Title | The Feasibility Study of Extending Maximum Licensing Age to 68 for Light Vehicle Professional Drivers |
Dept | Transportation Safety Division |
Year | 2010 |
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Summary | The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of current policy, i.e., the extension of the taxi driver driving age to 68 years old, and to assess the possible impacts and risks if the policy applies to other “professional” drivers of light vehicles. In this study, the number of license holders of different types of light vehicles and the number of accidents were tested. Meanwhile, the fatalities and injured risks of drivers in the accidents were also explored. The results indicated that after the extension of the taxi driver driving age to 68 years old, the accident rate of drivers aged from 65 to 68 was lower than those aged from 60 to 65. For the same category of age, we compared the accident rates of light vehicles between the drivers with a professional driver’s license and those with a regular license or taxi driving license. The results also revealed that, for the drivers aged from 60 to 65, the accident rates of light vehicles between the drivers with professional and regular licenses were not significantly different, and the rate of drivers with a professional license was even lower than those with a taxi license. The analysis results of accident severity of light vehicles indicated that the fatalities of drivers with professional license were also lower than those with a taxi license. In addition, the fatalities of drivers with a professional license aged from 60 to 65 had no significant difference among other age categories. Therefore, the current policy of taxi driving license has no necessity for change. Meanwhile, most of the drivers of light vehicles with a professional license are from individual businesses. That is, the drivers of freight delivery are hired by their employers. As a result, the employment of elderly drivers with a professional license is determined through the market. However, if the MOTC decides to extend the professional license of light vehicles to 68 years old, the current policy of extending the age of taxi drivers (Regulations of road and traffic safety Article 52.2) can be a starting point and reference to control the potential risk due to the extension of age. |
Post date | 2010/07/02 |
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