(うんてんめんきょ)

driver's license

(かえす)

to return (something); to give back

(こうれいしゃ)

elderly person

(ふえる)

to increase; to grow

(くるま)

car

(じぶん)

oneself

(けいさつちょう)

National Police Agency

(きょねん)

last year

(ねんかん)

period of ~ years

(めんきょ)

license

(ひと)

person / people

(ぜんこく)

nationwide; the whole country

(やく)

approximately, about

(まんにん)

ten thousand people (counter)

(ねんまえ)

years ago

(くらべる)

to compare

(ばい)

times; double

(いじょう)

more than; beyond this

(りゆう)

reason; cause

(うんてん)

operation, driving

(じしん)

confidence

(かぞく)

family

(すすめる)

to recommend, to advise

(こえ)

voice

(おおい)

many

(じこ)

accident; incident

(にゅーす)

news

(おおきい)

big; large

(つたえる)

to convey / to tell

(えいきょう)

Influence; impact; effect

(いう)

to say

(いっぽう)

on the other hand / meanwhile

(せいかつ)

daily life; livelihood

(ちほう)

region; area

(もんだい)

problem

(ばす)

bus

(でんしゃ)

electric train

(すくない)

few, scarce

(ちいき)

region; area

(かいもの)

shopping

(びょういん)

hospital

(いく)

to go

(たいへん)

tough, serious

(たくしー)

taxi

(やすい)

cheap / inexpensive

(りよう)

use; utilization

(し)

city

(まち)

town

is doing, has been doing (ongoing state/action)

Expresses a continuing action or resulting state. Formed with て-form + いる. Can describe an action in progress or a state resulting from a past change.

according to ...

Cites a source of information. The noun before によると is the source. Often followed by a reported statement.

when / if ~

Conditional form expressing natural consequences. If you keep using while charging, it gets hot. If you keep using a swollen battery, fire can occur.

to become

Expresses a change of state; Kawai became the new commissioner of the Sports Agency.

to become (い-adjective)

Expresses a change of state for い-adjectives. Drop the final い and add くなる. Indicates something has changed or will change to a new state.

passive form

Passive voice. Here the rocket is designed (設計されています) and can be launched (打ち上げられる) at lower cost.

nominalizer (the act of ~)

Turns a verb phrase into a noun. Here 話を聞くこと (the act of listening to a speech).

hard to ~; difficult to ~

Attached to a verb stem to describe difficulty — 'people who have difficulty hearing'.

can do / be able to (potential)

In 運転できない it expresses the potential of being able (or not able) to drive a car.

the one who / the thing that ~ (nominalizing の)

の stands in for an unnamed person or thing. 引き継ぐのが、大岩剛さんです means 'the one who takes over is Go Oiwa'.

therefore; for that reason

Connects cause and result — because of more investors and profits, more people buy stocks.

to make sure that, to ensure that

Expresses the goal of bringing about a certain state or preventing something. Formed with verb plain form + ようにする. Often used to describe efforts to ensure or prevent something.

運転免許を返す高齢者が増える

More elderly people are giving up their driver licenses

車の運転免許を自分から返す高齢者が増えています。

The number of elderly people who voluntarily give up their car driver licenses is increasing.

警察庁によると、去年1年間で免許を返した人は全国で約40万人でした。

According to the National Police Agency, about 400,000 people nationwide returned their licenses during the past year.

10年前と比べると、3倍以上になっています。

Compared with 10 years ago, that is more than three times as many.

返す理由は、「運転に自信がなくなった」「家族に勧められた」という声が多いです。

As reasons for handing them in, many people say "I lost confidence in my driving" or "My family urged me to."

高齢者の事故がニュースで大きく伝えられることも、影響していると言われています。

It is said that the heavy news coverage of accidents involving elderly drivers is also having an effect.

一方、車がないと生活できない地方では、免許を返しにくいという問題もあります。

On the other hand, in rural areas where people cannot get by without a car, there is also the problem that giving up a license is hard to do.

バスや電車が少ない地域では、買い物や病院に行くのが大変になります。

In areas with few buses and trains, going shopping or to the hospital becomes difficult.

そのため、免許を返した人がタクシーを安く利用できるようにする市や町が増えています。

For that reason, more cities and towns are arranging things so that people who have handed in their licenses can use taxis cheaply.