With car accidents caused by elderly drivers on the rise, the Japanese prefecture of Aichi has come up with a creative solution to the problem.
Noodles.
Well, a noodle discount.
For elderly people, a driver’s license may be the last bit of pride and freedom they feel they have. Because of this, there’s no easy way to solve the issue.
However, Aichi police and local businesses have initiated a partnership they believe could help reduce the number of accidents caused by elderly drivers.
They announced beginning Nov. 25, any senior Aichi citizen that surrenders his or her driver’s license will receive a 15-percent discount on ramen noodles, a local favorite.
This discount is available at all 176 Sugakiya ramen restaurants in Aichi.
The ultimate goal of the partnership is to have elderly drivers voluntarily surrender their driver’s licenses by having local businesses give them a desirable incentive to do so.
Discounts are almost always sure to excite and catch people’s attention. This can be proven by my living room full of Black Friday door-busters that I bought last week.
From the restaurant chain’s perspective, this discount should be effective in generating more business.
Even with the great incentive that these discounts bring, we couldn’t help but wonder if a discount on noodles truly made the most sense as an incentive for people to give up their license. Could there be other discounts and incentives that would be more useful to the elderly and make them more willing to give up their license?
An alternative discount that could be a better option would be one on public transportation. With trains and buses being two more reasonably priced transportation options, it seems like discounts on either of these could have made more practical sense than discounts on noodles. Without a form of transportation, the citizens that surrendered their licenses have no easy way to get the noodles.
To be fair, there is a small discount given on taxi rides. However, taxis in Japan are one of the most expensive ways to travel, and lines and wait times for a taxi can be very long.
So, chances are high that you could end up paying more for your taxi ride to the ramen restaurant than you would be saving with your 15 percent discount.
With 176 Sugakiya ramen restaurants in Aichi, you could argue that it might be possible for some citizens to walk to a nearby restaurant. However, it is unreasonable to expect elderly citizens to walk a mile or more to get to the restaurants from their homes.
Aichi is not the only prefecture in Japan trying to find a solution to traffic accidents caused by elderly drivers.
Cities like Tokyo have also begun offering incentives to elderly citizens in exchange for surrendering their driver’s licenses.
We remain slightly skeptical of this approach, while also recognizing that the success of this arrangement would spur business, decrease the risk of traffic accidents and most importantly increase the overall safety of Aichi citizens.
