Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulationsin 7 Countries(1950-2010)

International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences
March 2012
International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences

March 2012

International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)

PrefaceThis report, a project of the International Exchange Department Planning Committee for FY2011,
summarizes the general situation with regard to traffic accidents and changes to traffic safety policies
and regulations in various countries (areas) over the last 60 years (1950–2010). The reports wereauthored by young researchers who were recommended by IATSS Overseas Invited Members, and as
for Japan, who were recommended by the Planning Committee.

Authors
China:

Hongmei Zhou

Assistant Professor, School of Transportation and Logistics,
Dalian University of Technology

Indonesia:

Nahry

Teaching Staff and Researcher, Department of Civil
Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia

Sutanto Soehodho

Professor of Transportation, Department of Civil Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia

Tri Tjahjono

Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty ofEngineering, Universitas Indonesia

Taiwan:Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Deputy Director, Safety Division, Institute of Transportation,
Ministry of Transportation and Communications

Turkey:Ilgin Gökaşar

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Bogazici
University

Erhan Emir

Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Bogazici
University

UK:

Samantha Jamson

Principal Research Fellow, Institute for Transport Studies,
University of Leeds

USA:

Anurag Pande

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, California Polytechnic State University

Japan:

Katsumi Kojima

Associate Professor, School of Tourism, Kobe Shukugawa
Gakuin University

Takao Goto

Associate Professor, Department of Commerce, Faculty ofBusiness Administration, Kinki University

Kazusei Kato

Professor, College of Economics, Nihon University

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)

IATSS Overseas Invited Members who Recommended the Authors
Shengchuan Zhao

Professor and Dean, School of Transportation and Logistics, Dalian
University of Technology, China

Sutanto Soehodho

Professor of Transportation, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty ofEngineering, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia

Cheng-Min Feng

Professor, Institute of Traffic and Transportation, National Chiao Tung
University, Taiwan

Tankut Acarman

Associate Professor, Computer Engineering Department, Faculty ofEngineering and Technology, Galatasaray University, Turkey

Dave Watling

Professor, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK

Ram M. Pendyala

Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, ArizonaState University, USA

International Exchange Department, Planning Committee Members FY2011
Takayuki Kishii, Chair

Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Nihon University

Tomohiro Ichinose

Associate Professor, Department of Environment and Information Studies,
Keio University

Kazusei Kato

Professor, College of Economics, Nihon University

Shuji Shiraishi

Chief Engineer, Automobile R&D Center, Honda R&D Co., Ltd.

Taro Sekine

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nihon
University

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)

Index
Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulationsin 7 Countries (1950-2010)

China ·····································

1

Indonesia ································ 35
Taiwan ··································· 73
Turkey ··································· 115
UK ········································ 149
USA ······································ 169
Japan ····································· 187

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies andRegulations in China(1950-2010)

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)
Copyright(C) 2012 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences, All rights reserved.

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

1. Road Traffic Safety in China
1.1 Economic Growth, Urbanization and Transport Development
in China
Since the founding of People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the country has been experiencing
profound changes in its economic development. In the last 60 years, the average annual economic
growth rate reached 8%. Economic growth has accelerated since 1978, when China started the policyof economic reform and opening-up. In three decades (1979-2009), gross domestic product (GDP)increased by approximately 83 times from 406.3 billion to 34.05 trillion yuan, while the per capita
GDP increased from 419 to 25,575 yuan. During this period, China was the country with the fastest
GDP growth rate, which was 9.76% calculated at 1978 constant price.

Figure 1 Changes in the total population and urban population of the PRC, 1950-2009(Source: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/html/D0301e.htm)

The rapid economic development was accompanied by a dynamic urbanization process. In the last 60
years, the total population has more than doubled, reaching 1.33 billion in 2009. Meanwhile, the urban
population increased by nearly 10 times from 57.65 million to 0.62 billion. As a result, the proportionof urban population reached 46.6% at the end of 2009.
During the last three decades the Chinese government made transportation development one of thepriorities in its national economic strategies, aiming at building an integrated transport infrastructure
system. This had become particularly important since 1997, when the Asian economic crisis broke out.
The Chinese government introduced proactive fiscal policies and strengthened the investment ininfrastructure development (for example, the proportion of highway investment in GDP reachedaround 3% in 2005). The investment in transportation infrastructure contributed to national economic

1Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

growth and greatly improved the transport systems. Since then road transport has been developing
rapidly in China.

Figure 2 Changes in GDP and per capita GDP, 1950-2009(Source: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/html/C0201e.htm)

As shown in Figure 3, in 1978 the total length of highways in China was about 0.89 million km; thehighway network density was 9.3 km/100 km2. At the end of 2009 the total length of highways
reached 3.86 million km (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) with the density close to 40.2
km/100 km2. Freeways have developed rapidly since 1988, when the first one, the 18.5 km-long
Shanghai-Jiading Freeway, was completed and opened to traffic. In the ensuing 20 years the total
length of freeways continued to grow, reaching 65,100 kilometers in 2009. Meanwhile, the total lengthof urban roads in China reached more than 0.26 million km, increasing by 28% from 2003.

2

Hongmei Zhou

4,500,000
4,000,000
3,500,000
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0

70,00050,00040,00030,00020,000Freeways (km)60,00010,000
0

1952
1962
1970
1978
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009

Highways (km)Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)Year
Highways Length

Freeways Length

Figure 3 Highway and freeway development, 1952-2009(Source: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/html/P1604e.htm)
Note: Highways are major roads connecting important destinations, such as large towns and cities.
Freeways are access-controlled highways designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all
traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated.

The ownership of civil vehicles grew relatively slowly before 1990. From 1990 to 2000, however, itbegan to increase rapidly and exceeded 10 million during this period. After 2000, it increased evenfaster and exceeded 30 million in 2005. At the end of 2009, the total number of vehicles was morethan 62.8 million in China.
There were no privately owned vehicles before 1980. Thereafter, the number of private vehicles
experienced a mild increase through 2000 to 6.25 million. By the end of 2009, this number had grownby more than 6 times to 45.75 million, and its proportion on overall vehicles had increased from 39%
to 73% in less than ten years.

3

Hongmei Zhou

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

160
140

(million)

120
100
80
60
40
20

1978
1980
1985
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009

0

Year
Civil Vehicles

Private Vehicles

Drivers (Civil Vehicles)

Figure 4 Civil and private vehicles and drivers, 1978-2009(Source: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/html/P1624e.htm;
http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/html/P1625e.htm)
Note: Civil vehicles are vehicles used for civil purposes, including passenger vehicles (large, medium,small and mini size) and freight trucks (heavy, medium, light and mini size). Private vehicles are
privately-owned civil vehicles.

