Too Old to Drive (Feedback)

Thanks for all the comments. It seems most people agree that there should not be a maximum age for driving, but most are in favour of having frequent tests for older drivers. To be honest, I’m not sure what the situation is in Britain, so I will ask my mum. As I mentioned in Monday’s entry, this is going to become more and more of a problem for Japan as the average age of the population keeps increasing. I also read a news report saying that fewer young people are driving than ever before, so I guess that will mean an even bigger increase in the average age of drivers.

Here is some feedback on your comments.

I totally agree with you.
This is a good expression to learn if you don’t know it. “I completely agree with you” is also very common and natural.

They were there to be checked their driving skills to renew the license.
They were there to have their driving skills checked so that they could renew their licenses.

think that it’s a nice system, though I don’t know that it’s the best way or not.
… though I don’t know if / whether it’s the best way or not.

I am not sure but 70 years old drivers have to take a test when they renew their licences.
…, but drivers over the age of 70 have to …

We sometimes hear the news which seniors drive expressways the opposite direction.
We sometimes hear stories about senior citizens driving the wrong way along expressways. (I saw an old lady doing that in Hokkaido a couple of years ago. I was very surprised!)

She lives in a countryside in Hyogo prefecture.
She lives in the countryside in Hyoto Prefecture. (A-Z: countryside)

Looking forward to hear from you again from time to time.
Looking forward to hearing from you again from time to time. (A-Z: look forward to)

You always don’t hesitate to help people you don’t know.
You never hesitate to help people even if you don’t know them. (I guess I learned that from my mum and dad. I think living in Hokkaido helped, too. Because everyone gets stuck in the snow sometimes, people are really helpful, and everyone stops to help everyone else.)

Apparently, in Tokyo, older people who have returned their driver’s license get a variety of discount at shops in Tokyo.
Thanks for the interesting link.

Then, there’s nothing you can do about it.
A good translation of 仕方がない.

My mother said to me he sometimes drives in a way like that so I told him about returning a driving license but he refused.
My mother told me that he sometimes drives like that, so I spoke to him about returning his license, but he refused.

How about putting the message(and the name of the Jyoji’s blog) in the pop-up window without a link? Anyway, let me know if there is anything I can do for you.
I might try that.

Can you watch Japanese TV with your cellphone?
Can you watch Japanese TV on your cellphone?

But it originally depends on a skill.
But it ultimately depends on an individual driver’s skill.

I’m glad hear you again!
Nice to hear from you again.

She looks much younger for her age and drives excellent!
She looks much younger than her age and drives really well.

Some of my mama tomo suddenly finished their “paper driver career” and started driving for their children.
This is really scary. They are some of the worst drivers on the road. They have a very low level of driving skills, and they are constantly distracted by their children.

1. Most elderly people can’t handle PC, so they can’t oder goods by Internet.
This is true, but of course it will change in a few years. I guess people of my age (and a bit older) will be the first senior citizens to be computer literate. We will just order everything online.

We had had a heavy rain last night but it’s cleared up:)
No need for “a” before “heavy rain.”

You’re sure of getting respect from her !!
You will definitely win her respect.

I think there is some truth in what the TV producer said. It
Nice sentence.

I posted new translation of the blog to my blog, actually I’ve already done it yesterday’s night (^_^;)
I posted a translation of the new entry on my blog. Actually, I did it last night.

Here are some suggestions from me, but I’m not sure about any of them. It’s really difficult to translate David’s entries. Now I realized how carelessly I used to read them.
Jyoji, would you prefer people to post their suggestions on your blog, or on this one? Either way is fine by me.

It sounds like your ex-girlfriends are everywhere in Japan!(in the world? LOL)　
When I was a bit younger, maybe…

I’m very worried about if his driving causes something serious.
I’m very worried that he might cause a serious accident.

Giving up driving a car meant that my parents had to ask my sister-in law to drive them when they were going out.
Very nice sentence.

I’m sure that I can’t drive anymore when I get old.
Remember that “can” is not normally used to talk about the future: “I’m sure that I won’t be able to drive anymore when I get old.”

We discuss about English sentence more detail , then I understand it more deeply!!
Discussing the English sentences in more detail will help me to understand more deeply.

So, I’m wondering if “she” in David’s entry meant “car” for “religious reasons” or just because the car was a possession of a woman(elderly woman).
“She” referred to the woman, not the car. I suppose that strictly speaking, it should be “Her car had broken down,” but in normal conversation, you can just say “I broke down on the way to work” or “He is going to be late because he has broken down.”

> It’s said in a book I’m reading that It’s not your fault when you confuse the break pedal and acceleration, it’s just a bad design.
I agree. I think the brake should be to the left of the steering column, and the accelerator to the right. People should be taught to accelerate with their right foot and brake with their left. This would reduce the confusion. With manual cars, there used to be tendency to put the brake and the accelerator as close together as possible on sports cars. This was to allow drivers to use a technique called “heel-and-toeing.” When you are traveling quickly and you brake sharply for a curve, you need to rev the engine as you brake so that you can put it into a lower gear. If the brake is close to the accelerator, you can use the heel of your right foot to push the accelerator, the toe to push the brake, and your left foot to push the clutch. All racing drivers used to have to learn this when racing cars had manual transmissions, and I guess some people (mostly men!) think it is cool to keep the same design even though most really fast cars are not automatics. Here is a video of the technique.

Actually, the same is true with bikes, so when you approach a curve on a racing motorcycle, you have to operate the clutch with your left hand, the accelerator and front brake with your right hand, the gears with your left foot, and the rear brake with your right foot. Modern motorcycles have “slipper clutches” that make it easier to change down through the gearbox when you are braking hard, but it is still a very difficult skill to master.

That’s it for today. Have a great weekend, and I’ll be back with a new topic on Monday.