고령자의 이동권 보장·제한에 관한 헌법적 고찰 및 입법정책 소고 ― 미국의 사례를 참고하여

Accidents caused by elderly drivers are continuously increasing. Of course, it is true that the possibility of accidents caused by mechanical defects such as unexpected acceleration cannot be denied at all, but there are many reports that accidents occurred due to the carelessness or negligence of elderly drivers. It is true that we are also making efforts to regulate and control the driving behavior of the elderly, such as shortening the renewal cycle of their licenses for senior citizens aged 75 or older. Furthermore we are providing the traffic safety education programs including self-diagnosis of cognitive abilities, but the level of the programs is just a temporary and formal one, and various related problems are criticized concerning its ineffectiveness. In particular, it is necessary to consider setting more effective and practical policy directions for elderly drivers in that direct restrictions on driving behavior of elderly drivers may cause direct infringement on their Fundamental Rights relating to the right to the Right to pursue Happiness, more concretely general right to freedom of action. And it is necessary to conduct comparative law research in that it is a matter of establishing appropriate or proper policies rather than a matter of whether the constitution is violated. In particular, the U.S. maintains the multifaceted and various aspect in regulating elderly drivers through their licenses by presenting requirements for license renewal including vision requirements, dangerous driver reporting (by one’s family doctor), medical inspection procedures, license restrictions, inspectors and staff training, aid/support activities, and license-related data management etc. After all it is reasonable to argue that the U.S. is not only focusing on the policy of regulating elderly drivers through licenses, but also focusing on the supporting them such as the AARP Driver Safety Program, which confirms and improves the driving ability of elderly drivers. Moreover in U.S. there is the Paratransit Services, namely a visiting transportation service for the elderly who have difficulty in using general public transportation, and there are various policies to enhance the convenience of using various public transportation for the sake of elderly drivers. Ultimately, the policy of U.S. for the sake of elderly drives is directing as follows, 「Enhancing the safety of elderly drivers' driving behavior → Providing alternative mobile services to guarantee the right to movement for elderly drivers → Regulating the driving behavior of elderly drivers through the license system.」 Therefore, we should overcome the limitations and problems of the license system at a passive level and focus on policy development for support and regulation of elderly drivers’ driving behavior on a more comprehensive and more diverse level.