Nearly 30,000, mostly elderly, returned driver's licenses in 2008

TOKYO, Feb. 12 Kyodo -
The number of people who voluntarily gave up their driver's licenses in Japan
last year hit an annual high of 29,150, a 49.8 percent increase from a year
earlier, the National Police Agency said in a report released Thursday.

Those aged 65 or older came to 28,097, accounting for 96.4 percent of the total
and nearly quadrupling from the 7,236 in 2002 when age-specific data became
available.
In 1998, the Japanese government began prodding elderly people to voluntarily
surrender their licenses as part of efforts to curb road accidents caused by
such people.
The sudden rise in the figure was likely a result of local governments, police
departments and business corporations across the country having stepped up
efforts, particularly since last year, to provide preferential treatment, such
as offering reductions in taxi and bus fares as well as hotel charges, to those
who return their licenses voluntarily, police officials said.
As of the end of last year, such preferential measures were taken in 26 out of
Japan's 47 prefectures, the officials said.
By age category, those aged 75 to 79 accounted for the biggest chunk of 9,326,
followed by 7,609 for those aged 80 to 84, and 6,460 for those aged 70 to 74.
Tokyo saw the number of people giving up their licenses grow the most to 5,827
in 2008, an increase of 4,533 from a year before. Hyogo Prefecture placed
second with an increase of 1,096 to 1,279, and Miyazaki Prefecture was third
with an increase of 929 to 1,019.
==Kyodo