Jin Matsubara, the chairman of the National Public Safety Commission on May 31, 2012 said that the National Police Agency will convene a meeting next Tuesday, where they will be discussing about the tightening of the rules of issuing driver’s licenses to people who are suffering from epilepsy.
The panel who will be included in the meeting will have medical professionals, epileptic sufferers, police officials and members of a group, who will represent relatives of those who were killed in traffic accidents. The meeting has been called after an accident took place in the month of April in which a minivan ran through a crowded area and banged against the pedestrians in Kyoto.
Many of them were killed and at least eight others were critically injured. The accident involved a 30 year old driver who suffered from epilepsy and also died in the accident.
The sister of the deceased driver said that he suffered from epilepsy and many times blacked out in the past and even suffered convulsions, usually in the night. People with epilepsy are discriminated in Japan due to which they hide the problem even when they get a driver’s license. Japan has banned them from driving unless the medical authorities confirm that they have had no attacks in the past two years.
