Breaking News English

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

The latest initiative is a [further / farther] attempt to reduce the number of traffic accidents [involvement / involving] seniors, which is [becoming / become] a serious problem in Japan. There are [most / almost] 5 million licence holders in Japan over the age of 75. This is [doubling / double] the number from a decade [age / ago] . In that same period, there has been an increase in the number of [fatally / 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 / increase] from 7.7 per cent in 2007. Aichi police say some of [those / them] accidents involved seniors confusing the accelerator and brake pedals or mistakenly putting the vehicle [into / onto] reverse.