Traffic accidents in Japan have increased rapidly since the 1950s with the growth in road transport. Fatalities surpassed 10,000 for the first time in 1959 and reached 16,765 in 1970. This has become a major social problem often typified by the expression "road warfare". The Traffic Safety Policies Law was enacted in 1970 in response to the situation and a comprehensive range of traffic accident prevention measures was implemented. These included greater presence on the roads with more traffic police officers, the introduction of an infringement system, improvements in the road and traffic environment and greater traffic safety activities at al I levels in the community. As a result, the number of traffic accidents feil sharply and fatalities due to traffic accidents stood at 8,466 in 1979, almost half that of the peak in 1970. However, traffic accident fatalities reverted into an upward trend after bottoming out in the latter half of the 1970s and exceeded 10,000 for eight consecutive years. Fatalities returned to their downward trend again in 1996 falling below 10,000 and in 2001, posted a figure below 9,000 for the first time in 20 years. Road accidents during 2001 can be broken down as follows: • Fatalities : 8,747 (Comparison with previous year: -319; -3.5%); • Injuries : 1,180,955 (Comparison with previous year: +25,258; +2.2%); • Accidents: 947,169 (Comparison with previous year: +15,235; +1.6%). Fatalities fell below 9,000 for the first time in 20 years while the number of accidents was the worst on record for the ninth year in a row. The number of injuries also registered the worst figure on record for the fourth consecutive year. Aspects which were particularly evident in fatal traffic accidents during 2001 were: • The number of fatalities among motor vehicle occupants decreased significantly. • Fatalities among youths in the 16 to 24 age group decreased. • Fatalities among senior citizens in the 75 and over age group riding a bicycle increased. • Fatalities on expressways increased. Statistics have always been kept on fatalities which occur within 24 hours of an accident and, since 1993, fatalities which occur within 30 days of an accident have also been added to the statistics. In 2001, this figure was 10,060. The ratio of fatalities within 30 days of an accident to fatalities within 24 hours was 1.15 times. (Author/publisher)
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