Senior drivers responsible for 14% of fatal accidents in 2019

So now, if statistics are to be believed here, the "age" for taking away driver's licenses should be set at 75!

But I bet any money in the world that it will never happen!

15% of road fatalities doesn't seem so high. It would be appropriate to show what percentage of licence holders who regularly drive are over 70 to keep the statistics in context. It would also be appropriate to show the full breakdown of the other 85% to confirm which demographic is responsible for the most road fatalities and for what reasons. It is clear that better cognitive testing and more restrictions need to be placed on elderly drivers. However, it is also clear that more needs to be done to address the other 85% of road killers.

I’ll wager that for the elderly, this is disproportionately high.

Or maybe it's really low!

Without numbers, your speculation is meaningless.

The accident sparked public outcry and calls for preventive measures to be taken to reduce the frequency of road fatalities caused by the elderly.

Just my impression, but I think at least half the outcry was because he was not arrested against standard police practice. Many people suspected this was due to him being a high-ranking public servant. That man in question also tried to blame his car for accelerating by itself. The net result is that it blackens the name of elderly drivers.

Agree with the posts that we need more data.

B****ungleToday 07:16 am JST

The important statistic to watch is fatalities per X numbers of kilometers driven. I’ll wager that for the elderly, this is disproportionately high.

That's right.

I (and others) have mentioned this numerous times before.

Fact: the elderly drive considerably less kms/year than average and their kms are mostly in localized known areas. Their deaths are disproportionate to the kms covered. This can be found somewhere in Natiional Police stats.

This is not about condemning or demonizing one demographic group, on the contrary it's about looking at the real time situation whereby people are sadly dying (and injured) needlessly.

Most road deaths in Japan do not occur on high-speed highways.

We need more data...

And it takes about 10 seconds to find it on Google if you're interested in checking.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/06/21/national/75s-cause-fatal-traffic-accidents-twice-rate-younger-drivers-white-paper-shows/#.XkXikFPqY0M

This article confirms that over 75 year-olds cause 2.4 times the number of fatalities per 100, 000 that under 75s do. The 16-19 age group is actually the worst. Take them out of the picture and the over 75s are 3 times more likely to cause fatalities.

Before anyone says "Oh, we have to ban youngsters too if we ban over 75s" remember that we all have to start sometime, and those kids get better with experience. Over 75s are NOT going to get better.

Still far too high. The elderly here will

never give up their licenses. There should’ve been a blanket ban on all drivers over 70 years ago. If you don’t know the difference between the accelerator and the brake you need to take the bus

With the development and implementation of more safety features in cars, along with (presumably) an increase in ownership of such cars among the elderly - a small decrease in fatal accidents year on year sounds like a net increase in bad driving to me.

I would have expected a much bigger decrease in serious accidents, especially concerning elderly drivers, specifically due to the proliferation of safety features.

OK. So the crucial pieces of missing data are:

1) What percentage of drivers are classified as seniors?

2) What is the accident/fatality rate for senior drivers per million km when compared to the rest of the driving population?

Without these crucial figures, this reporting is meaningless as there is nothing to compared the provided stats to . . . .

No more political correctness.

Ban driving over the age of 70.

Instititue mandatory health check and driving tests twice a year for those over 60.

Enough is enough.

Discrimination based solely on age is allowed free rein again.

Why aren't we talking about stepping up the basis on which ALL people are permitted to receive and keep their licenses through adequate, rigorous testing and regular upgrading?

Why do we turn a blind eye to the 85% who cause the greatest number of deaths? Instead, the talk turns to blanket bans of one demographic which causes fewer deaths than all the rest put together. Then someone in their whizdum also suggests that we take teens out of the picture so that the over 75s look even worse.

Really?

@HBJ

I would have expected a much bigger decrease in serious accidents, especially concerning elderly drivers, specifically due to the proliferation of safety features.

Those safety features work for the people in the car, not for the pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists on the outside of them.

That's no bad actually if you compare that figure to all licensed drivers in Japan. The fatalities I have witnessed were all under the age of 50 with excessive speed being the main culprit.

Why aren't we talking about stepping up the basis on which ALL people are permitted to receive and keep their licenses through adequate, rigorous testing and regular upgrading?

What are you saying? That drivers license tests aren't rigorous? From talking with many Japanese over the years, I can assure you that a lot fail the first time. You have to be pretty well spot on to pass.

What do you mean by "regular upgrading"? Trying for a truck license, then a train, and so on? Everyone doing a driving test repeatedly every few years? No thanks. Not going to happen.

@rgcivilian1

I've never witnessed a fatality in my 55 years. Presumably you are a paramedic (??). On top of that, you must have witnessed at least dozens of violent traffic deaths, if what you say is supposed to mean something. Thanks for your service.

@john_holthouse, thank you for the response, no I'm a business owner and hence many traveling planes, trains and automobiles. So yes it is unfortunate that I have had my fair share of fatalities the meaning compared to speed vs the elderly driving mishaps, speed wins and as pointed out the majority were drivers under 50.

The accident sparked public outcry and calls for preventive measures to be taken to reduce the frequency of road fatalities caused by the elderly.

Good! Its about time! I hope its a very EFFECTIVE measure they're willing to take to help prevent old people with poor vision, Alzheimer's, inability to operate a vehicle properly, driving on the opposite side of the road! I feel like this a productive step!

The NPA aims to submit a bill to revise the road traffic law so that senior drivers with records of traffic offenses will be obliged to have their driving skills tested when they renew their licenses.

.....................[explitive]

There should’ve been a blanket ban on all drivers over 70 years ago. If you don’t know the difference between the accelerator and the brake you need to take the bus

What a ridiculous comment! You suggest banning all drivers over a certain age, and then suggest that the criteria for losing your license to be the ability to properly use the accelerator and brake. Which is it?