driver in her 90s (Newspaper Article & My Essay)

One dead and three injured after driver in her 90s mounts curb in Kanagawa
mount curb(縁石に乗り上げる)
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/05/28/national/one-dead-three-injured-driver-90s-mounts-curb-kanagawa/#.WxJNAeSCi0c
Kyodo, AFP-JIJI

May 28, 2018  Article history

YOKOHAMA – A female driver in her 90s plough(plowと同じ。突き進む)ed into four pedestrians on a road in a Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Monday morning, killing one woman, police said, in the latest incident to highlight the growing problem of elderly drivers involved in fatal accidents.

According to firefighters, the driver as well as six others — four victims and two others who witnessed the accident and became sick — were taken to hospital. Of the six, one woman died and another was knocked unconscious. Those rushed to the hospital ranged in age from their 30s to 60s.

The police said the incident, which occurred around 10:55 a.m., took place after the car hit four people at a busy intersection(交通量の多い交差点で), mounted a curb and hit two others on the sidewalk some 300 meters north of JR Chigasaki Station.

Local media said the driver was also slightly injured.

“I heard a loud hitting noise,” said a 31-year-old employee of a nearby Chinese restaurant. “When I went outside, I saw a car looking like it had jumped a sidewalk and then some people were taken away by an ambulance.”

A series of fatal crashes caused by elderly drivers in the country has left authorities grappling for ways to clamp down on the problem.

Drivers over 65 were responsible for 965 deadly accidents nationwide — more than a quarter of the total — in 2016, according to the National Police Agency.

Most accidents caused by elderly drivers resulted from them mixing up the accelerator and the brake(アクセルとブレーキを踏み間違える) or losing control of the steering wheel(ハンドル操作を誤る).

(My Essay)
This is the 8th or 9th news of fatal car accidents in recent one year caused by elderly drivers. It is really frustrating. I understand that public transportations in rural areas are not ENOUGH, but most of fatal car accidents by elderly drivers occurred in urban area where they live comfortably without cars. The police is promoting a campaign to let elderly people give up their driver’s license, but it is not mandatory. Elderly people who do not have dementia or eye problems are allowed to keep driver’s license, even if thru are over 80. They are not aware of their aging eyes, slow responsiveness, and growing selfishness. The elderly driver who caused the accident ignored red light. Age is one of the factors that increase selfishness.

Some elderly drivers have stopped BUYING voluntary car insurance because the premium is higher for older people. So, casualties are killed for almost nothing and the injured need to burden their hospital cost.

Why has the government not yet passed a bill to ban elderly people from driving? The government and Diet see only elections. Elderly people and car industry are the biggest voting sources. Elderly people go to election compared to young people, and they are the biggest demographics. A quarter of Japanese people are over 65 years old. Car industry is the biggest tax payer and the biggest employer. Without the car industry, there would be less revenue and workers. Therefore, policies unfavorable for elderly people and car industry will result in a lost in election.

I believe that the relaxed policy for elderly drivers will not change until a Diet member of their family becomes a victim of an elderly driver’s car.