul authorities proposed a conditional driver's licence that would restrict highway access and night-time driving for those aged 65 and above, depending on their driving capabilities.

The proposal was mooted as road accidents involving drivers aged 65 and older have been increasing annually since 2020, hitting a record high of 39,614 cases in 2023, up from 31,072 in 2020, an increase of 27.5 per cent.

At that time, strong backlash about age discrimination forced the authorities to clarify that the policy was not targeting "senior drivers" of any particular age group, but that it was aimed at "high-risk drivers" deemed to pose a greater traffic hazard due to a decline in their cognitive and physical conditions.

The authorities then pledged to do a thorough public survey before deciding whether to proceed with the plan in 2025.