Elderly Drivers In Japan Could Be Limited To Vehicles With Automatic Braking (japantimes.co.jp)

AmiMoJo writes: Japan's National Police Agency has proposed several new rules to regulate elderly drivers, including limiting them to vehicles with automatic braking systems to increase public safety. "The panel was tasked with finding ways to mitigate the risks associated with dementia, poor vision and deteriorating physical strength associated with seniors," reports the Japan Times. "Deadly traffic accidents caused by people 75 or older are on the rise, though fatal accidents overall are on the decline." Automatic braking systems apply the car's brakes if a collision is imminent. Separately Japanese authorities are offering elderly drivers who give up their licenses a discount on their funerals.

Comments

if they are such a public danger

[Osgeld]

why are you letting demented, blind, weak and slow people operate heavy machinery?

Re:if they are such a public danger

[Anonymice]

I love how people love to talk with such authority about the real truths behind the s, as if they're privy to some secret information that the government is oblivious to.

No country in the world lets people simply walk in, claim persecution, and get a free pass with refugee status. Every single claim is assessed on a case by case basis, and claims are rejected if they are deemed to be doubtful or inconsistent. If a claim is rejected, the person in question is deported back to their country of origin. If they can't legally be deported, it's because there's a proven likelihood that said person would face persecution (possibly even torture), & doing so would be a violation of human rights treaties - ergo, they'd have a justifiable claim for refugee status.

Do some people fabricate stories and manage to get away with it? Undoubtedly. However tarring everyone with the same brush is both ignorant & offensive.

That so many claims do manage to get accepted, have you ever considered that that could just be because a large part of the world really is in quite a a shit & depressing state?
These people have to leave their entire world behind, many without even as much as a backpack (from the pictures I've seen), walk thousands of miles across hostile landscapes, suffer from abuse & persecution from every populace they meet, and many risking slavery, abuse & death at the hands traffickers (& thousands of $'s in debt if they survive). And if they're lucky, they get to start the uphill struggle of rebuilding their life from scratch, alone, in a completely alien environment.

Do you think that's a decision someone makes lightly? They just woke up one Friday morning and decided, "Yeah, that sounds like fun!"?

And yes, they're supposed to claim asylum in the first safe country they arrive in, and many clearly don't. But put yourself in their shoes: If you're in such a desperate position that you would consider taking on such a hostile journey, driven by the hope that you might be able to build a better future for yourself & your family, wouldn't you too aim for a destination that you thought would provide you with the best chances? What have you got to lose?
I'm not trying to present a justification, but lets try & have some fucking empathy for those who didn't have our luck of not being born in such a hostile shithole.

This should be expanded to all drivers

[roubles]

Its not just the elderly. Teenagers. Distracted drivers. Epileptics. Narcoleptics. Suddenly incapacitated people (heart attacks, strokes). Drunk drivers. Texters. Everyone would benefit from cars that maintain their lanes and automatically brake. This is technology we already have and we already mass produce. This rule should, and most likely will, be expanded to all drivers in all cars - all the time.

Elon Musk: "In the distant future, I think people may outlaw driving cars because it's too dangerous. You can't have a person driving a two-ton death machine."

Its happening.

Wrong Direction

[AlanObject]

Why not mandate this for all vehicles?

Are we trying to preserve the right for a privileged demographic to crash into things?

Re:Wrong Direction

[HornWumpus]

In Japan, nobody can afford to keep their old cars.

After the cars are about five years old, annual inspection involves extensive disassembly, taxes also go UP for old cars. They junk them and we get the drivetrain components for cheap (JDM parts).

Re:I don't wanna be the one to tell them...

[PopeRatzo]

Just hide their keys. In plain view usually works after a certain point. :-)

That's not one bit funny. I've got no problem finding my keys, thank you very much, once I find my glasses.