Systems will be in place to prevent dangerous mix-ups.

It seems every few days the news reports on an elderly driver doing something incredibly dangerous, with the cause often being that they mistook the accelerator for the brake pedal.

A recent incident happened in Hokkaido on 13 June, when a driver in her 90s accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake and drove out of a parking lot into the street where she hit another car and then hopped a curb and embankment to crash into the side of a Starbucks. Luckily, no one was injured.

▼ A news report on the crash.

It’s certainly not a new problem, and prefectural governments have started efforts such as making license renewals stricter for seniors by including cognitive tests. Most prefectures also have license graduation systems where the elderly can voluntarily surrender their driver’s licenses for certain benefits like discounts on taxis and public transportation.

According to UN estimates, nearly one in ten licensed drivers in Japan is over 75 years old. Perhaps because the rate of Japan’s population aging is outpacing these efforts, little seems to have changed and storefronts continue to get smashed in by people getting their left and right mixed up.

So, on 17 June, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced that it would become mandatory for all automatic passenger cars made after 1 September 2028 in Japan to have an “acceleration pedal misapplication prevention system” installed. Imported cars will also require it from 1 September 2029.

An acceleration pedal misapplication prevention system is a safety feature in cars that will dull a vehicle’s ability to suddenly accelerate unless the driver performs certain actions that suggest they know what they’re doing, like recently pressing the brake pedal, going uphill, or using a turn signal. Toyota already has it as a feature that can be turned on in their cars.

▼ An explanation video of Toyota’s Acceleration Suppression System

While that may help matters when implemented, issues with elderly drivers are not limited to mistaking the brake and accelerator. On 11 June, a 99-year-old driver got into a collision when driving at 20 kilometers per hour (12 miles per hour) the wrong way through the tunnel of a major highway and injured the leg of another motorist in his 40s.

▼ A news report on the crash

Despite the age of the driver at fault, he was said to have passed his renewal examinations, including the cognitive test. Prominent writer, psychiatrist, and clinical psychologist Hideki Wada recently said that he believes the problem isn’t the age of the drivers but the side effects of the medication they take that’s been affecting their mental faculties, adding that this isn’t mentioned in news reports because pharmaceutical companies often sponsor television news programs.

Perhaps, taking a closer look at the medications, and especially combinations of medications, that elderly drivers are taking could also help judge their ability better than cognitive tests, but the fundamental problems remain. And while it continues to threaten everyone on the roads we’ll need to tackle it from all available angles, including technology.

Source: Car Watch, Ministry of  Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, President Online, Toyota, UNECE
Featured image: Pakuaso
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