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 accidents reverted into an upward trend after bottoming out in the latter half of the 1970s. Although the number of fatalities came under 10,000 in 1995 for the first time in nine years, at the present time traffic accidents resulting in injury or death and the number of injuries still maintains the same high level. During 1996 the breakdown for traffic accidents in 1996 is as follows: • Killed 9,942 (737 or 6.9% less than 1995); • Injured 942,203 (19,526 or 2.1% more than 1995); • Accidents 771,084 (9,295 or 1.2% more than 1995). Fatalities fell below 10.000 for the first time in 9 years. However, the situation continued to deteriorate with injuries rising for the seventh consecutive year and the number of accidents reaching an all-time high for the fourth year in a row. Fatal traffic accidents in 1996 were marked by the following points: • Motor vehicle occupant and pedestrian fatalities fell markedly. • There was a major decline in the number of fatalities among those not wearing seatbelts. • Fatalities amongst the young in the 16-24 age group fell for sixth consecutive year. • Fatal accidents in which young drivers or elderly drivers were involved as the primary party 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. The ratio of fatalities within 30 days to fatalities within 24 hours was 1.21 times in 1993, 1.20 times in 1994, 1.19 times in 1995 and 1.17 times in 1996. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting