Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Drivers age 20-29 have the highest number of people whose licenses were taken away in 2009: 24,858. But drivers over age 50, with nearly 15,000 licenses removed, make up the fastest growing group.

Swiss federal road safety statistics were published Tuesday 23 February and they show a 5 percent increase, to more than 34,000 drivers, in the number of people whose licenses were taken away for speeding. Drivers whose licenses were removed because they were over the alcohol limit, with 0.8 per thousand or more, decreased by 7.8 percent, some 17,000 fewer. The two make up the bulk of cases of the nearly 75,000 licenses removed in Switzerland by police in 2009.

A growing number of people, some 9,000 last year, had their licenses taken away for inattentive driving, generally due to using a cell phone or GPS system.