Increase in accidents involving elderly drivers… ”VR emergency situation test” introduced in Korea

By the end of this year, South Korea plans to introduce a self-assessment of driving ability using virtual reality (VR) in the aptitude tests that elderly drivers aged 75 and over take when renewing their driver's licenses.
According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Police Agency on the 12th, they have formulated the ``2025 National Pedestrian Safety and Convenience Improvement Action Plan'' which includes these contents.
This system, which will be added to the aptitude test, is a self-diagnosis method that allows elderly drivers aged 75 and over to check their driving ability.
The driver puts on the VR device and sits in the virtual driver's seat, and an unexpected situation that may occur when turning left without a traffic light or cornering unfolds.
If the test reveals a lack of driving ability, the National Police Agency will provide consulting services to encourage the driver to voluntarily return their driver's license.
At the same time, the government will also formulate "Standards for devices to prevent accidental application of the accelerator or brake" as a safety measure for elderly drivers.
According to Yonhap News, the percentage of traffic accidents caused by drivers aged 65 and over was 201.
In 2000, the proportion of accidents involving road users was only 5.6% (16,000 out of 226,000 total traffic accidents), but this is expected to increase to 14.8% (31,000 out of 209,000) in 2020 and to 14.8% (31,000 out of 209,000) by 2023.
The rate of elderly drivers who surrendered their licenses rose to 20.0% (29,000 out of 198,000 cases). However, the rate of elderly drivers who surrendered their licenses was only 2.2% last year. Ten years ago, in 2014, it was 0.05%.
Although the number has increased, it is still below expectations. A National Police Agency official said, "In light of the recent spate of traffic accidents caused by elderly drivers and the fact that we are now in a super-aging society, we decided to introduce this self-diagnosis system.
"We have decided to introduce the system," he said, adding, "Based on the results of the trial operation, we will decide whether to expand the system's introduction."