1 week Ago By Korea Bizwire
A senior driver applying the senior driver sticker (Photo courtesy of Jeollanam-do) SEOUL, April 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Drivers aged 65 and older exhibit significantly slower reaction times in unexpected road situations compared to younger drivers, raising fresh concerns about senior road safety, according to a new study released Thursday by the Korea Consumer Agency. The study, which involved a simulated urban driving test of 34 drivers across both age groups, found that older drivers took up to a full second longer to respond in emergency scenarios. For instance, when a leading vehicle made a sudden stop, younger drivers took an average of 3.
09 seconds to apply the brakes, while older drivers required 3.56 seconds — a delay of nearly half a second. In more hazardous scenarios, such as a child suddenly appearing on a crosswalk obstructed by an illegally parked vehicle, the gap widened.
Senior drivers reacted in 2.28 seconds on average, more than a second slower than the 1.20 seconds recorded for younger participants.
At a speed of 50 kilometers per hour, a one-second delay in braking translates to roughly 14 additional meters traveled — a potentially critical distance in avoiding a collision. The findings align with seniors’ own perceptions of their driving risks. In a survey of 300 older drivers, 60.
7 percent acknowledged being more likely than younger individuals to cause an accident. The most cited reasons included diminished judgment and reaction speed (95.6 percent), declining eyesight (72.
5 percent), slower motor reflexes (65.9 percent), and ongoing medication use (9.9 percent).
When asked about solutions, the majority (62.7 percent) favored vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) tailored to older drivers. Since January 2024, South Korea has mandated emergency braking systems in vehicles for elderly drivers under revised national safety regulations.
However, the Korea Consumer Agency stressed the importance of further equipping vehicles with pedal misapplication prevention systems, especially as confusion between the brake and accelerator remains a common issue among older drivers. These systems use vehicle sensors to detect nearby obstacles and suppress engine output if the driver mistakenly presses the accelerator instead of the brake, preventing sudden unintended acceleration. Japan, facing a similarly aging population, has already begun promoting vehicles that combine both automatic emergency braking and pedal misapplication prevention technologies.
The Korea Consumer Agency said it will share the study’s results with relevant government agencies and recommend policy measures aimed at expanding the use of such safety-enhancing technologies. Ashley Song ( [email protected] ).
