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 all levels in the community. As a result, the number of traffic accidents fell 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 after falling below 10,000 in 1996, and the figure in 2002 dropped to the level below half of those of 1970, the worst record of 16,765. Road accidents during 2002 can be broken down as follows: • Fatalities : 8,326 (Comparison with previous year: -421; -4.8%); • Injuries : 1,167,855 (Comparison with previous year: -13,100; -1.1%); • Accidents: 936,721 (Comparison with previous year: -10,448; -1.1%). Fatalities fell below half of those of 1970, the worst figure on the record. The number of accidents and injuries decreased for the first time in 12 years since 1990. Aspects which were particularly evident in fatal traffic accidents during 2002 were: • Fatalities among motor vehicle occupants decreased. • Fatalities among the 20's and 50's age groups decreased. • The ratio of fatalities among senior citizens (65 and over age group) increased. • Accidents among senior drivers increased. • Accidents caused by drunken driving decreased. 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 2002, this figure was 9,575. 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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