Comments on: Elderly Drivers In Japan

By: Pete

Pete — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 04:06:48 +0000

If old people don’t drive their cars, are they going to walk? No…of course not, they’re going to take the bus; so give them the use of one. It has always seemed to me that the sensible thing would be to give free bus passes to all people over 65 to begin the process of encouraging them to use public transit instead of their private cars. Don’t wait till they’re 75 or 80 – that’s much too late to start learning new tricks. If I were being asked to give up my driving license, I’d want something equal in exchange not offers I may never use. A free bus pass would be the closest thing to having a private car and the most obvious alternative. Why don’t people have the sense to see that? I’ve been beating my head against this particular wall for about 30 years trying to get people to realize that now the automobile is 100, so are some of the people driving and carnage on the roads is going to happen as more and more people reach their dotage. Can anyone explain to me why human beings are so stupid!

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:28:04 +0000

I’ve seen elderly people driving against traffic. It was probably the only time I heard several drivers use their horns at the same time. Everyone on the sidewalk was whispering “Abunai…”

By: May

May — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:42:44 +0000

“It won’t be much longer before your car does most of the driving for you. I’m sure the big motor companies are working away on elderly-friendly cars as I write this!”

I’m with Nick on this. Sure hope it’s sooner rather than later.

By: median

median — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:31:16 +0000

Hmmmm….

How many people get to be 102 by eating pizza? And how many people who would be able to make good use of a discount at Imperial Hotel restaurants actually drive themselves around?

Still, if it increases the number of pensioners riding rollercoasters, it can’t be all bad…

By: morningstar

morningstar — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:21:31 +0000

When I get old I don’t want to drive. I want someone to drive me around.

By: Level3

Level3 — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:27:18 +0000

I think pensioners in Japan DO get free public transport in some form.

But it’s a simple problem, retesting EVERYONE would be agood, but too expensive. Retesting seniors would be cheaper. How about linking medical databases (seniors get almost free healthcare now, and it IS controlled by the govt.) to the driver’s license center? “Doctor Y says Mr. X is not fit to drive.”

But, since seniors control the vote, and thus the politicians, does anyone think steps will really be taken? The only hope is the insurance companies force the issue.

10% off pizza for seniors is just fucking silly.

By: The Overthinker

The Overthinker — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:55:37 +0000

Yup, eldery Japanese who grew up before the war just love pizza. Can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve seen an old Grand-dad chowing down on a Domino’s. It’s hard to start counting when you end at zero….

By: ChrisG

ChrisG — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:14:25 +0000

I recently read a news report of an elderly man that mistook the gas for the break and drove through his local market killing about 6 people…

However, I don’t think we should be saying “you’re old, get off the road”. For many, driving is a major feeling of independence and we can’t just rip that away from someone. People age differently. One 75 year old could be more than able to drive but another 75 year old could not. However we know that 10 year olds lack the knowledge and maturity to drive a vehicle responsibly.

It’s difficult to decide when someone should stop driving. A perfectly fine 75 year old could suffer an illness and it could impact his/her driving that week or they could be fine for years. As Kevin said it only takes a small error.

How can we tell if one 75 year old is no longer capable of safely driving? I think we need to retest people at certain ages or even every 2-4 years. I know several 20-40 year olds that could do with a retest…

Maybe the elderly should just get a huge discount on local transport.

I know when I’m old and on a pension I’ll be greatful for any discounts.

By: Nick Ramsay

Nick Ramsay — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:58:55 +0000

It won’t be much longer before your car does most of the driving for you. I’m sure the big motor companies are working away on elderly-friendly cars as I write this!

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:07:36 +0000

I see your point, but I think it’s simply a matter of treating the elderly people in a respectful way. They could say – “Look buddy, you’re 75 now. Fork over the license.” – or they could do what they are doing with this program by having people turn in their license before something bad happens.
Most of these old people can probably handle driving with few problems, but it only takes a small error of judgment to cause a huge accident.
They definitely need to maintain strict and regular driving tests for the elderly, but I think this is a great way for 20% of the Japanese population to save themselves the embarrassment of failing the test.