The number of motorcycles was 675.41 million in 2004.Within five years the number increased byabout 40%, reaching 945.31 million in 2009.

Figure 5 Number of motorcycles, 2004-2009(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2004-2009)

The number of motor vehicle drivers increased by 70 times during the last three decades. In 2009, thetotal number of motor vehicle drivers was 137.4 million, of which drivers with less than 3 years of4

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

experience accounted for 34.76% and drivers with less than one year of experience accounted for10.46%.
As to passenger and freight transport, Figures 6 and 7 show the changes of share by each transportmode since 1952. As a result of the road infrastructure improvement and rapid motorization, roadtransport developed rapidly. The passenger-kilometer share of highways increased from 9.1% in 1952
to 54.4% in 2009, while the freight ton-kilometer share of highways increased from 1.9% in 1952 to
30.4% in 2009. Railways and waterways remained major modes for transporting heavy cargo overlong distances.

Figure 6 Passenger-kilometers by mode (%), 1952-2009(Source: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/html/P1607e.htm)

Figure 7 Freight ton-kilometers by mode (%), 1952-2009(Source: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/html/P1607e.htm)

5

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

1.2 Trends of Traffic Accidents and Casualties in China(1) Changes in the number of traffic accidents and casualties and fatality rates
As can be seen in Figure 8, the numbers of traffic accidents, fatalities and injuries in China increased
continuously since the founding of the PRC (note that traffic accident fatalities include those who die
within seven days after the accident). Compared to 1951, the number of fatalities increased by 5.7
times in 1960, 10.3 times in 1970, 24.6 times in 1980, 56.8 times in 1990, 109.2 times in 2000, and75.6 times in 2010. Basically, the number of fatalities doubled every ten years before the year 2000.
As shown in Figure 8, during the periods of 1982–1987 and 1995–2002, China experienced a rapid
increase in the numbers of traffic accidents and casualties. The number of accidents, deaths andinjuries increased by 1.8, 1.4 and 1.6 times respectively within the first period, and by 1.8, 0.5 and 2.5
times within the second period. In 2001 the number of deaths exceeded 100,000 for the first time andpeaked in 2002, reaching 109,381fatalities a year.

Figure 8 Road traffic accidents, fatalities and injuries, 1951-2010(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2010, pp. 146-147: data are not available for1968 and 1969)

In 2005, the number of deaths dropped below 100,000 again and since then there has been a rapidly
decreasing trend in the number of accidents and casualties. However, the absolute number is still high.
In 2010 the numbers of accidents, fatalities and injuries were 219,521, 65,225 and 254,075
respectively. The average of traffic fatalities in the last five years was 75,514, which ranked thesecond largest in the world, following India.
The fatality rate per ten thousand vehicles also decreased continuously from the 1970s onward,
reaching 3.15 in 2010. On the other hand, the fatalities per one hundred thousand population kept

6

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

rising until 2003, when it peaked at 8.08 and then dropped to 4.89 in 2010. The different patterns in
the fatality rate changes were probably due to the rapid motorization and relatively slow increase in
the nation’s population. The decrease in the fatality rates was achieved in a period of rapid growth inboth the economy and motorization, which indicates that traffic safety had improved in recent years.
However, compared with developed countries, the accident rates were still high in China. For example,
in 2009 the fatality rate per ten thousand vehicles was 3.63 in China, contrasting with 0.66 in the UK
and 0.64 in Japan. Moreover, considering China’s population of 1.3 billion and the huge number ofvehicles, the absolute number of fatalities caused by traffic accidents was still much higher comparedto other countries. For example, in 2009 the number of fatalities in China was 67,759, about twice ofthat in the US. Moreover, the fatality rate (fatalities/casualties) is about 20%, which is much higher
than that of developed countries.

Figure 9 Fatalities per 10,000 vehicles and per 100,000 population, 1951-2010(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2010, pp. 146-147: data are not available in1968 and 1969)(2) Traffic fatalities on highways and freeways
Highways had much higher fatality rates than did urban roads. During 2000-2010, the numbers offatalities on highways were generally about 3 to 4 times of those on urban roads. The total number offatalities on highways started declining in 2005. However, the number on freeways continuously
increased from 2,162 in 2000 to 6,647 in 2006, corresponding to the rapid development of freeways.
Then it began to drop slightly. In 2010, the number of fatalities on freeways was 6,300. The top threecauses for fatalities on freeways were speeding, driver fatigue and inappropriate maneuvers.It is also
shown in Figure 10 that fatalities on class 2 and 3 highways were reduced but still accounted for morethan 50% of the total fatalities. In 2010, the number of fatalities on these two types of roads reached
26,419, which was about 57% of the total.

7

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

Figure10 Number of fatalities by highway type, 2000-2010(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2000-2010)(3) Newly licensed and less experienced drivers
The percentage of accidents and fatalities attributed to new drivers (with less than one year of licensed
driving) and less experienced drivers (with 2-3 years of experience) rose in 2003. This is partly
because the SARS outbreak in 2003 prompted travelers to shift from public transportation to private
automobiles. As a result, there was a huge number of new and inexperienced drivers on the road. They
had less time and fewer opportunities to develop good hazard perception skills required for safe
driving. In 2005, the number of fatalities caused by new and less experienced drivers was 31,534,
which accounted for 43.9% of the total number of fatalities. During 2007–2010, the percentages
decreased to about 30%. Meanwhile, drivers of 6–10 years of experience generally caused more than
25% of the total fatalities each year since 2003.
On the other hand, the percentages of fatalities caused by experienced drivers (with more than 10
years of experience) increased from 2003 onward. However, considering the large population ofdrivers in this group, they were still safer drivers compared to others. Generally speaking, driving
experience accumulated through either on-road driving or reeducation at driving school contributes toroad traffic safety.

8Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

Figure 11 Percentages of fatalities caused by drivers of different experience levels(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2000-2010)(4) Safety of pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists
As vulnerable road users, pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclist were the main victims in road traffic
accidents. China was still at the early stage of motorization, and thus walking and riding bicycles andmotorcycles were still major transportation modes for many people in the country. The mixed traffic
pattern in China not only intensified the conflicts with motor vehicles but also increased the casualties
of pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists. Since 2005, the government had adopted a series ofpolicies to improve road safety, and the fatalities and injuries of pedestrians, bicyclists andmotorcyclists had decreased year by year. In 2010 the fatalities of pedestrians, bicyclists andmotorcyclists were 16,281, 8,968 and 14,264, respectively, decreasing by 39%, 38% and 37.5% from2004. However, the proportions of fatalities and injuries were still high. In 2010, pedestrians,
bicyclists and motorcyclists accounted for about 25%, 14% and 22% of the total fatalities in roadtraffic accidents.

9Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

Figure 12 The number of fatalities by traffic mode, 2004-2010(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2004-2010)

Figure 13 Number of injuries by traffic mode, 2004-2010(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2004-2010)(5) Severe traffic accidents causing a large number of casualties
Severe traffic accidents that caused more than ten fatalities in one accident happened every year.
Although the proportion of such accidents was not large, they led to very serious consequences andinduced bad social impacts. In recent years, the number of severe accidents has been decreasing.
However, the average number of fatalities in one accident was about 15, indicating that the severity of
those accidents was not mitigated. Severe accidents frequently happened in mountainous areas. Figure
14 shows the number of accidents causing more than ten fatalities in recent years. In 2010, there were
34 severe accidents causing 461 fatalities and 432 injuries. The fatality rate (fatalities/casualties) was

10Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

55%. Compared to 2000, the number of severe accidents, fatalities and injuries decreased by 41%, 49%
and 55% respectively.

Figure 14 Severe accidents causing more than ten fatalities, 1990-2010(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2010, p. 153)

1.3 Characteristics of Fatal Traffic Accidents(1) Time distribution of fatal accidents
The number of fatal accidents by month may be influenced by the season, climate, economic activities,
festivals and so on. Figure 15 shows the number of fatalities due to road traffic accidents by month in2010, from which some patterns can be observed. March was the month with the lowest number offatalities, and thereafter fatal accidents generally increased month by month. November and January
had the highest fatalities in the year. The total number of fatalities from November to January wasclose to 20,000, accounting for about 30% of the total number of fatalities during the year.

11Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

Figure 15 Number of fatalities by month(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2010, p. 9)

The number of fatal accidents by day of the week in 2010 shows that there were fewer accidents on
Fridays and Saturdays. However, the differences between accidents on these two days and other days
were generally less than 2%.The high proportion of fatalities on weekend may be caused by theincrease of entertainment and recreation activities.

Figure 16 Number of fatalities by day of the week
(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2010, p. 10)

Figure 17 shows the number of fatalities due to traffic accidents by hour of the day in 2010. The peak
periods were 6-9 a.m., 1-4 p.m. and 5-9 p.m., during which about 52% of the fatalities occurred, whilefrom 1 to 6 a.m. the number of fatalities caused by traffic accidents was around 14%.

12

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

Figure 17 Number of fatalities by hour of the day(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2010, p. 13)

A large proportion of fatal accidents happened in the nighttime, especially when there was no lighting.
A driver’s judgment could be affected by darkness, and reduced visibility increased accident risks.
Another reason could be driver fatigue. In 2010, 29% and 17% of all fatalities happened in thenighttime with and without lighting respectively. Necessary safety facilities could reduce the risk ofnighttime driving and prevent many traffic accidents.

Fatalities

Figure 18 Number of fatalities by daytime and nighttime(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2010, p. 47)(2) Space distribution of fatal accidents
Developed areas in China had many more accidents and fatalities. Table 1 shows the fatalities andfatality rates by province (including municipalities directly under the central government) in 2010.
Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Sichuan were the top five provinces with respect to the13Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

number of traffic fatalities, accounting for 37% of the total fatalities in the year. One possible reason
was the rapidly increasing passenger and freight traffic induced by the economic development in theseareas. On the other hand, Xizang, Qinghai, Gansu, Xinjiang, and Shanxi provinces, as less developed
regions located in western China, had the highest fatality rates. The fatalities per 10,000 vehicles forthese provinces were 18.16, 9.49, 7.09, 6.58 and 5.79 respectively, which were much higher than thenational average of 3.15. The fatality rates of Henan, Hebei and Beijing were 1.11, 2.05 and 2.06 per
10,000 vehicles, which were the lowest in the country. It is also found that the fatality rate per 10,000
vehicles was negatively correlated with the density of high-grade roads. More fatalities happened inrural areas, where high-grade roads were poorly developed and traffic rules were not well followed bydrivers.

14

Hongmei Zhou

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Table 1 Number of fatalities and fatality rates by province
Province

Fatalities

Fatalities/10,000 vehicles

Fatalities/100,000 population

Guangdong

6,203

3.22

6.44

Zhejiang

5,382

4.79

10.39

Jiangsu

5,031

3.45

6.51

Shandong

4,268

2.09

4.51

Sichuan

2,931

3.06

3.58

Anhui

2,877

3.00

4.69

Fujian

2,822

3.82

7.78

Hebei

2,693

2.05

3.83

Shanxi

2,449

5.79

7.15

Guangxi

2,342

2.84

4.82

Hunan

2,162

3.29

3.37

Liaoning

2,129

3.98

4.93

Xinjiang

2,023

6.58

9.37

Hubei

1,944

2.55

3.40

Shanxi

1,944

3.96

5.15

Yunnan

1,886

2.60

4.13

Henan

1,825

1.11

1.92

Jiangxi

1,603

2.72

3.62

Gansu

1,506

7.09

5.71

Jilin

1,454

3.77

5.31

Heilongjiang

1,395

4.15

3.65

Neimenggu

1,375

3.10

5.68

Guizhou

1,136

3.93

2.99

Chongqing

1,017

3.76

3.56

Shanghai

1,009

4.04

5.25

Beijing

974

2.06

5.55

Tianjing

950

5.30

7.74

Qinghai

573

9.49

10.28

Hainan

471

2.80

5.45

Ningxia

442

3.11

7.07

Xizang

409

18.16

14.10

(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2010, pp. 15-16)

15

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

(3) Accidents by age and gender
In 2010, the numbers of traffic fatalities caused by males and females were 62,972 (97%) and 2,253(3%) respectively. On the other hand, males also seemed to be more at risk than women. About 76%of the fatalities and 72% of the injuries were males.
In terms of age, 31,211(48%) of the fatalities were between 21-45 years old. On the other hand, thesame age group (21-45 years old) also caused 78% of the fatalities in traffic accidents. Fatalities
among those over 65 years old rose every year. Elderly people may suffer from reduced visual acuity
and reaction ability, and it may be more difficult for them to recover from a severe accident; thus thefatality rate was high for this age group. In 2010, about 7,386 (11%) of the fatalities were elderly
people over 65.
14,000

Number of fatalities

12,00010,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0

Age
Victims

Person at fault

Figure 19 Number of fatalities by age of victim and by age of person at fault(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2010, pp. 56, 59)(4) Accident types
The most common accident types were head-on, intersecting paths and rear-end, which together
accounted for 72% of all accidents in 2010. These types also resulted in severe outcomes. As can beseen in Table 2, head-on, intersecting paths and rear-end accidents accounted for about 27%, 25% and
13% of all fatalities in 2010.

