Walking my dog through Shinyashiki, a wealthy neighborhood, we witnessed an elderly woman enter her Benz and accelerate at high speed into the wall just in front of her. She was more embarrassed than injured, fortunately, but it made me realize the danger of mistaking the accelerator and the break, particularly among the elderly, a growing problem in Japan.
Kumamoto has joined five other prefectures in providing subsidies (4 million yen total, not per person) to drivers 65 and older for mechanisms to prevent these accidents. One is a sensor which halts the car when an obstruction is detected; the second is Is a sensor which prevents excessive acceleration; the third places a rubber pad under the accelerator pedal to aid in differentiation. Kumamoto is currently recruiting car shops for retrofits.
Coincidentally, a top article in Japan Today today regarded the case of an 88-year-old former senior bureaucrat who caused a fatal car crash in central Tokyo in April due to this cause. I hope technology will increasingly come to the aid of the elderly (particularly given my age). - William
