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Should Japan Be Our Role Model? (Ban ISPs and Old Drivers)


Sometimes, I don't think we should follow in Japan's footsteps....like banning people from the internet for file sharing:

Copyright holders would use “special detection software” to sniff out online pirates and then notify the ISPs. Punishment is reminiscent of high school with ISPs first emailing a warning, then interrupting service if that doesn’t work, and finally, chronic violators would get expelled from the service. The ISPs are convening in April to figure out exactly how the new policy would operate.
(Yes, file sharing is bad when abused and heavy, repeat offenders would deserve punishment like this, but this isn't so great for the causal net user.)

And other Japanese activities, I wholeheartedly support....like this one:

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo businesses are to start offering benefits to elderly people who give up their drivers' licences, backing a police effort to cut back on the ballooning number of traffic accidents caused by drivers over 65.

Among more than 30 special offers, one small bank will give higher interest rates, while Mitsukoshi department store chain plans to provide free delivery from its Tokyo stores and a hotel will offer a 10 percent discount on meals in a program starting next month, Tokyo police said on their Web site.

"Have the courage to give up your licence," the police say on the site. "If you have lost confidence in your driving ... if your family says they are worried about you driving ... please think about handing in your licence."

Japan has the largest proportion of over-65s in the world and faces a growing problem with elderly drivers, who caused 100,000 traffic accidents last year, about twice the figure 10 years earlier, broadcaster NHK said.

I have no problem with people who are getting up there in age and can still drive and do things like a youngin' (actually, it amazes me and I hope to be that way someday!), but sometimes, elderly drivers are as bad as fresh teenage drivers and it 'can' get dangerous. Some people just don't know when to stop, and enticements like these making handing over your pride (as some people see it....I don't personally) not so bad after all.

What do you think about these new policies? Should other countries follow suit on both of these?

3 comments:
fairyhedgehog said...

I was taken aback by the idea of encouraging drivers over 65 to give up their licences. Maybe because I'm in my 50s and 65 doesn't seem very far off these days. There is a surprising amount of discrimination against older people these days, or so it seems to me, and at 65 I would have thought that the majority of people were still fully capable of driving. (Except for the drivers who weren't capable in the first place.)

Mind you, in the UK everyone's licence expires when they reach 70 and you have to apply for a new one. I think this gives the licensing authority the chance to check up on people's eyesight, which is one of the main things that can be a problem.

I wouldn't want to have Japan as a role model because my impression is that it is rather a rigid, authoritarian society and that doesn't particularly appeal to me. I have the feeling it would be a stressful place to live.

Jessi said...

I actually agree with you on several points. Most of the stuff I post around here is fairly light-hearted, so please don't think I was playing into that sort of discrimination. It's things like poor eyesight, decreasing reaction speed, slowed motor skills, etc, that sometimes causes older people not to be the greatest of drivers anyway.

As for the age they have it set at, it's like giving discounts for "senior citizens"....which is usually considered age 50-65 around most places I frequent. We have a family friend who is almost 60, but doesn't look or act a day over 45...and she refuses to take discounts like that and gets offended if someone asks her about taking the senior citizen discount because she's "not that old yet!" Lol. I have an 84-85 year old great-grandma who up until last year when she passed away, was still driving just fine! I have another relative who really *shouldn't* be driving, but refuses to give it up because then he'll 'feel' old, so I think incentives like this are great for people like 'him'.....that don't want to give up driving, but would do it if it had more perks.

A2V said...

Maybe instead of concentrating on returning the license with 65, they should revoke license when someone get involve in an accident twice, when your at fault.

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