16

Hongmei Zhou

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Table 2 Numbers of accidents and fatalities by accident type
Accident type

Accidents

Percentage

Fatalities

Percentage

Head-on54,49124.82%

17,53126.88%

Intersecting paths

81,86237.29%

16,49725.29%

Rear-end

22,27310.15%

8,957

13.73%

Sideswipe: opposite direction

4,696

2.14%

1,009

1.55%

Sideswipe: same direction

6,948

3.17%

1,588

2.43%

Pedestrians

26,422

12.04%

7,484

11.47%

Overturn

5,440

2.48%

3,570

5.47%

Fixed object

5,993

2.73%

2,697

4.13%

Parked vehicle

2,355

1.07%

1,130

1.73%

Animal

53

0.02%

18

0.03%

Others

8,988

4.09%

4,744

7.27%

(Source: China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2010, p. 8)(5) Causes of accidents
The road transport system consists of humans, vehicles, roadways and the environment. Any defects inthese elements may cause accidents. According to the 2010 road accident statistics, the number ofaccidents and fatalities caused directly by road conditions was small, about 0.01% of all accidents.
Lack of road safety facilities contributed to most of the road-related accidents. Vehicle-related
accidents accounted for less than 0.11 % of all accidents, and were mostly attributable to technicalmalfunctions, including brake, steering, and light malfunctions. However, it should be pointed out thatthe number of accidents and fatalities caused by road and vehicle factors may be underestimated.
Many accidents due to both the road or vehicle factors and human factors were recorded as
human-related accidents.
Human factors include all factors related to drivers and other road users that may contribute to an
accident. Traffic violations of motor vehicle drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians, etc. were generally themain reason of traffic accidents. For example, the number of accidents resulting from violations byroad users was 211,042, which accounted for 96% of all road traffic accidents in 2010. Of these
accidents, 199,934 (91%) was caused by the motor vehicle drivers, 8,745 (4%) by non-motorized
vehicle riders, and 2,363 (1%) by pedestrians and passengers. Compared to 2009, the number ofaccidents caused by these three groups of road users decreased by 8%, 8% and 13% respectively. In
terms of casualties, 62,646 died and 244,492 were injured from accidents caused by road user
violations, which accounted for 96% of the total fatalities and 96% of the injuries. Accidents causedby motor vehicle drivers accounted for 92% of the fatalities and 91% of the injuries, making motorist
violations the major factor behind road traffic accidents.

17

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

The top three violations of traffic laws and regulations for motor vehicle accidents are speeding,failing to yield and unlicensed driving. In 2010, the numbers of accidents and fatalities caused byspeeding were 21,755 and 9,134, which accounted for 10% and 14% of the total accidents andfatalities respectively. Failing to yield where required by traffic laws caused 37,928 accidents and7,788 fatalities, accounting for 17% of the total accidents and 12% of the fatalities. Unlicensed driving
cannot be neglected either, in that it caused 12,637 accidents and 4,443 fatalities, which were 6% and
7% of the total accidents and fatalities respectively. Other motorist violations that were major reasonsfor traffic accidents, included traveling in the wrong direction, illegally occupying exclusive lanes andovertaking-related violations, which caused 3,521 (5%), 2,224 (3%) and 2,101 (3%) fatalities
respectively in 2010. Moreover, 3% of the fatalities were associated with alcohol use.
The top three reasons for accidents and fatalities caused by non-motorized vehicle riders were failingto travel as required by regulations, take-up of vehicle lanes, and traveling in the wrong direction.
Major violations by pedestrians and passengers that caused traffic accidents included walking on roads
prohibited to pedestrians and failing to follow traffic signals.

1.4 National Organization with Jurisdiction over Traffic Safety
Road traffic safety directly involves at least three ministries at the central government level: theMinistry of Public Security, the Ministry of Transportation, and the Ministry of Housing and
Urban-Rural Development (formerly known as the Ministry of Construction).
The Ministry of Public Security is the sole administration in charge of road traffic accidents in China.
All road traffic accident data is collected by the public security administrations in each district orcounty, and then the data is aggregated and reported to the upper public security administration. The
Traffic Administration Bureau of Ministry of Public Security then analyzes the data and publishes theannual China Road Traffic Accidents Statistics.
The Ministry of Transportation establishes the development strategies, policies and regulations for the
highway industry. It is also in charge of planning, construction, operation and maintenance of
highways and freeways.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development is in charge of urban and rural planning andrelated infrastructure construction. It is responsible for the planning, design, construction andmaintenance of roads in the urban areas.
Coordination among these ministries is very important in effectively addressing road traffic accident
problems. The National Inter-Ministry Joint Conference Institute on road traffic safety was establishedin 2003. The institute is led by the State Council. Its major responsibilities include but not limited to
the following:

analyze the current situations of traffic accidents,develop medium- and long-term strategic safety plans,18Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)



propose and carry out countermeasures,provide guidance and supervise the road safety work, and

promote coordination among different agencies and sharing of information.

Hongmei Zhou

It is important to enhance the road traffic safety administration system and formulate a national roadsafety strategy to enhance the influence of the institute on road traffic safety at both the national andprovincial levels. The key point is whether or not the plan made by the institute can be effectively
implemented at the local level. In addition, coordination among agencies at the provincial andmunicipal levels is also critical for addressing road traffic safety issues. The National Inter-Ministry
Joint Conference Institute should play a more active role so as to strengthen the coordination among
different levels of government and to ensure the successful implementation of the road safety policies
and strategies.

1.5 Special Issues Concerning Road Traffic Safety in China(1) Lack of safety awareness of road users
Drivers in China are very different from those in developed countries who have “grown up” invehicles. Chinese drivers may possess good driving skills but lack awareness of traffic safety. Chinese
drivers are deeply affected by their experience of riding a bicycle. For example, they tend to change
lanes frequently to overtake other cars, which can save a little travel time but with greatly increased
risk of collision. Most motor vehicle users have poor safety awareness; for example, many drivers andpassengers do not fasten their seat belts. Traffic law violations, such as jaywalking, speeding anddrunk driving are very common, and many offenders go unpunished, so they are likely to continue
taking the same risk. Thus, cultivating common awareness of traffic safety is the first step toward
reducing traffic accidents.
In addition, other road users, including pedestrians and bicyclists, do not have much traffic safetyknowledge either. Thus, it is essential that traffic safety education be conducted at home, school andthe community, from children to adults, in order to realize widespread safety awareness. Furthermore,strict law enforcement and punishment of traffic violations will enhance the effectiveness of safety
education.

