Police Support Activation of Voluntary License Surrender for Elderly Drivers

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The police are collaborating with local governments to promote the voluntary surrender of driver's licenses by elderly drivers.

On the 14th, the National Police Agency announced that it will carry out the "Elderly Driver Voluntary License Surrender Promotion Project," which provides subsidies to elderly drivers who surrender their licenses in partnership with local governments. Last year, a total of 73,221 drivers aged 65 and older voluntarily surrendered their licenses nationwide. Among them, 71.5% (52,377) were super-aged drivers aged 75 and above.

The police will use 1.4 billion KRW secured through the national participatory budget this year to provide subsidies to local governments so that elderly drivers who voluntarily surrender their licenses can receive benefits such as transportation expenses. The support scale is about 30%, meaning if a local government provides 100,000 KRW to a license surrenderer, the police will subsidize 30,000 KRW.

Following the first round of applications last month, the police confirmed support for a total of 54 local governments, including 6 metropolitan municipalities and 48 basic local governments, and plan to expand the supported local governments through a second round of applications by the end of this month. The police expect to support 46,400 elderly drivers who surrender their licenses through this project.