Skip to main content

Risk for elderly on Japanese roads

Japan’s National Police Agency has revealed that the country’s road death figures increased slightly in 2015 compared with 2014. Total road fatalities for Japan in 2015 stood at 4,117, an increase of 0.1% from the previous year. There were 536,789 crashes in Japan during 2015, which injured 665,126 people. Of particular concern is the data showing that traffic deaths for those aged 65 or over rose by 2.5% to 2,247 in all, a worrying 54.6% of the total road fatality figure. Official information has not so fa
January 7, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Japan’s National Police Agency has revealed that the country’s road death figures increased slightly in 2015 compared with 2014. Total road fatalities for Japan in 2015 stood at 4,117, an increase of 0.1% from the previous year. There were 536,789 crashes in Japan during 2015, which injured 665,126 people. Of particular concern is the data showing that traffic deaths for those aged 65 or over rose by 2.5% to 2,247 in all, a worrying 54.6% of the total road fatality figure. Official information has not so far revealed why the elderly are at such a risk on Japan’s road network, which is amongst the most strictly enforced in the world.

On a more positive note however, the country’s measures to tackle drink driving appear to be having an effect. Japanese drivers seem to be getting the message that alcohol and motor vehicles do not make a good combination. Crashes caused by drunk driving dropped to just 203 incidents in 2015, a reduction of 10.6% when compared with 2014.

Related Content

  • Worrying decline in road safety in US
    July 4, 2016
    There has been a worrying increase in traffic fatalities in the US, according to the latest available information. The data has been released by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), showing that traffic fatalities for 2015 were 7.7% higher than for 2014. Road deaths reached 35,200 in 2015, compared with 32,675 in 2014. The data reveals a disquieting trend as the US road fatality rate for 2015 was the highest for seven years. While the total distance travelled by US drivers increase
  • Europe’s road safety is not improving as previously
    April 3, 2012
    The latest official figures on road safety in Europe are giving cause for concern, with data showing casualty reduction has slowed. EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas recently announced a disappointing progress on casualty reduction on Europe's roads. The joint European police association, TISPOL, has added that it is also concerned that improvements in cutting fatalities on Europe’s roads significantly slowed in 2011.
  • Spanish road safety shows continued improvement
    January 5, 2015
    Provisional data from Spain shows a continuing drop in fatal road crashes during 2014. Of note is the fact that the country has already achieved the 2020 target of reducing the death rate to 36/1,000,000 inhabitants. The drop in the death rate was slight, just 2%, but still of importance. The provisional data shows that there were 1,131 fatalities and 4,874 people seriously injured in 2014. And this last is of note as the number of people seriously injured in crashes dropped 8% during 2014 compared with the
  • Drink driving dangers in Malaysia and France
    January 14, 2022
    Drink driving dangers are an issue in Malaysia and France.