Affiliations: [a] Korea National Industrial Convergence Center, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
| [b] Department of Industrial & Management Engineering, Hansung University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Myoung Hwan Park, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, Hansung University, 116 Samseongyoro-16Gil, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul, 02876, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +850 822 760 4121; E-mail: mhpark@hansung.ac.kr.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:The percentage of drivers aged ≥65 years among all Korean taxi drivers has risen sharply from 3.2% in 2006 to 22.0% in 2016. OBJECTIVE:This study compared the characteristics of work-related traffic crashes between male taxi drivers aged ≥65 years and <65 years. METHODS:Using the national compensation data of South Korea, 586 injured male taxi drivers were analyzed based on driver-related (work experience, company size, employment status, injured body part, and injury type) and crash-related factors (time and day of the crash, weather condition, road type, violation and drowsiness) by age group. RESULTS:For the injured drivers aged ≥65, percentages of the crashes related to some factors were lower than those of the drivers aged <65 years: at night (55.2% vs. 64.0%), on rainy or snowy day (7.8% vs. 21.3%), on straight road (40.5% vs 50.9%) and on the expressway (6.9% vs. 13.0%). However, the percentage of the crashes related to a violation for the injured drivers aged ≥65 years (23.3%) was higher than that of the drivers aged <65 years (13.4%). Furthermore, the taxi drivers aged ≥65 years had a higher death rate (14.7%) than the drivers aged <65 years (8.5%). CONCLUSIONS:The results can be useful for injury prevention policies and guidelines for elderly taxi drivers such as strengthened qualification tests for the aged drivers and improvement of the working environment.
