Japan's first facility exclusively tailored to elderly drivers taking classes to renew their driver’s license has been opened in the city of Saitama by the Saitama Prefectural Police.

In Japan, drivers 70 and older have to undergo sessions consisting of driving instruction and classroom lectures.

Additionally, individuals age 75 and above must take cognitive function tests to assess memory and judgment capabilities.

The new facility, created with the aim of reducing the waiting time for elderly drivers to renew their license, offers both lectures and tests.

The facility can accommodate up to 300 people per day — 120 for lectures and 180 for cognitive tests — and approximately 75,000 people per year.

Elderly drivers can take such lectures at driver’s license renewal facilities or driving schools. However, with the increasing number of senior drivers, waiting times for these sessions have grown considerably.

According to the Saitama Prefectural Police, the number of drivers age 70 and above in the prefecture rose from approximately 483,000 in 2014 to about 718,000 in 2023.

Despite the course being available from six months before the renewal deadline, the average waiting time for a reservation stood at approximately 30 days as of April this year.

On May 27, the day of the center’s opening, approximately 150 elderly people visited to attend the sessions.

Hiroshi Tsukui, 77, from the city of Kasukabe, commended the convenience of completing all required sessions in one centralized location.

Yutaka Kanaizumi, an official at the prefectural police’s driver's license division, said, "We’re aiming to minimize waiting times as much as possible, to ensure that elderly drivers approach their renewal periods without stress."

[bio]Translated by The Japan Times[bio]