Police urge senior drivers to drive safely, voluntarily return licenses

voluntarily return their driver’s licenses if they don’t feel confident.

is this a joke? do they really think this will solve the problem? these older drivers "think" they are good drivers, and that's why they will continue driving. what they need are stricter tests for elderly drivers.

i'm hoping automated cars will solve this problem.

Police urge senior drivers to voluntarily surrender sense of entitlement

I was following an old lady today who must have been well into her 80's. She was driving a tiny yellow-plate buzz-box, travelling at 10-15kph below the speed limit of 40kph, swerving all over the road and rolling to a stop at least 20-30m before a signal. Sadly, this is only one of many 'elderly accidents waiting to happen' I see every day. I'm not saying that all elderly drivers are dangerous, but many of them are. Unfortunately, for many of the elderly, their car is their only way to get out of their house because they are too frail to take public transport and too poor to use taxis and, because there are very few elderly support groups, Yes, there are few private companies supporting the elderly, but they are a business and doing it for the money, not as a public service. Urging elderly drivers to return their licence is pointless unless there are alternative means of getting around.

Ahhhh, voluntary stop driving....this will work just like when the govt asks Japan Inc to decrease excessive(especially UNPAID) overtime!!!

ie it WONT work!!

Good old Japan and the "we expect you to think about doing it". The article doesn't mention yesterday's incident of a man crushing a woman against a wall in Gunma when he was trying to park and she was giving him directions.

Until they are laws against these people driving, it'll only be lip-service these police are engaged in.

Yes, there are few private companies supporting the elderly, but they are a business and doing it for the money, not as a public service.

Expect maybe more of these - there are a few in rural areas anyway and they are subsidised. Not a bad model.

Uber anyone?

Anyway, if the road-killer old people demographic continues or rises it is conceivable that the government will stop urging and start forcing driving licence surrender.

I hate to say it, but only one thing will change this: some elderly person hitting and killing the grandchild of Abe or someone like that.

If that happens, I guarantee you that things will change quickly.

Not to be cynical, but that is how things work....

This problem is going to get worse. Not only are there more old people (a trend that will continue), but there are specifically more old people who need cars just to meet their daily needs. With the decimation of local shopping streets that people used to access on foot for groceries, etc and their replacement by mega stores which are only accessible by car, you have the perfect storm of more elderly people driving. This is especially the case in smaller cities and towns where the elderly population is quite high and public transport options or local shopping (and doctors offices, etc) options are limited.

Let's get Dentsu to promote the campaign! A cute mascot, catchy slogan, some TV Commercials, and a few 'tarento' to pitch it to the public.

My driver's license is not my only form of photo ID, but I'd rather show it than my gaijin card. So I'll be a "paper driver," but I'll still keep renewing it as long as they're willing to issue me one.

I have a private language student in his 70s, I go teach him once a month, and every time he take me out with his wife to a dinner. I can tell you that more than fear I feel a bit ashamed and even bad for other drivers for such a reckless, dangerous driving. This is what happens inside these seniors' cars. They are not bad-mannered drivers, simply over absorbed in their own reality behind the wheel. It's more important to change the radio station or finish a conversation than to drive when the light turns green. If they see somewhere interesting to them they simply change lanes or make a turn without the thought of checking if there are other cars or people coming. Talking about lanes most of times my student can't even drive straight, sometimes taking up most of 1/3 of the other lane. Very dangerous! This voluntary return might work for elders with train and buses available, but not in most of the cities they live in.

I recommend they send an entourage of like 50 bureaucrats to Florida to see how it is really done.

What's in it for them? They won't return their license if they get nothing in return. Give them free public transport or something to look fwd to.

A no brainer , for me.

Yearly visual & auditory exams to keep driving for anyone over the age of 70.

Frankly, bring on the self-driving cars!!!

That way, even meat-head Pokemon Go 'hunters' can be behind the wheel.

From what I see from behind my wheel the number of reckless, dangerous, careless, idiot , irresponsible drivers of much younger age vastly outnumbers the (pre-)senile elderly drivers. How about starting to enforce traffic regulations first?

I suspect that many of those suggesting elderly people should stop driving because of incompetence will likely excuse yourselves - for whatever reason - when you reach that age. Myself included.

