Gwangju City Implements Simplified Service for Voluntary Surrender of Elderly Driver's Licenses

Applications Available at Administrative Welfare Centers Starting from the 13th

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Starting from the 13th, elderly drivers in the Gwangju area who voluntarily return their driver's licenses can return them to the nearest administrative welfare center and receive a transportation card (charged with 100,000 KRW).

The Gwangju Metropolitan City announced that from the 13th, it will implement the "Simplified Service for Voluntary Return of Driver's Licenses for the Elderly," which processes the voluntary return of driver's licenses and transportation card support applications for elderly drivers aged 70 and over at the district administrative welfare centers in a one-stop manner.

Until now, elderly drivers had to return their driver's licenses to the local police station and apply for and receive transportation cards at the city hall.

This lack of unified processing between institutions caused a long waiting period of up to two months from license return to transportation card issuance, leading to complaints.

To use this "Simplified Service for Voluntary Return of Driver's Licenses for the Elderly," the license holder must visit the district administrative welfare center in person and fill out an application form.

After entering the information into the "Voluntary Driver's License Return System" and confirming the license is valid, the license will be returned and canceled, and a transportation card worth 100,000 KRW will be issued on the spot.

The eligible licenses for return are Class 1 Regular, Class 1 Large, and Class 2 Regular. Elderly drivers holding suspended licenses, Class 2 Small licenses, or motorcycle licenses are excluded from transportation card support when returning their licenses.

The service of returning driver's licenses and issuing transportation cards for elderly drivers targets those aged 70 and over who voluntarily return their licenses, providing a transportation card worth 100,000 KRW.

Gwangju City has been implementing this service since June 2019, issuing transportation cards to 1,592 people in 2019 and 2,117 people in 2020.

As of the end of May this year, 587 people have benefited. It is expected that the number of elderly drivers returning their licenses and applying for transportation cards will increase further with the implementation of the simplified service.

Im Chanhyeok, Director of the City Transportation Policy Division, said, "As average life expectancy increases, the number of elderly drivers is rising, and social and economic costs due to traffic accidents caused by the elderly are also increasing. The simplified license return service aims to relieve the inconvenience of elderly people having to visit both the police station and city hall and to help improve traffic safety and prevent accidents. We will strive to ensure that more people can benefit from this service."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.