It took seven months for the police to turn over to prosecutors their case against an 88-year-old former senior government official involved in a fatal car crash that killed a mother and her toddler in Tokyo in April. While once again highlighting the risk of accidents involving elderly drivers, the case of Kozo Iizuka, former chief of the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, also stirred up emotional controversies as the husband and father of the victims called for due punishment of the driver and public suspicions mounted that Iizuka escaped arrest because of his social standing.
While such sentiments are understandable given the circumstances, what we need to learn from the case above all else is why serious car accidents involving senior drivers continue to occur despite the repeated warnings and steps taken over the years to reduce the risks of such incidents. As one preventative measure, the system to gauge elderly people' ability to drive must be reviewed and improved.
On April 19, Iizuka's car was traveling at nearly 100 kilometers per hour on a street in the Ikebukuro neighborhood when it ran a red light, entered a crosswalk and fatally struck the two victims while injuring several others. Initially Iizuka told police that the car's brakes did not work, but months of investigation found no mechanical malfunction. The police concluded that Iizuka mistook the gas pedal for the brake — a common cause of accidents involving elderly drivers — as he reportedly admitted later that he may have done so in a fit of panic.