Research Report
Demographic change is greatly accelerating owing to the increasingly low birth rate and aging population in Korea. In particular, the increase in the number of elderly people means greater attention must be paid to the social needs of the old, to secure dignified human life for them. It also follows that, with a greater number of elderly pedestrians and elderly drivers, the number of traffic accidents involving elderly people is also likely to increase.
In light of these considerations, it is an urgent priority to establish road traffic safety policies and to introduce related traffic laws for the elderly drivers becoming active participants in road traffic from just being vulnerable pedestrians.
This report aims to contribute to the establishment of a safe society by preventing traffic accidents involving elderly people through systematically organizing and improving the road traffic safety acts related to aged people in advance.
In accordance with the necessity and goals mentioned above, this report is constituted as follows:
In chapter 2, the definition of the elderly, current traffic accident situation of the elderly and the characteristics of traffic behavior of the elderly are concisely examined.
In chapter 3, the current road traffic safety law system related to the elderly and its present situation are examined and analyzed. In doing so, it focuses on the Road Traffic Act, which can be seen as the fundamental law regarding road traffic safety management in Korea, and also examines the Traffic Safety Act and the Promotion Law for Vulnerable Road Users’ Transportation.
In chapter 4, the road traffic safety related laws and current situations in Japan and the USA are examined and current issues are noted.
In chapter 5, measures to improve the relevant laws are suggested.