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TOKYO — Amid a spike in the number of accidents involving elderly drivers, Japan has begun implementing a tougher cognitive function test for senior citizens who wish to renew their driver’s licence.
Those suspected of dementia will have to forfeit their licence, hopefully bringing down the number of accidents. Municipalities must also help the elderly to find other ways to get around without driving.
Last October, a man in his 80s driving a light truck ploughed his vehicle into a group of primary school students, killing one and injuring six others in Yokohama.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a Cabinet meeting to discuss how to handle the rise in such traffic accidents across the country, in which the elderly become both offenders and victims.
The revised law, which took effect on March 12, has made a tougher dementia test mandatory for people aged 75 or older when they renew their driver’s licence every three years.
As Japan ages, the number of driver’s licence-holders subject to tougher mandatory tests has nearly doubled from around 2.58 million in 2006 to some 5.13 million last year, according to the National Police Agency. This population size is expected to soar as the post-war baby boomers join them around 2025.
If drivers aged 75 or older are suspected of dementia in the cognitive test, medical checkups will be mandatory. Those diagnosed with dementia will have their driver’s licence taken away.
Tightening the law
While compulsory testing every three years was previously required, those suspected of suffering from dementia did not need to see a doctor unless they violated certain traffic regulations, such as driving backwards or through a red light. So there was a risk of a person causing a serious accident, if their symptoms worsened over the three years.
Fatal traffic accidents in Japan totalled about 3,400 cases last year, down from about 6,100 in 2005. However, those caused by drivers aged 75 or older have remained flat at more than 400 each year over the same period.
Last year, 459 fatal traffic accidents were caused by aged drivers, accounting for around 10 per cent of the total. Of the 459 cases, 31 broke traffic rules in the lead-up to their accidents, which might have been prevented by mandatory dementia testing.
The law revision is expected to increase the number of drivers who have to see a doctor for a dementia check from 4,027 in 2015 to around 50,000 a year. Of these, 15,000 are expected to have their driver’s licence revoked or suspended, up from 1,472 the same year, according to the National Police Agency.
The police agency is also urging doctors nationwide to cooperate in examining the elderly for signs of dementia.
Rural-urban divide
The number of drivers who voluntarily returned their licence jumped from 19,025 in 2005 to 345,313 last year, according to the agency. Tokyo and Osaka witnessed particularly high numbers of voluntary licence forfeits, compared to relatively low figures in rural areas due to limited public transport in those places.
In Nishimera village, Miyazaki Prefecture in south-western Japan, people aged 65 or older account for 40 per cent of villagers. Many drive to fields or the hospital. The municipality offers a taxi coupon worth ¥144,000 (S$1,810) as a one-time benefit to those who voluntarily return their driver’s licence, aiming to “facilitate them in getting used to life without a car”, a municipality official said.
In much of Japan’s countryside, however, the revised law may deprive the elderly of a way of getting around. Mr Hiroshi Shinoda, 75, who routinely drives in his town of Kuroshio, Kochi Prefecture in western Japan, said he understands the importance of the enhanced screening.
“It’s inevitable that we have tougher medical tests to prevent severe damage,” he said. But in a mountainous village where buses run only once a day, he added that “a car is essential to daily life”. The elderly would not be able to function in their daily lives, he said, without substitute means such as taxi-sharing.
The National Police Agency set up a committee in January to discuss the issue with relevant ministry officials, dementia researchers and traffic psychologists. The authority is considering taking further measures based on deteriorating judgment and eyesight, and detailed analyses of accidents.
Mr Kiyoshi Komoda, an automotive critic, said: “We want healthy elderly to drive, but screening for dementia is necessary to prevent accidents. The problem is the symptoms are up and down with dementia, probably making it more difficult in some cases for doctors to make a judgment.” KYODO NEWS