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. <\/p>\n
Here is some feedback on your comments.<\/p>\n
I totally agree with you.
\nThis is a good expression to learn if you don’t know it. “I completely agree with you” is also very common and natural.
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\nThey were there to be checked their driving skills to renew the license.
\nThey were there to have their driving skills checked so that they could renew their licenses.
\n<\/strong>
\n think that it\u2019s a nice system, though I don\u2019t know that it\u2019s the best way or not.
\n… though I don’t know if \/ whether it’s the best way or not.
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\nI am not sure but 70 years old drivers have to take a test when they renew their licences.
\n…, but drivers over the age of 70 have to …
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\nWe sometimes hear the news which seniors drive expressways the opposite direction.
\nWe 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!)
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\nShe lives in a countryside in Hyogo prefecture.
\nShe lives in the countryside in Hyoto Prefecture. (A-Z: countryside)
\n<\/strong>
\nLooking forward to hear from you again from time to time.
\nLooking forward to hearing from you again from time to time. (A-Z: look forward to)
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\nYou always don\u2019t hesitate to help people you don\u2019t know.
\nYou 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.)
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\nApparently, in Tokyo, older people who have returned their driver\u2019s license get a variety of discount at shops in Tokyo.
\nThanks for the interesting link.
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\nThen, there\u2019s nothing you can do about it.
\nA good translation of \u4ed5\u65b9\u304c\u306a\u3044.
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\nMy mother said to me he sometimes drives in a way like that so I told him about returning a driving license but he refused.
\nMy mother told me that he sometimes drives like that, so I spoke to him about returning his license, but he refused.
\n<\/strong>
\nHow about putting the message(and the name of the Jyoji\u2019s blog) in the pop-up window without a link? Anyway, let me know if there is anything I can do for you.
\nI might try that.
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\nCan you watch Japanese TV with your cellphone?
\nCan you watch Japanese TV on your cellphone?
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\nBut it originally depends on a skill.
\nBut it ultimately depends on an individual driver’s skill.
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\nI\u2019m glad hear you again!
\nNice to hear from you again.
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\nShe looks much younger for her age and drives excellent!
\nShe looks much younger than her age and drives really well.
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\nSome of my mama tomo suddenly finished their \u201cpaper driver career\u201d and started driving for their children.
\nThis 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.
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\n1. Most elderly people can\u2019t handle PC, so they can\u2019t oder goods by Internet.
\nThis 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.
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\nWe had had a heavy rain last night but it\u2019s cleared up:)
\nNo need for “a” before “heavy rain.”
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\nYou\u2019re sure of getting respect from her !!
\nYou will definitely win her respect.
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\nI think there is some truth in what the TV producer said. It
\nNice sentence.
\n<\/strong>
\nI posted new translation of the blog to my blog, actually I\u2019ve already done it yesterday\u2019s night (^_^;)
\nI posted a translation of the new entry on my blog. Actually, I did it last night.
\n<\/strong>
\nHere are some suggestions from me, but I\u2019m not sure about any of them. It\u2019s really difficult to translate David\u2019s entries. Now I realized how carelessly I used to read them.
\nJyoji, would you prefer people to post their suggestions on your blog, or on this one? Either way is fine by me.
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\nIt sounds like your ex-girlfriends are everywhere in Japan!(in the world? LOL)\u3000
\nWhen I was a bit younger, maybe…
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\nI\u2019m very worried about if his driving causes something serious.
\nI’m very worried that he might cause a serious accident.
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\nGiving up driving a car meant that my parents had to ask my sister-in law to drive them when they were going out.
\nVery nice sentence.
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\nI\u2019m sure that I can\u2019t drive anymore when I get old.
\nRemember 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.”
\n<\/strong>
\nWe discuss about English sentence more detail , then I understand it more deeply!!
\nDiscussing the English sentences in more detail will help me to understand more deeply.
\n<\/strong>
\nSo, I\u2019m wondering if \u201cshe\u201d in David\u2019s entry meant \u201ccar\u201d for \u201creligious reasons\u201d or just because the car was a possession of a woman(elderly woman).
\n“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.”
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\n> It\u2019s said in a book I\u2019m reading that It\u2019s not your fault when you confuse the break pedal and acceleration, it\u2019s just a bad design.
\nI 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.
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