(2) Mixed traffic pattern and lack of traffic safety facilities
The mixed traffic pattern on most national highways causes traffic congestion and severe traffic
accidents. Traffic safety features are often neglected in road design. The investment in road traffic
safety facilities was 2 billion yuan in 2004, equivalent to 0.5% of the total highway investment. This ismuch lower than that of developed countries such as Japan (during 1975–1986, the percentage ofinvestment in road safety measures in total road investment was approximately 13–18%, and thepercentage of investment in road safety measures to GDP was approximately 0.2–0.4%). The highest
priority for China is to increase the investment in road safety facilities such as guardrails, speed bumps,

19Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

median barriers, overpasses, etc. Meanwhile, it is important to introduce a cost-benefit approach toallocate the limited funding to the most effective measures. It is a common practice to choose
high-tech countermeasures to address road traffic accidents in China. However, some low-costmeasures—such as mandatory seat belt usage or strict enforcement of penalties on speeding,overloading, drunk driving and so on—might also be very effective alternatives.

(3) Overloaded and oversized trucks and unsafe vehicles
Due to unfair competition and relatively expensive tolls, many freight carriers run overloaded andoversized trucks. Those trucks not only cause heavy damage to the roads (it is estimated that suchdamage may reduce the road maintenance cycle from 15 years to 6–8 years) but also cause many
traffic fatalities. It is estimated that 70% of traffic accidents are related to overloaded and oversizedtrucks. Since April 30, 2004, seven ministries, including the Ministry of Communication and theMinistry of Public Security, have jointly implemented a nationwide program of strict enforcements on
overloaded and oversized trucks. This program is reported to have substantially reduced road traffic
accidents.
Vehicles that fail to pass the required inspections are prohibited from running on roads. However,some of these vehicles are illegally sold to rural areas, where such regulations are not strictly enforced.
These vehicles bring a high risk of traffic accidents and cause emission problems as well.

(4) Traffic accident analysis and data sharing
In China, transport agencies have road departments but few have traffic safety departments. Although
the techniques of road design and construction keep improving, the expertise needed to analyze anddeal with traffic accidents has not developed strongly. Moreover, very few public agencies have acomplete accident database and reliable statistics on traffic accidents. None of them has accumulated
information from hospitals and insurance companies. Due to insufficient human and technicalresources, accident recording outside the urban areas is highly defective, with presumably a large
number of unreported accidents in rural areas.
It is necessary to establish a separate department in charge of road traffic accidents at the municipal
and provincial levels. It is also important to establish a traffic accident investigation system with joint
efforts from the police, medical personnel, psychologists, traffic engineers, automobile engineers, andinsurance companies. Information from hospitals and insurance companies can be used to reexamine
the accident data collected by the public security administration and to complete the accident database.
The database should be open to traffic safety researchers who need these “medical records” todiagnose the traffic accidents.

20Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

2 Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China
2.1 Laws, Regulations and Rules on Traffic Safety
Before the reform and opening-up of China’s economy in 1978, traffic accidents were not a severe
problem because of the low motorization rate. However, as the number of traffic accidents increased
rapidly in the 1980s, the government began to realize the importance of improving road safety toprotect peoples’ lives, and has played an active role in this field ever since. In 1986, the State Council
announced the Reform of Road Traffic Management Structure, which stated that the public security
agencies had jurisdiction over road traffic in urban and rural areas. In 1988, the State Council
promulgated Road Traffic Management Regulations, and followed up with Disposition of Road Traffic
Accidents in 1991. Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Public Security began to draft the Road
Traffic Safety Law, the first law on traffic safety in China. The law was passed in 2003 and took effecton May 1, 2004. Accompanying it was the Implementation Rules of the Road Traffic Safety Law
enacted by the State Council. The Road Traffic Safety Law provides that:

Motor vehicles have to reduce speed when passing through crosswalks. When pedestrians arecrossing the street, vehicles have to stop and yield to the pedestrians.

Motor vehicle liability insurance is mandatory.



Enforcement against drunk driving is to be strengthened.



Enforcement against overloading is to be strengthened.

Driving without a driver’s license is punishable with less than 15 days’ detention.

Motor vehicle drivers should be responsible for the accidents involving motor vehicles andnon-motorized vehicles or pedestrians. If there is evidence that non-motorized vehicle riders
or pedestrians have violated the laws/regulations in accidents, the motor vehicle drivers areto take part of the responsibility.



Hit-and-run accidents will result in permanent revocation of the driver’s driving license.



The driving speed on freeways is not allowed to exceed 120 km/h.

Local regulations and rules on traffic safety are established based on the Road Traffic Safety Law. So
far, a relatively comprehensive system of laws and regulations on road traffic management in China
has been formed, including the Road Traffic Safety Law and other laws and regulations promulgatedby related ministries and departments, and local governments.

2.2 Inter-Ministry Joint Conference on Road Traffic Safety
In October 2003, the State Council founded the Inter-Ministry Joint Conference on Road Traffic
Safety, which was made up by 15 ministries and departments, including the Ministry of Public
Security, the Ministry of Propaganda, the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Transportation.
In 2009, the Conference membership was enlarged to comprise 19 ministries and departments. The
major responsibilities of the Conference include:21

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou



Analyzing traffic safety issues

Proposing countermeasuresDeveloping medium- and long-term strategic plansGuiding and supervising road traffic safety programs at the provincial and municipal levels

Promoting coordination, cooperation, and information sharing among different departments
and agencies

Establishing a long-term mechanism to reduce the number of road traffic accidents andimprove traffic safety in a comprehensive way

2.3 Traffic Safety Campaigns
Since 2003, the public security agencies in many areas of the country have launched a series ofcampaigns to eliminate traffic violations, especially speeding, overloading, drunk driving, fatigue
driving, driving without a license and so on. These campaigns have proved to be effective in reducing
road traffic accidents.

