Traffic deaths are surging in Japan because of all the seniors behind the wheel

pulse

July 25, 2017 6:52 PM

Data from Japan's National Police Agency show a growing trend of senior citizens causing fatalities behind the wheel.

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As people age, they tend to lose sharpness when it comes to reaction time, spatial awareness, and vision.

In Japan, where the elderly population has been swelling for the past two decades, that shift has led to an alarming trend on the road.

Recent data from the country's National Police Agency show that 13% of traffic deaths (459 fatalities) were caused by a driver 75 years and older in 2016. That's up from 7.4% in 2006. What's more, senior-caused traffic accidents, fatal or not, have been increasing since the late 1990s.

Two factors seem to be at play. The first is that the rate of traffic fatalities overall has actually been going down — the 2016 figure was a 67-year low for Japan. But the other is that Japan's elderly population keeps growing, which means more older drivers are on the road.

As a result, the elderly are keeping the traffic death count higher than it would be if they were to hand over their keys.

Private industry and local governments have tried to persuade them to stop driving. At least 10 years ago, Japanese banks started offering higher interest rates to seniors who gave up their drivers' licenses. Department stores started offering free delivery to senior customers. Recently, one town began awarding seniors one year of free bus rides, at which point taxi services began pushing discounts of their own.

Such strategies may be necessary, since Japan isn't getting any younger.

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