"Too Old, So They Say Return Taxi License? ... What About Family Livelihood?"

100,000 Taxi Drivers Aged 65 and Over
30% Increase in Elderly Drivers Over 4 Years
High Accident Rates, but Voluntary License Surrender Remains a 'Challenge'

The proportion of elderly drivers aged 65 and over involved in total traffic accidents is increasing every year, while conflicts between the government and the taxi industry continue over licenses for elderly taxi drivers.The government insists that driver management systems must be strengthened as the risk of accidents increases with declining cognitive abilities in elderly drivers, but the taxi industry demands additional measures, arguing that license revocation leads to 'loss of livelihood.'

Taxis are lined up on a street in Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority on the 16th, the total number of elderly taxi drivers aged 65 and over nationwide last year was about 107,800 (corporate and individual), an increase of about 30% compared to 82,900 in 2019, four years ago. Meanwhile, traffic accidents involving elderly drivers have been increasing every year. The proportion of elderly drivers in total traffic accidents rose from 14.4% in 2019 to 17.3% in 2022.

A representative from the Transportation Safety Authority said, "About 30% of fatalities in single-vehicle traffic accidents, which can be judged as due to driving inexperience over the past five years, involved elderly drivers aged 65 and over," adding, "Many of the accident causes were sudden acceleration from a stopped state or poor handling of the steering device."

The government and local governments are encouraging voluntary license returns by providing incentives to elderly taxi drivers who surrender their licenses, but the taxi industry points out that government inducements are insufficient.

The current market price for individual taxi licenses is around 97 million KRW, and in some regions, it exceeds this amount. Among individual taxi drivers, many invest their retirement funds to purchase taxi licenses, earn income for a certain period, and then resell the licenses to recover their investment. Considering this, the compensation for license return offered by local governments (in the 20 million KRW range) falls short of expectations, according to the taxi industry.

In fact, the license return rate for elderly drivers aged 65 and over dropped from 2.2% in 2019 to 1.2% last year. Oh Bong-hoon, Secretary General of the National Taxi Federation, said, "Most individual taxis are either old or investment tools, so many want to continue even as they age," adding, "Instead of blindly demanding license returns, the government should present proper measures on how to guarantee the livelihood of drivers when they return their licenses and how to solve the 'taxi shortage' that will occur if so many elderly taxi drivers disappear."

There are also criticisms that the government's role is insufficient despite elderly taxi driver management being directly linked to public safety. Currently, the Transportation Safety Authority conducts aptitude tests for commercial vehicle drivers aged 65 and over to check cognitive ability, attention, and spatial judgment. However, since the system was implemented in January 2019, the average pass rate over two years has been as high as 98%, indicating low discriminatory power. Initially, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport planned to implement a more stringent 'qualification maintenance test system,' but it was simplified before introduction due to opposition from the taxi industry.

Professor Yoo Jeong-hoon of Ajou University's Department of Transportation Systems Engineering emphasized, "The issue of elderly driver licenses will become more important as we enter a super-aged society, but the government is not taking active measures," adding, "It is appropriate to develop reliable tests that objectively verify driving abilities such as vision, hearing, and reaction tests, and to medically determine those who fail as unfit to drive and deny them licenses."