Seniors set out on road to new horizons

A growing number of older people have started learning to drive since the age limit was scrapped. Xin Wen reports.

Zhang Lanying's apartment is always clean and tidy.

It's as typical a home of a Beijing native as one could imagine: an old-fashioned square table adorns the dining room; a wooden bed with railings on three sides stands in the guest room; and when you enter the master room, sunshine spills onto the balcony.

Located near Beijing's East Third Ring Road, Zhang's apartment is on the fifth floor of an old building. However, there is no elevator, so the 69-year-old uses the stairs every day to go grocery shopping or simply take a walk.

In May 2021, she started a new routine: learning to drive at a suburban driving school in the hope of gaining a license.

"I enjoy the feeling of driving, and I take it very seriously. It was almost my proudest moment when I received my driver's license," she said.

Like Zhang, a growing number of Chinese seniors have started learning to drive in recent years, hoping to change their routines and improve their quality of life by learning a new skill in older age.

China has also introduced policy adjustments and reforms specifically for this purpose.

Twelve new public security traffic control measures were rolled out on Nov 22, 2020. In addition, the upper age limit of 70 to apply for a driver's license for small cars — both manual and automatic — and mopeds was scrapped, so anyone in good health can apply as long as they have passed the required tests and conform to more stringent standards than younger people.

Data from the Ministry of Public Security show that in June 2021, China had 16.57 million drivers age 60 and older, a rise of 16.36 percent from the same month the previous year.

China's economic growth and higher living standards in recent decades mean that more seniors now have the opportunity to learn to drive and buy automobiles.