Amid a series of accidents by elderly drivers in various places, a test drive event for a "safe driving support car" equipped with functions such as automatic braking was held at a supermarket in Katsuragi Town, Wakayama Prefecture.
A "safe driving support car" is a car equipped with a function that detects a car or a person in front and automatically applies the brakes, and a device that prevents the car from suddenly starting even if the accelerator is pressed hard by mistake for a brake. The country is working to popularize it.
At the test drive event held in the parking lot of a supermarket in Katsuragi-cho, people who visited for shopping got in the passenger seat of the support car and the car stopped automatically just in front of the panel installed about 10 meters away. I experienced the function.
A woman in her 60s said, "Even if I drive normally, I sometimes feel scared when people suddenly come out. The next time I buy a car, I want to have a car with these functions." Was there.
According to the Wakayama Prefectural Police Headquarters, from January to the end of October, there were 377 accidents involving elderly drivers aged 65 and over, of which 8 were accidents caused by mistaken accelerator and brake pedaling. That is.
Masayoshi Kinoshita, chief of the traffic section of the Katsuragi police station, said, "When you get older, your physical function will be lower than when you were young, so I would like you to utilize the function of the support car and connect it to traffic safety."