Text/Wei Bo

On October 22, the Ministry of Public Security held a press conference to announce 12 new management policies related to motor vehicles. Among them, the most interesting one among netizens was "The upper age limit of 70 years old for applying for driving licenses for small cars, small automatic cars, and mopeds has been cancelled."

This means that people who are over 70 years old can also take the driving license test, according to the relevant departments , which is to adapt to the new needs of the development of an aging society. For those over the age of 70 who apply for a driver's license, relevant departments will add tests on memory, judgment, reaction and other abilities to ensure that their physical conditions meet the requirements for safe driving, and a physical examination is required every year.

It seems that in addition to square dancing, taking grandchildren to and from school, fishing and planting flowers, the elderly have another place to go in their later years. In the long run, this will help boost car sales (including second-hand car circulation) and drive related GDP growth - the more elderly people there are in society, the bigger the market will be!

After talking about the pros, let’s talk about the cons. A large number of elderly people driving on the road may increase traffic management costs. And it is not ruled out that elderly people may die suddenly when they run out of gas while driving, leading to serious traffic accidents. Personally, I feel that the most valuable application scenario of self-driving technology and the easiest to pass legally is when the driver suddenly loses consciousness, taking over the driving of the vehicle and safely parking it on the roadside, and then calling for rescue.

So, what do driving schools think of this new regulation?

In this regard, AutoLab interviewed Mr. Zhao, the person in charge of enrollment at a driving school. Mr. Zhao said that before this, the only way for Chinese people to get a driver's license was to sign up to learn to drive first, and then take the driver's license test after learning to drive. The driver's license test was the "last step" in learning to drive, and there is a continuation and subordination relationship between "learning" and "testing". If the law at that time allowed people over 70 years old to apply for a motor vehicle driving license, then the driving school could not refuse the registration application of people over 70 years old to learn to drive at the driving school.

However, "learning" and "testing" were later separated. Learning to drive and taking the driver's license test were two independent systems. Many returnees had never learned to drive in a domestic driving school and directly signed up to take the domestic driver's license test. At present, the registration work for driving license examination is still undertaken by driving schools. Driving schools have no right to refuse applications for people over 70 years old, but they have the right to refuse applications for people over 70 years old to learn to drive - "Driving training is not compulsory education, such as skydiving and diving skills training, different schools All have their own age limits."

According to Mr. Zhao, if people over 70 are accepted to learn to drive, it will increase the cost and risk of the driving school.

Mr. Zhao said that his driving school had previously accepted a 68-year-old student, who was said to be the father-in-law of a certain leader. He had always wanted to learn to drive, so he was assigned to the driving school. No instructor was willing to take over such a student. Later, the driving school used a lottery method to "forcibly assign" this special student.

According to the usual practice, one coach takes three students at a time, and they use a coach car, and everything goes smoothly. Later, when I was studying for subject three, I was about to drive on the road, and the problem suddenly erupted - when the veteran students drove, their senses and reactions were half a beat slower than those of the younger students, which led to dangers on the road. In the end, the car was even scratched. I called the police and then the insurance company, which wasted a lot of time. So much so that the other two students were no longer willing to use a car with them.

Later, this coach car became the exclusive coach car of this 68-year-old student, and the coach also became his "personal trainer". As we all know, the number of students and the teaching cycle determine the income of the driving school instructor, so before the end of subject three, the instructor resigned and switched to another driving school. As a last resort, the driving school made many promises to persuade another instructor to take over, and finally allowed the "leader's father-in-law" to get his driver's license and leave.

Since then, Mr. Zhao’s driving school has never accepted students over the age of 60.

Mr. Zhao said that in fact, it cannot be ruled out that some elderly people over 70 years old are in very good mental and physical condition and have very keen sensory responses - this falls into the category of "small probability of excellence". But for the driving school instructor, he has no way to determine whether the elderly student in front of him has a "small probability of being outstanding" before getting to know him in depth. In other words, traditional driving schools are unwilling to take risks for "small probability of excellence", so the approach with high probability can only be "one size fits all".

In fact, what the driving school does is right.

In the final analysis, there is a conflict between the traditional driving training model and the learning needs of the new era.

How to meet the needs of the elderly for learning to drive?

When the country relaxed the 70-year-old age limit for driver’s license applications, it actually opened up another level of business opportunities.

After most elderly people learn to drive and get a license, they actually have no urgent need to drive to a large extent.

When these elderly people were young, they were under the planned economy. Ordinary people at that time could not afford cars. The cars were all owned by work units and the drivers were all awesome. Many young people at that time were more or less I have always dreamed of being a driver. Later, people got rich and could buy cars, but they also got older, but their previous longing for drivers still lingered.

Whether it is square dancing or indulging in the promotion of health care products, the essence is that the elderly are afraid of loneliness, fear of being disconnected from society, and fear of not being able to reflect their own value. In this case, for the elderly, the social role of learning to drive is greater than the actual skills training. Money is not an issue. The elderly care more about the process of learning rather than the results of learning - just like the current "senior university".

Since there are universities for the elderly, there should be driving schools for the elderly in society. Its training methods and even examination aids should be adapted for the elderly. For example, in the subject one test, the elderly are not proficient in computer operation. At this time, relevant personnel should provide operation assistance.

In addition, colleges for the elderly can launch one-to-one private tutoring services, which charge higher fees than traditional driving schools. The instructors have experienced relevant training and can understand the psychology of the elderly and understand first aid procedures for the elderly. They can provide elderly students with Better service. In addition, it would be great if the Hongqi sedan could be used as a coach car - people of that era had some secrets about the Hongqi sedan.

In addition, it cannot be ruled out that the elderly have the need to form a team to "charter a coach". Three old men or old ladies with a good relationship can charter a coach and a coach. In this case, how to grasp class time and control risks needs to be studied by relevant institutions.

In short, the elderly driving school market may be no less than the elderly health care products market in the future.

How do foreign countries deal with the problem of aging drivers?

Unlike China, which has liberalized the age limit for driver’s license applications, the policy trend in many developed countries is to tighten it. Relatively speaking, all developed countries in the world have experienced the problem of aging drivers earlier than China.

Japan plans to issue special driver's licenses to elderly drivers and restrict them from purchasing and driving cars equipped with special safety and security features - such as AEB active emergency braking systems, anti-brake braking systems and other active safety features. Technology models. According to relevant data in Japan, the number of elderly drivers mistakenly pressing the accelerator for the brake has remained high.

In addition, Japan is also piloting the replacement of specially identified license plates for models targeted at elderly drivers, so that other drivers on the road can be alert when seeing this car. Interestingly, this trick works very well. Many elderly Japanese drivers who were previously unwilling to voluntarily give up their driver's licenses voluntarily surrendered and gave up their driver's licenses after changing to "senior license plates."

The reason is that Japanese people are good at face, especially the elderly. Giving up your seat to the elderly on Japanese buses and subways is a very unpopular behavior, because Japanese elderly people are dissatisfied with their old age. Don't want to be regarded as an "old man" by others. With such a mentality, how can elderly drivers be willing to endure the government putting a license plate unique to elderly car owners on their cars? ?

In Germany and some states in the United States, the government is more willing to fiddle with the car insurance system - the older the driver, the higher the premium, which prompts many elderly drivers to voluntarily give up their driver's licenses . However, insurance companies still provide a 9% discount for vehicles equipped with AEB active emergency braking systems.

There are also other countries that restrict the time and distance that the elderly can drive every day - for example, they cannot drive during rush hours, and they cannot drive more than 10 kilometers away from their residence... to buy groceries. Yes, self-driving tours are not allowed!

I think we in China should also learn from it.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.