[Hwang Miseon's Crisis Escape – Season 4]The License Is the Same, But D...

Why do we manage “different speeds” with the same standard?

[Image credit: AI-generated by the author]

[By Hwang Miseon, Columnist, Korea Lecturer News] The problem is not people. It is the difference.

“Being able to drive does not mean being safe in every situation.”

Recently, discussions around conditional driver’s license systems have resurfaced. Proposals include applying different conditions based on driving ability—such as restrictions for elderly drivers, beginners, or specific situations. At first glance, this may feel uncomfortable, as it can appear to impose limitations on certain individuals. However, the premise behind this discussion is simple: people have different driving abilities.

The real issue is that, despite knowing this, we continue to manage everyone under the same standard—with a single, uniform driver’s license. This is where the problem begins.

Think about the road. Some drivers react quickly, while others respond a beat slower. Some maintain stable lane control, while others are easily affected by minor changes. In reality, every driver operates at a different “speed.”

What matters is not who is faster or slower, but how large that difference becomes. When the difference is small, the system remains stable and traffic flows smoothly. But when that difference grows, merging timing becomes misaligned, braking responses diverge, and spacing between vehicles becomes unstable. As a result, the risk of accidents increases sharply.

This is not an individual problem. It is not about someone being a “bad driver.” It is about people with different speeds moving together within the same system. On the same road, under the same rules and signals, when different speeds collide, the system becomes unstable.

This is why conditional licensing raises an important question: why do we manage different people with the same standard?

Conditional licensing is not about exclusion. It is about recognizing differences and managing them to stabilize the system. Restricting driving to certain time periods, limiting access to specific roads, or adjusting speed conditions all serve one purpose: reducing the gap between different speeds—in other words, managing difference.

We often define fairness as “treating everyone the same.” But true fairness may lie elsewhere—in acknowledging differences and responding accordingly.

The problem is not people. It is the difference between them. If that difference is not managed, the system will eventually break down.

The license is the same, but driving is not. So we must ask: do we still believe that the same standard is truly fair?

Columnist Profile

Hwang Misun is a disaster safety instructor who has conducted on-site safety education for citizens and students. Based on repeated observations of “stoppages” and “congestion” in real training environments, she interprets disasters not as individual failures but as structural and spatial problems. Her work analyzes everyday risk in hospitals, schools, public transportation, and performance venues through the lens of movement flow, bottlenecks, guidance systems, and exit functionality. She is currently conducting research on evacuation structures using microscopic pedestrian simulation.

주요

기사

황미선 칼럼니스트