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Published 20:49 IST, September 15th 2019

75-year-old taxi driver in Japan rams into a sidewalk, 7 injured

An elderly taxi driver on Saturday rammed his car into the sidewalk. The 75-year-old ended up injuring 7 people who were watching a street musical performance

Reported by: Misha Bhatt
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An elderly taxi driver on Saturday rammed his car into the sidewalk in Japan. The 75-year-old ended up injuring 7 people who were watching a street musical performance at Nagoya's station square.

The incident happened at around 9:25 pm (local time) near the city's Kanayama station. As per a Japan Time's report, four men and three women were left injured in the incident. So far no deaths have been reported.

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"While people were attending to those who had been injured by the vehicle, the taxi suddenly backed up, hitting and injuring more people," said one of the eyewitnesses of the incident.

Elderly taxi driver arrested by Japan's National Police Agency (NPA)

The 75-year-old taxi driver was later arrested by the police. As per the police sources, the driver does not remember what happened. The driver's colleague said, Katsuhiro Komori did not have any problems at work and had never caused an accident.

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Japan to soon have a new driver's license system

This is not the first time that an elderly driver has caused an accident in Japan. National Police Agency (NPA), in the aftermath of similar incidences caused by elderly drivers, is in talks with the land ministry and other important ministries are in the process of developing a new driver's license system which will limit the senior citizens to cars with certain developed safety features and a mandatory cognitive assessment test during their license renewals.

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Japan has faced similar incidents in the past as well. Last year, senior citizens in Japan caused 460 fatal traffic accidents. The accidents were caused by drivers aged 75 or above. The rate of accidents has surged from 8.7 percent in 2008 to 14.8 percent in 2018, The National Police Agency (NPA) said.

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(With inputs from ANI)

19:11 IST, September 15th 2019