Even with a 'Dementia Diagnosis,' License Cancellation Can Take Up to 10 Months

Calls Grow for Urgent Measures
to Prevent Traffic Accidents

It has been found that it takes 10 months to complete the general procedures until the driver's license of a person diagnosed with dementia is canceled.

Recently, a car crash caused by a driver in their 70s who had been previously diagnosed with dementia resulted in one death and 12 injuries at Kkaebi Market in Mok-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. This incident has raised calls for measures to prevent potential traffic accidents caused by drivers with dementia. The number of dementia patients in South Korea exceeded 1 million last year and is expected to reach 3 million by 2050.

No direct relation to the above article. Pixabay.

On the 20th, the office of Assemblyman Kim Seon-min of the Justice Innovation Party, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, released explanatory materials on "Driving restrictions for dementia-diagnosed license holders" obtained from the Road Traffic Authority and the National Health Insurance Corporation. According to these materials, the current Road Traffic Act stipulates dementia as a disqualification for holding a driver's license.

Based on this regulation, if a license holder is classified as needing long-term care due to dementia or is hospitalized for more than six months, the National Health Insurance Corporation reports this to the National Police Agency (Road Traffic Authority).

The Road Traffic Authority is a quasi-governmental organization under the National Police Agency that manages driving tests. Then, the National Police Agency designates these individuals as "drivers subject to fitness evaluation" according to the driving aptitude assessment procedure and requires them to undergo a detailed examination by a specialist to reassess their driving ability.

In other words, these individuals are first requested to submit a specialist's medical certificate to the Road Traffic Authority within about three months. If they do not respond to this first notification, they are given a second chance to submit the certificate. Completing these two notification procedures takes approximately nine months. If they still fail to submit the certificate, their driver's license is canceled one month later. As a result, it takes up to 10 months from the dementia diagnosis to license cancellation.

Most individuals reported to the National Police Agency as dementia patients by the National Health Insurance Corporation do not submit medical certificates, resulting in license cancellation.

However, some do submit certificates. In such cases, the Road Traffic Authority holds a "Driving Aptitude Evaluation Committee" once a month at each of the 27 driving test centers nationwide, consulting opinions from specialists such as neuropsychiatrists to determine whether the individual can continue driving.

If they pass, their license is maintained; if they fail, their license is canceled. If given a deferred judgment, they must undergo a retest after one year.

In fact, among 17,973 dementia patients classified as subject to driving aptitude evaluation by the Road Traffic Authority in 2024, only 583 submitted medical certificates and applied for the evaluation. Of these, 210 passed, 9 failed, and 364 received deferred decisions. The 17,390 who did not submit certificates had their licenses canceled or are scheduled for cancellation.

Assemblyman Kim Seon-min said, "It is problematic that it takes 10 months for the driver's license of a person diagnosed with dementia by the National Health Insurance Corporation to be canceled," adding, "It is necessary to shorten the period until license cancellation to ensure the safety and lives of the public."

Experts point out the urgent need for measures to reduce accident risks among drivers with dementia, such as adding dementia severity information to the National Health Insurance Corporation's disease codes and managing driving aptitude test cycles based on this data.

In this regard, the police have shortened the regular aptitude test cycle for elderly drivers aged 75 and over from five years to three years, requiring mandatory preliminary screening at dementia safety centers during this process. Additionally, starting this year, a virtual reality (VR) self-diagnosis system allowing drivers to check their driving ability is being piloted, and efforts are underway to enhance and mandate traffic safety education.

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