(1) “The Five Improvements and Three Enhancements”
In January 2004, the Ministry of Public Security launched the first nationwide road traffic safety
campaign across the country, namely, “The Five Improvements and Three Enhancements.” It was
aimed at reducing road traffic accidents, especially severe accidents, in order to protect people’s lives
and properties. In 2008, the Inter-Ministry Joint Conference reviewed and passed a motion forextending the campaign. The major focuses of the campaign have been as follows:
1) Improve the quality of driver training and education; the rules on driving tests and driver’s license
issuance should be strictly followed; the qualifications of drivers of operational motor vehicles
should be carefully examined.
2) Improve traffic management, especially the transport of dangerous chemical goods; enhance
traffic safety management for severe weather or emergent events; improve emergency rescue
mechanisms.
3) Improve the management of transportation corporations; strictly enforce the Road Transport
Regulation and other stipulations; urge the transport businesses to supervise their drivers andmotor vehicles dynamically.
4) Improve the management of businesses engaged in motor vehicle production and reconfiguration;
improve motor vehicles’ safety performances and improve vehicle registration and examination
procedures.
5) Inspect the roads regularly and improve the road conditions to reduce traffic accidents andcasualties; improve traffic safety in work zones.
6) Enhance the role of government agencies in promoting the traffic safety programs; related22

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

departments in charge of traffic safety should actively take the responsibility of supervision andlaw enforcement.
7) Enhance traffic safety propaganda and education; develop the traffic safety propaganda andeducation system led by the government and implement the program on a long-term basis.
8) Enhance traffic safety law enforcement; complete the traffic safety law and regulation system andtechnical standards; provide training to police officers to improve enforcement and punishment oftraffic offenses.

(2) “Counties and Districts with Safe and Smooth Traffic”
In November 2005, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Transportation decided to
conduct “Counties and Districts with Safe and Smooth Traffic” campaign in all counties andmunicipal districts in the country. By 2008, this campaign had been carried out in most counties anddistricts. The goals set up in 2008 were that:

The number of accidents and casualties would decrease;The number of accidents with 10 or more fatalities would decrease;Fatalities per 10,000 vehicles would be no more than 4.7;

More than 60% of the counties and districts would be those with safe and smooth traffic.

The following measures were proposed to achieve these goals:
1) The government should attach great importance to road traffic safety programs and provide
guidance and support to the programs. The provinces are supposed to hold inter-department
meetings to discuss the implementation of traffic safety management in the rural areas and propose
implementation plans to carry out the campaign of “Counties and Districts with Safe and Smooth
Traffic.”
2) Traffic management departments within public security agencies are the major forces to supervise
the campaign and they should spare no effort to prevent and reduce severe road traffic accidents.
Their responsibilities include: developing road traffic safety evaluation system and freeway
surveillance system; conducting research on measures to prevent severe road traffic accidents;
improving management of motor vehicles and drivers in the rural areas and so on.
3) Enhance coordination and cooperation among different agencies, such as those in charge oftransportation, safety supervision and quality inspection. Motor vehicles failing to pass theinspections should be prohibited from running on the roads. Conduct a complete examination of
freeway signs and markings as well as road traffic safety facilities in the rural areas.
4) Reinforce the education and propaganda of road traffic safety in the counties and municipalities.

23

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

5) Since 2005, goals for safe and smooth traffic have been achieved by 1,826 counties and districts
nationwide.

(3) “Enhancement of School Bus Safety”
In November 2006, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Security announced theEmergent Notice of Examining School Buses in Primary and Middle Schools. The notice required that：
1) A large-scale examination of primary and middle school buses be carried out;2) The qualifications of school bus drivers be examined and safety education be given to the drivers;
3) Safety education be carried out in schools;
4) Schools take the responsibility of traffic safety management; and5) Traffic violations be punished according to the relevant laws and regulations.
With the joint efforts of education departments and traffic management department of public security
agencies, this campaign proved to be successful. During November and December of 2006, 87,031
school buses at 116,986 primary and middle schools were examined, and 6,225 of those buses did notpass the inspection. In addition, 3,337 school bus drivers were determined to be unqualified and wereprohibited from driving school buses, and 6,327 school buses were found to be operating illegally.
Violations of traffic laws, such as overloading (7,095 incidents), speeding (3,268 incidents), andfatigue driving and drunk driving (58,813 times) were punished.
In August 2007, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security and the National Safety
Supervision Bureau issued the Notice of Improving the School Trip Safety for Primary and Middle
School Students and Kindergartens in Rural Areas. The following measures were proposed：
1) Improve safety management of trips to and from schools in rural areas in conformity with therelevant laws and regulations.
2) The government should take more responsibility and enhance cooperation among different
departments.
3) Continue to conduct examination and inspection of the school buses.
4) Reinforce the role of education and propaganda on road traffic safety.
5) School buses that are illegally operated should be banned.

2.4 Improvement of Driving Skills
The human factor is one of the major causes of road traffic accidents. Therefore, improving drivers’safety awareness and knowledge is of great importance in the reduction of traffic accidents and24

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

casualties. In recent years, transportation departments have adopted many measures to improve drivers’
driving techniques and traffic safety awareness.

(1) Enhance supervision of driving schools
The qualifications of the driving schools as well as the coaches were examined to ensure the quality of
training. Violations of relevant laws and regulations during training or testing would be investigatedand dealt with accordingly. During 2004 and 2008, about 1,900 driving schools were below thestandard and canceled; more than 9,700 coaches were found to be unqualified and dismissed.

(2) Enhancement of driver education
Taking lessons from the advanced experience and practices in developed countries, the transportation
departments formulated a syllabus for drivers’ training in China. In September 2007, the Ministry ofTransportation issued the revised syllabus for training motor vehicle drivers. According to the syllabus,
there are four steps to the training: the first step is teaching the laws, regulations, and theoreticalknowledge of driving; the second is training basic driving skills; the third is practicing the practical
driving skills on roads, and the last step is giving instruction on the handling of malfunctions and thenprevention of traffic accidents. The four steps are correlated with each other and constitute a complete
training system.
Meanwhile, a book series called Safe Driving Starts Here was published in March 2005. This bookseries is suitable for all kinds of people, regardless of whether or not they are drivers. It plays apositive role in promoting traffic safety awareness across society.
Transportation department personnel went to schools, businesses, libraries, and homes to publicize theconcept of safe driving and give away Safe Driving Starts Here book series, so as to formulate strong
awareness of traffic safety across society.

2.5 Enhancement of the Management of Transportation
Corporations(1) Overloaded vehicles
Since the 1990s, overloaded vehicles on the roads have become a serious problem in China,
particularly for having caused many traffic accidents. In 2004, the Ministry of Transportation and theMinistry of Public Security proposed a variety of measures regarding policies, economy, law
enforcement and propaganda and education. These measures proved to be effective with theoverloaded vehicle rate decreasing significantly.
Principles:

1) Propose both short- and long-term measures to prohibit overloaded vehicles.
2) Carry out a nationwide campaign to implement the measures and strengthen coordination among25

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

different departments and regions.
3) Reasonably consider the freight transport market’s level of acceptance.
4) Conduct propaganda in advance and then carry implementation of the measure forward.



