Journal of Korean Society of Transportation ISSN:1229-1366(Print) 2234-4217(Online) 대한교통학회지

Due to the increase in the elderly population, traffic crashes caused by elderly drivers have risen by an annual average of 3.7% over the past five years. To address this issue, local governments have been implementing a voluntary return program for older drivers' licenses since 2019, supported by the National Police Agency and offering benefits such as one-time transportation subsidies. This study aimed to analyze the impact of the voluntary return of elderly drivers' licenses on reducing traffic crashes caused by elderly drivers. This study compares traffic crashes, fatalities, and serious injury crashes between local governments that implemented the voluntary driver’s license return program and those that did not. The differences were tested using chi-square analysis. The results showed that the voluntary return of elderly driver’s licenses has a significant impact on reducing traffic crashes caused by elderly drivers, particularly in terms of traffic fatalities crashes and serious injury crashes. Additionally, it was observed that drivers aged 75 or older experienced the greatest reduction in crashes after returning their licenses, indicating a need to encourage this age group to return their licenses. Moreover, it was found that the impact of reducing crashes due to the voluntary return of elderly driver’s licenses was greater in rural areas than in urban areas. However, because accessibility and mobility for the elderly are lower in rural areas compared to urban areas, the rate of license return is also lower. Therefore, it is necessary to develop various measures to increase the voluntary driver’s license return rate in rural areas, where the potential for crash reduction is substantial. On the other hand, it was also found that among elderly drivers over 80 years old, the reduction in crashes due to the return of their driver’s licenses was more pronounced in urban areas. Hence, it is necessary to encourage the voluntary return of driver’s licenses among the elderly in urban areas as well.