Police in the Aichi prefecture are trying to make elderly drivers hand over their keys – by offering them discounts on ramen noodles.
They are giving out a 15 per cent discount on a 500 yen (around AU$6) meal of ramen, rice and salad at 176 outlets of the Sugakiya restaurant chain – that’s a lousy 90 cents.
But the local government’s other incentives, which include discounts on public baths, hairdressers and dentists and lower taxi fares, are working. 12,000 retired drivers have already taken them up this year by surrendering their licences.
The power of perks
The Japanese Government has been trying to cut the number of car accidents involving the over-75’s, which have jumped from 7.4 per cent to 12.8 per cent over the last decade.
But in 2015, only two per cent – around 270,000 – of Japan’s elderly drivers handed in their licences.
From next March, drivers aged over 74 who are pulled over by the police or show signs of memory loss during licence tests will be required to undergo dementia tests. Here, drivers need to have a medical review every year once they reach 75 in NSW, while in WA it’s 80.
Of course, if self-driving cars become reality, that’s a lot more enticing than a cheap bowl of noodles.
