Continued improvement in Japan’s road safety

Improved road safety in Japan has been revealed, following the release of the latest official statistics. During 2016 there were 3,904 road deaths in Japan, a drop of 213 from the previous year. The data is significant as this is the lowest level of recorded road fatalities for 67 years and the first time in this period that road deaths have dropped below 4,000. The reasons for Japan’s improved road safety are thought to include better road design, safer vehicles and gains in traffic safety education measur
January 5, 2017 Read time: 1 min
Improved road safety in Japan has been revealed, following the release of the latest official statistics. During 2016 there were 3,904 road deaths in Japan, a drop of 213 from the previous year. The data is significant as this is the lowest level of recorded road fatalities for 67 years and the first time in this period that road deaths have dropped below 4,000. The reasons for Japan’s improved road safety are thought to include better road design, safer vehicles and gains in traffic safety education measures. The gains in road safety are expected to continue in future years and the target by the Japanese Government is to cut road deaths to 2,500/year or lower by 2020.

Related Content

  • Road user charging to pay for road improvements?
    February 20, 2012
    What is the current situation with Russian roads? It is an objective answer to this question that is contained in the official report of the Federal State Statistics Service for 2009. Here it states: "...public roads are of poor quality: 8.4% of roads accounted for groundwater, nearly a third of roads are gravel, rubble or cobblestone.
    Read More
  • Taiwan sees road safety improvement
    February 29, 2016
    Taiwan is seeing a general improvement in its road safety. For 2015, the rate of fatal road traffic crashes fell 7.4% compared with 2014. There were 1,639 fatal road crashes in Taiwan during 2015. The number of road deaths also dropped by 123 to 1,696 in 2015. According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications, these figures are both record lows since figure for road deaths began being compiled.
    Read More
  • Drink driving problem increases
    February 24, 2021
    The drink driving problem has increased in the UK.
    Read More
  • Challenges of NMT in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam
    September 13, 2016
    Developing safety for non-motorised transport in East Africa - Shem Oirere writes. Despite increasing national budgetary allocations for the road sector in recent years, governments in East Africa have made very low investments in non-motorised transport (NMT). This is despite the fact that both Kenya and Uganda have recently passed a policy on pedestrian and cycling safety. In Kenya, the County government of Nairobi, the country’s capital, has embraced a NMT policy, while in Uganda the government has passe
    Read More

Highlighted Content