What is 100 minus 7? Korea tests older drivers with math on the road amid rise in fatal crashes

Older adults participating in the Driving Ability Diagnosis System pilot program listen to instructions on the driving course at the Gangseo Driver's License Examination Office in western Seoul, Feb. 11. Korea Times photo by Chun Yae-hyun

Inside a yellow test vehicle climbing a steep incline in western Seoul, 83-year-old Kim Young-hwan suddenly faced an unexpected hurdle: a math problem.

"What is 100 minus 7?" flashed across an internal screen.

Kim urgently slammed the brakes to keep the car from rolling backward down the slope. "The answer is 93," he said. Only then did he slowly move his foot back to the accelerator to conquer the hill.

"I was flustered for a moment, but I think I handled it easily," Kim said.

Kim’s multitasking exam was not a standard driving test. It is the front line of Korea's new Driving Ability Diagnosis System, a pilot program launched on Feb. 11 by the National Police Agency and the Korea Road Traffic Authority.

Operating once a week at three driver's license examination offices in Seoul — Gangseo, Seobu and Dobong — the initiative targets high-risk drivers aged 75 and older who exhibit physical and cognitive decline. For a rapidly aging nation battling a surge in senior-involved traffic crashes, the pilot represents a critical policy pivot. Authorities are moving away from ineffective campaigns urging seniors to voluntarily surrender their licenses and toward rigorous, practical evaluations.

The graph, generated by artificial intelligence, shows accidents caused by senior drivers — defined as those aged 65 and older — in Korea from 2020 to 2024. Courtesy of the Korea Road Traffic Authority

The urgency stems from alarming demographic and safety data. According to the road traffic authority, traffic crashes caused by drivers aged 65 and older jumped 36.4 percent over four years, from 31,072 cases in 2020 to 42,369 in 2024. During that same period, the proportion of elderly drivers involved in all traffic crashes grew from 14.8 percent to 21.6 percent. Fatalities increased from 720 to 761, and the number of injuries rose from 44,269 to nearly 60,000.

Recent high-profile tragedies have amplified public anxiety. Early last month, a taxi driver plowed into pedestrians near Jonggak Station in central Seoul, resulting in 15 casualties. In November last year, a truck crashed into a traditional market in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, killing two people and injuring 19. Both incidents involved drivers in their 70s.

Despite the rising toll, the current oversight framework remains largely toothless. Currently, drivers aged 65 and older renew their licenses every five years, while those 75 and older renew every three years. The process requires only two hours of traffic safety education, a basic aptitude test and a cognitive function exam. The glaring absence of an actual driving test leaves authorities guessing about a senior's physical reflexes.

Meanwhile, campaigns asking older drivers to hand over their keys have stalled. For many seniors, surrendering a driver's license is simply not a realistic option due to the lack of public transportation in regional areas, alongside their reliance on driving for their livelihoods and daily needs.

A senior driver performs tasks inside a test vehicle during the Driving Ability Diagnosis System pilot program at the Gangseo Driver's License Examination Office in western Seoul, Feb. 11. Korea Times photo by Chun Yae-hyun

The new diagnosis system bypasses voluntary surrender by directly evaluating a driver's cognitive reflexes and ability to react to sudden hazards. The test grades drivers on eight distinct items. Beyond the incline math problem, tasks include navigating curves, navigating intersections with signals and handling acceleration sections while undergoing distraction tests.

The memory requirements are equally strict. During the perpendicular parking test, drivers must memorize a designated space number out of four options presented just before entering the lot; forgetting the number makes the task nearly impossible to complete. Unpredictable audio announcements also test whether a driver can maintain concentration under stress.

Results are issued immediately, grading drivers as "insufficient," "normal" or "good" based on their performance.

Kim Kyung-soo, an 80-year-old who participated in the first pilot operation, looked down at a result sheet marking him as "insufficient."

"I got a low score in the unexpected situations section," Kim admitted. "I thought I should drive slower in the future."

The police and the road traffic authority plan to use data collected from the pilot to overhaul the licensing system entirely. Authorities are now reviewing the introduction of restricted licenses, which could ban high-risk elderly drivers from nighttime driving or highway access upon renewal, allowing them to keep their mobility without endangering the public.

"We plan to lay the foundation for traffic safety for high-risk drivers through the driving ability diagnosis system," said Kim Ho-seung, director general of the Public Safety and Traffic Bureau at the National Police Agency.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.