[Anchor] The vehicle collision that occurred in Busan last weekend has reignited calls for measures to address accidents involving elderly drivers, hasn't it?

[Reporter] Yes. On June 21, a vehicle driven by a person in their 70s, identified as A, plowed into a sidewalk on a road in Daeyeon-dong, Nam-gu, Busan, killing two pedestrians—a woman in her 40s and a woman in her 70s.

The police are currently investigating the exact cause of the accident, keeping all possibilities open, including driver negligence and vehicle defects.

The problem is that accidents involving elderly drivers have been occurring one after another in Busan recently.

Last month, an 8-vehicle pileup caused by a driver in their 80s left six people injured, and earlier this month, another accident occurred where a vehicle overturned due to the negligence of a driver in their 70s.

Busan has the highest proportion of elderly drivers among the seven major cities in South Korea.

As of last year, 16.6% of all drivers in Busan were aged 65 or older.

As a countermeasure for accidents involving elderly drivers, the Busan Metropolitan Government provides up to 300,000 won to those who voluntarily surrender their driver's licenses, with some local districts providing an additional 500,000 won.

However, it is difficult to mandate the surrender of driver's licenses due to concerns over livelihoods and mobility rights.

Experts have emphasized that rather than simply encouraging the surrender of licenses, there is a need for active institutional improvements that can more precisely assess a driver's cognitive abilities during the license renewal process.

(Photo courtesy of Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency)