Year 2002 was a memorable year in the history of road safety activities in Japan. Road fatalities in 2002 in Japan was 8,326 which is below a half of the worst record of 16,765 deaths in 1970 for the first time. It took 32 years to cut fatalities down to a half while number of motor vehicles increased to 3.2 times. Prime Minister Koizumi declared in his policy speech on January 31, 2003 that the government sets the target of further reduction of the road fatalities to a half of the 2002 figure in next 10 years by 2012. This target has been welcomed by road safety societies and general public as well because everyone feels that the target is not easy to realise and that critical breakthrough shall be made which otherwise may not be possible. It is obvious that this target is not final. A new target will be set again in 2012. Road Safety should be pursued as long as motor vehicles are used. This paper intends to present the author's prospect on how engineering can help reduction of road accidents. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E208431.
Samenvatting