新奇事件簿 日本出台政策鼓励老人上交驾照（在线收听）

There is a new road-safety strategy in central Japan to encourage elderly drivers to stop driving. A company that operates 89 funeral homes is offering a 15 per cent discount on funeral services to any driver over the age of 75 who surrenders their driving licence. The discount also applies to family members of those relinquishing their licence. The scheme has the full backing of the local police force. Drivers must visit a police station to hand in their licence. Police officers then provide a document, which the elderly person hands to the funeral home as proof that they are no longer allowed to drive. Similar schemes in Japan have included cut-price taxi fares, discounts on entry to public baths and cheaper noodles.

为了鼓励老年司机停止驾车，日本中部出台了新的道路安全措施。运营了89家殡仪馆的一家公司提出为上交驾驶执照的所有75岁以上老人提供15%的葬礼折扣。该折扣同样适用于交出他们的执照的家人。该制度受到当地警方的全面支持。司机必须前往警察局上交驾照。然后警方提供一份文件，由老年人交给殡仪馆，证明他们丧失了驾车资格。日本类似的政策还包括减少税收，进入公共浴室的折扣和降价面条。

The latest initiative is a further attempt to reduce the number of traffic accidents involving seniors, which is becoming a serious problem in Japan. There are almost 5 million licence holders in Japan over the age of 75. This is double the number from a decade ago. In that same period, there has been an increase in the number of fatal collisions involving elderly drivers. Drivers aged 75 or older accounted for 13.2 per cent of fatal traffic accidents in central Japan's Aichi Prefecture last year. This is up from 7.7 per cent in 2007. Aichi police say some of those accidents involved seniors confusing the accelerator and brake pedals or mistakenly putting the vehicle into reverse.

这一最新举措是为了进一步降低老年人造成的交通事故，这个问题在日本已经非常严重。日本持有驾照的75岁以上老人接近500万，是十年前的两倍。同一时期，老年司机造成的致命交通事故也有所增加。去年，在日本中部的爱知县，13.2%的道路交通事故是由75岁以上老人造成的。而2007年，这一数字仅为7.7%。爱知县警方表示，造成交通事故的原因包括老年人把油门和刹车搞错，或者错误地倒车。