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A woman in her 70s drove her car onto the train tracks in Nakano Ward, Tokyo, on Saturday night.
According to police, the woman came to a crossing on the Seibu Shinjuku Line between Numabukuro and Nogata stations at around 10:15 p.m. and then turned her car onto the tracks and drove east, Fuji TV reported.
She drove for about 100 meters before stopping. The driver of an oncoming train spotted the car and applied the emergency brake, stopping the train about 10 meters in front of the car.
Nobody was hurt, police said.
The woman, who lives in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, told police she was on her way home when she got lost and became confused when she got on the crossing. The right front tire on her car suffered a puncture on the train tracks and she was unable to move the vehicle.
Train services were delayed for about one hour, Seibu Railway said.
© Japan Today
7 Comments
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Do the hustle
Well, it’s pretty obvious the cognitive tests given to the elderly drivers twice a year are not stringent enough. Perhaps they should also be testing for intelligence.
Vince Black
They better not give her license back, she could drive it into a crowd of people next. This elderly driving epidemic is Japan's no.1 problem and needs to be stamped out fast
JohnDigsJapan
Was the crossing well lit or was it one of these that you can barely discern where the street continues? If it's dark and only lit by automobile lights, there could be a real chance someone may turn before it's time. Not excusing the act, but just perhaps giving another point of view.
socrateos
That was so close. The lady and passengers were saved by an alert train driver.
oldman_13
How many more of these incidents and close calls do we need?
If older people are not willing to give up driving, then stricter laws and regulations are needed.
Mandatory driving tests and health check ups every six months to a year for those above a certain age, such as 65.
No driving allowed after a certain age such as 70.
Enough is enough with political correctness. If the military can allow maximum age limits, so can the rest of society.
sir_bentley28
What more will it take for Japan to wake up and see that this is a problem to be taken care of? A man lost his wife and kid because of an elderly driver, copious amounts of cases where accidents were caused by the elderly resulting in death or serious injury because of confusion (stepping on the wrong pedal, driving in the opposite direction, ect)