Police urge senior drivers to voluntarily surrender sense of entitlement

Everyone is entitled to be judged as individuals and not as numbers. Ageism is just as bad as any other kind of discrimination. As someone else correctly pointed out, the number of incidents involving new or young drivers is not insignificant. Yet, we never hear anyone calling for them to give up their licenses.

From what I see from behind my wheel the number of reckless, dangerous, careless, idiot , irresponsible drivers of much younger age vastly outnumbers the (pre-)senile elderly drivers. How about starting to enforce traffic regulations first?

Excellent points well presented.

j police not doing enough...again comments Ms Cleo???

This week, police handed out fliers and spoke to senior citizens seen behind the driver’s wheel in parking lots at local hospitals and other places at 97 locations nationwide, Fuji TV reported.

Police said they wish to raising awareness among elderly people about the dangers of driving.

So awareness was raised and the elderly listened politely - but the whole encounter was more than likely forgotten 500m down the road.

There are limits on young people driving. You must be 18. We do not let ten year olds drive. That is not agism, how ridiculous is that, it is a simple fact. Old people beyond 70 can not drive safely. Just like the ten year old. It is a matter of public safety, period. This endless PC crap has got to stop or more people are going to get mowed down by senile drivers who speed up when they want to slow down.

As experienced drives we all know when an old person is driving in front of us. There needs to be a reporting function that the police can compile on an unsafe driver. Lets say if five times a person is reported by others they are called in and tested by the Motor Vehicles department for mental competency to drive.

We do not let ten year olds drive. That is not agism,

Actually, it is. However, there is a demonstrable reason why they are legally not allowed to drive and it is they same reason they are not allowed to use alcohol. The reasons can be quantified and can be demonstrated using the majority of ten year olds as research subjects.

Unlike this statement:

Old people beyond 70 can not drive safely.

This is demonstrably false. I can safely state that the majority of elderly drivers over 70 I witness in my daily life can and do drive safely. How can I do such a thing? Simply by looking around me at the drivers. A large portion of the drivers one can see around them in Japan are elderly drivers. Yet, most are driving in perfectly reasonable fashions. Is it fair to target a whole age group of mature adults for the acts of a minority percentage of them? I do not think it is. Testing, yes.Broad bans, no. That is not how a civil society should work.

Although it seems civilized to ask people to turn in their licenses, I think someone is forgetting what a license actually IS.

People don't judge their own abilities and then decide that they can or cannot drive. A license is a certification by EXPERTS that a person is capable of operating a ton of steel and explosive gasoline safely on our roads.

So this is a major fail. One does not need to take a side on the elderly driving issue to see that this is a really really dumb way to solve the problem. Can people just up and decide, at the age of 16, that they can drive safely? No. Then why can we grant that privilege to doddering oldsters?

Voluntarily? Nonsense. After 65, make a re-examination of skills a requirement for renewal of license and insurance.

My driver's license is not my only form of photo ID, but I'd rather show it than my gaijin card. So I'll be a "paper driver," but I'll still keep renewing it as long as they're willing to issue me one.

This is no excuse for keeping or renewing the license. When the elderly drivers voluntarily return their license they are issued a photo identification card that is the same size and pretty much the same format as a regular drivers license.

What's in it for them? They won't return their license if they get nothing in return. Give them free public transport or something to look fwd to.

When they are issued the identification card I mentioned above here, they become eligible for something like 50% to 75% discounts on all public transportation here, this is Okinawa so each prefecture may have different discounts. Plus it gives them discounts from all across a wide spectrum of goods and services.

@5SpeedRacer5 NOV. 18, 2016 - 01:01AM JST

People don't judge their own abilities and then decide that they can or cannot drive. A license is a certification by EXPERTS that a person is capable of operating a ton of steel and explosive gasoline safely on our roads.

You are ignoring a distinction. As an administrative act, the license belongs to the permissions (許可), indicating that it is part of the natural, inherent rights that is being restricted for the common welfare. That's different from the group of Special Permissions (特許), which is the State having discretion to give you special rights above the natural inherent rights.

Since it is your natural inherent right, the restriction must be removed once you pass the nationally determined standards, and the onus is on the State to provide strong cause to restart its interference or even questioning your natural, inherent rights. That's why all they can do is ask nicely for people to return their licences.

And, considering the average JapanToday commentator's opposition to PM Abe and his attempt to expand the authority of the State, surely such self-restraint on the use of government power should receive some appreciation.