In recent years, countermeasures to improve traffic safety for older people are intended to maintain their mobility through training, rather than to impose restrictions on their driver license status (see Hakamies-Blomqvist, IRRD 899053). Even if older drivers' risk of causing a fatal accident is proven statistically higher than other drivers, it would be difficult to legally limit their driving just because of their age, since for many elderly, driving is indispensable for living. Therefore, the focus should be placed on the consequences of its relationship between accident occurrence and physical/mental deterioration as a basis for pragmatic educational interventions. This chapter discusses the efforts made by the National Police Agency in implementing a nation-wide standardised training course for older drivers in Japan. An accident analysis was conducted to get an understanding of the individual behaviour of older drivers. A questionnaire survey was carried out in order to investigate the needs and attitudes of older drivers. This process was necessary as considering the needs of older people in designing the 3 hour training programme was viewed as indispensable to provide different programmes for different target groups in order to maximise the effect of the training.
Abstract