Diffusion of driving license in the elderly population: more freedom?

In France, driving license holders have doubled for the last 35 years. The action of ageing of the population combined with the acquisition for a lifetime of a driving license are two main reasons for this increase. As a result, seniors are more likely to have a driver's license.
The first aim of this paper is to analyze the distribution of driving licenses of the French population throughout the last 40 years according to gender and age. The younger the generation, the higher the number of driving license holders. But has the main cause of access to driving licenses always to do with generational issues? We show that the number of driving license holders is now mainly influenced by an age effect rather than a generational effect for men while this number is still dominated by a generational effect for women.
The largest increase in the motorization rate since 1973 was carried out in households headed by a retired person. The second aim of this paper is to analyze the increase of the seniors' motorization and behavioral changes that result of this increase. There are more retired people on roads than before plus they are as dependant of cars as they were when they used to work.