Goal:

Create a healthy, standardized, fair, and orderly transport market. In about one year’s time,effectively reduce the number of overloaded and oversized vehicles on the road; in three years,
basically eliminate the overloaded and oversized vehicles, establish a reasonable pricing system andbuild an open, fair and healthy market.


Actions:

1) Conduct large-scale propaganda.
2) Prohibit illegal reconfiguration of the vehicles.
3) Prohibit overloaded vehicles.
4) Take economic measures to balance the relationship between cost of transportation and benefit ofoverloading.
5) Promote an orderly transport market.

The following criteria were used to decide whether a vehicle was overloaded:
1) For two-axle vehicles, the total weight of vehicle and freight was over 20 tons;
2) For three-axle vehicles, the total weight of vehicle and freight was over 30 tons;
3) For four-axle vehicles, the total weight of vehicle and freight was over 40 tons;
4) For five-axle vehicles, the total weight of vehicle and freight was over 50 tons;
5) For vehicles with six or more axles, the total weight of vehicle and freight was over 55 tons;
6) The total weight of vehicle and freight was more than permitted on the license of transport.



Results:

Between 2004 and 2007, the transport market witnessed the following results:
1) The number of overloaded vehicles declined dramatically. The overloaded vehicle rate decreased
from 80% to less than 10%. In Beijing and many other cities, the rate was brought below 3%.
2) Road traffic safety improved. Although the total number of motor vehicles increased by 15%
annually, the accident rate decreased by about 15% per annum. The number of accidents caused

26

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

by freight vehicles was reduced significantly.
3) The production and reconfiguration of motor vehicles was further standardized.
4) Road infrastructure was protected and road quality improved. The mitigation of overloaded vehicle
damage to highways and bridges reduced the economic losses by 16 billion yuan every year.
5) Highway capacity increased and the average operational speed of freight vehicles rose by 20%.
6) The number of multi-axle and large-tonnage freight vehicles increased continuously. In 2006, thesales of heavy trucks reached 0.28 million, climbing by 15% from 2005. In the first half of 2007,
the rate even surpassed 60%.
In October 2007, nine ministries of the State Council issued the Notice of Long-Term Measures to
Reduce Overloaded Vehicles, which proposed the creation of a long-tem mechanism to reduceoverloaded vehicles over the subsequent three years.

(2) Transport of Dangerous Goods
Traffic accidents involving vehicles transporting dangerous goods pose enormous risks, including
endangerment of people’s lives and contamination of the environment. To counter these risks, theMinistry of Transport released three national and industry standards: the Rules on Transport ofDangerous Goods, the Regulations of Transport and Loading of Dangerous Goods, and the Symbol ofMotor Vehicles Transporting Dangerous Goods. Personnel in charge of the transport of dangerous
goods are required to be trained and assessed for their qualifications. Businesses with an incomplete
safety system, motor vehicles not meeting the technical requirements, and unqualified personnel are
not allowed to transport dangerous goods.
The Ministry of Transportation and related departments carried out nationwide inspections targeting
dangerous goods transportation five times, resulting in revocation of the operating licenses of 25,186
unqualified transport corporations. As of April 2006, there were 6,038 corporations qualified fortransporting dangerous goods, with 130,478 certified motor vehicles and 0.35 million licensed employees.

2.6 Improvement of Motor Vehicle Performance(1) Prohibit production and sale of substandard counterfeit motor vehicle parts
On December 2003, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Public Security, and some otherministries issued the Notice on Management of Motor Vehicle Market, which requires that illegal
production and sale of counterfeit vehicle parts be prohibited and punished according to the relevantlaws and regulations.

(2) Adjustment of the composition of motor vehicle types
The Ministry of Transportation promoted the evaluation system for operational passenger vehicles to
upgrade the passenger vehicles on the roads. The toll for large-tonnage vehicles and27

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

container-transport vehicles was lowered. The composition of freight vehicle types was adjusted toreduce energy consumption and improve transport efficiency and safety.

(3) Vehicle inspection
On February 2006, the National Quality Inspection and Quarantine issued the Regulation on the Safety
Inspection Agencies of Motor Vehicles, which took effect in the following May. The aim of theregulation is to supervise the motor vehicle inspection agencies to ensure the authenticity of theinspection results.

(4) Management of vehicles used for agricultural purposes
On October 2007, the Ministry of Agriculture issued the Proposal on Strengthening the Supervision of
Vehicles for Agricultural Purposes. This is aimed at improving the technical skills of drivers ofvehicles for agriculture purposes, enhancing the mechanical safety of agricultural machines, andincreasing the registration rate of agricultural vehicles.

(5) Establishment of the China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP)The China New Car Assessment Program was established by the China Automobile TechnicalResearch Center. Every year, the center selects candidate car models for assessment through a batteryof tests, including fuel consumption and crash tests. The results are released to the public to guideconsumers’ choices. The program operates under rigorous assessment rules, and assigns each car
model examined a star rating based on the testing results, with 5+ being the highest and 1 the lowest. It
provides consumers with useful information and encourages car manufacturers to design and produce
cars with higher safety standards. As a result, the program has the potential to reduce both theincidence of traffic accidents and the damage they cause.

(6) Establishment of a defective car recall system
On March 2004, the National Quality Inspection and Quarantine, the National Commission of
Development and Reform, the Ministry of Commerce, and the General Administration of Customs
jointly issued the Regulation on Recall Management of Defective Motor Vehicles to establish a recall
system for defective motor vehicles in China. Since 2004 about 3.2 million motor vehicles wererecalled due to potential safety defects.

2.7 Improvement of Road Infrastructure(1) Highway Safety Enhancement ProjectIn December 2003, the Ministry of Public Security and the National Safety Supervision Bureau urged
the improvement of dangerous highway segments. In 2004, the Ministry of Transportation launched athree-year Highway Safety Enhancement Project, and expanded the program in 2007 to include county
and rural roads. Between 2004 and 2006, the investment in the program reached 9.01 billion yuan.

28Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

Approximately 278,000 road segments with a cumulative length of 83,000 kilometers were improved.
In 2007 and 2008, a further 4.85 billion yuan was invested into the program to improve 163,000 roadsegments totaling 55,000 kilometers in length. As a result, the program has effectively enhanced
highway safety. Furthermore, in 2007, the Technical Research of China’s Road Safety Program
received the second-place award of the European Road Safety Prize bestowed by the International
Road Federation (IRF).

