In 2013 there were 4,373 fatalities from traffic accidents, and while there have been less accidents and people injured in accidents in recent years, the situation remains grave. In view of this, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the National Agency for Automotive Safety & Victims’ Aid, as a safety measure, are implementing tests to assess the safety performance of commercially available vehicles, the results of which are released in the “New Car Assessment Program.” The objective of Japan New Car Assessment Program is to increase the use of safe automobiles by providing an environment in which users can easily select such vehicles. This also promotes the development of safer vehicles by automobile manufacturers. Specifically, while all commercially available vehicles conform to the safety standards of Japan’s Road Transport Vehicle Law, braking performance used to avoid accidents, along with the ability to ameliorate injury in the event of impact, differs depending on the type of vehicle. Accordingly, tests have been performed in order to compare safety performance, and the results made publicly available. The Japan New Car Assessment Program also includes child restraint safety performance comparison tests (frontal collision and usability) as “Child restraint safety assessment”. This guidebook contains the results of the Japan New Car Assessment Program tests.
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