(2) Reconstruction of dangerous bridges
At the end of 2009, there were 621,900 highway bridges in China, most of which were constructed in
the preceding two decades. Some bridges had become dangerous due to aging, structural damage andthe relatively low design standards of the past. Improving the safety of these bridges was made the
top-priority mission of road safety authorities. Between 2001 and 2005, the Ministry of Transportation
invested 1.5 billion yuan to reconstruct 7,000 dangerous bridges, and issued the new Highway Bridge
Maintenance Regulations to require highway administrative agencies to inspect and assess bridge
conditions on a regular basis. In 2007, the Ministry of Transportation decided to further its efforts bysetting the goal of basically completing, in the three years from 2008 to 2010, the reconstruction of all
dangerous bridges on national and provincial highways, as well as important ones on county and ruralroads.

2.8 Emergency Management(1) Forecast of severe weather conditions
Road traffic safety can be greatly affected by adverse weather conditions (such as fog, snowstorms andtorrential rain) and natural disasters (such as mud-rock flows and landslides in mountainous areas, andfloods). On July 2005, the Ministry of Transportation and the Bureau of Weather Forecast signed amemorandum pledging to jointly carry out highway weather forecasts. According to the memorandum,
relevant weather information would be released in advance based on rain forecasts in the rainy season
and inspection of fog conditions along the highways. The relevant emergency response, information
feedback and evaluation mechanisms were established.
On January 2007, the Ministry of Public Security and the Bureau of Weather Forecast issued the
Notice of Establishing a Road Traffic Weather Information Exchange and Release System, which
requires weather forecast agencies and public security agencies to: share information on road traffic
and weather; establish a channel for information exchange; and create a system for broadcasting
advisories, traffic management information and travel safety information via media such as television,
the Internet, short message services and display screens.

(2) Pre-planning for emergencies
Since 2003, public security agencies have been establishing plans for emergencies of different levels
based on different road traffic situations. To date, all provinces, 97.9% of all cities and 92.8% of all29

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

counties have established about 1,813 plans for traffic management during emergencies to reduce theadverse impact of severe weather and unexpected incidents. The Ministry of Public Security
formulated the a plan for freeway emergency rescue, established an emergency rescue team consistingof mainly firefighters and police officers, and promoted coordination and cooperation among different
departments. In 2008, 25,000 traffic accident victims were saved due to prompt rescue. Transportation
agencies established the ministerial and provincial highway network emergency management platform
for the network supervision and traffic information broadcasting.

2.9 Traffic Safety Propaganda and Education
From October 2004 to February 2005, the Ministry of Public Security conducted nationwide traffic
safety awareness campaign themed “Care for your life and have a safe trip.” Traffic safety propaganda
and education were positioned as key measures for preventing road traffic accidents.
In April 2006, the Ministry of Propaganda, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Education,
the Ministry of Law, and the Bureau of Safety Production Supervision decided to conduct thenationwide propaganda and education project “Protect life and have a safe trip” from 2006 to 2008.
The goal of the three-year effort was to: formulate a mechanism for traffic safety propaganda
involving various departments, including public security, education, law administration and safety
supervision at the provincial, city and county levels; carry out propaganda in rural areas, communities,businesses, schools and homes; reduce significantly traffic violations such as unlicensed driving,
fatigue driving, speeding, overloading, drunk driving and so on. The project for 2006 was themed“Pay attention to the traffic and protect people’s lives” and was mostly targeted at conducting
propaganda and education on road traffic safety laws and regulations, and on basic safety knowledge.
In 2007, an “Obey the law anytime anywhere” project was implemented to focus mainly on deterring
traffic violations and creating a safe, convenient and sustainable traffic environment. The project for2008 was “Welcome the Beijing Olympics and be civilized,” which promoted civilized and safe roadtravel under the circumstances of the Beijing Olympic Games.

2.10 Traffic Safety Technology
In order to reduce the trend of increasing accidents and provide technical support to road safety
improvement in China, the Ministry of Transportation organized and carried out a series of basic
studies on traffic safety, and then applied the findings to road safety improvement. In 2004, the“Highway Traffic Safety Technology Research” project was conducted to solve the most significant
technology issues at that time and to develop safety design methods for improving road traffic safety.
The project focused on the following technical needs in China:
Research for creating a highway safety manual

Highway safety database technology



Safety technology for roads with long, steep slopes

30Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou



Safety technology for fog areas on freeways

Development and testing of highway protective facilities



Formulation of methods for roadside safety evaluation and protection

Safety analysis of highway tunnel entrances

Safety analysis of tourist highways in forested areasIntersection safety improvement technology

Improvement of sign legibility and the effectiveness of supporting facilities



Import of foreign standards and specifications

Development of test standards and regulations for highway traffic engineering projects

Establishment of traffic management information system standards for highways in western
China

On February 2008, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Public Security and theMinistry of Transportation launched a program entitled “Science and Technology Action Program for
National Road Traffic Safety.” This program integrated the resources of the Ministry of Transportationand the Ministry of Public Security for the first time and established a mechanism for data andresource sharing. As the largest cooperative program for road traffic safety in China, its goal was toimprove road accident prevention, advance warning and emergency rescue for road traffic accidents
and effectively prevent severe traffic accidents causing more than ten fatalities. The key technology
research and demonstration projects are listed below.
Intervention technology for road users, including behavioral analysis or road users,
supervision and prevention of risky behavior, abnormal behavior identification and advancewarning, driver adaption to the environment and so on.

Vehicle safety and transportation operational technology, including vehicle surveillance,
overloading control, active and passive safety technology for vehicles, supervision ofdangerous goods transportation and so on.

Road infrastructure safety technology, including safety design, operation and evaluation ofroad infrastructure, surveillance, advance warning and improvement of bridges and tunnels,
and surveillance of traffic operations under severe weather conditions.

Road traffic management and safety technology, including the handling of traffic accidents,
emergency management, traffic information broadcasting, traffic guidance on dangerous roadsegment, traffic operations under abnormal conditions, traffic accident analysis,
identification of restricted vehicles and information exchange and control.

Following the launch of this program, a task force consisting of senior experts decided that the firstphase would focus on implementation of the “Severe Road Traffic Accident Prevention and Treatment
Technology Development” project to target the following key technologies:

Traffic Safety information integration and analysis platformSafety technology for highway networks in mountainous areasFreeway safety technology

31

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou



Commercial vehicle safety technology

Human behavior and traffic safetyRegional highway network safety surveillance and evaluation, and emergency management

Road traffic law enforcement technology

The project seeks to develop a mountain highway safety system that will reduce traffic accidents by 30%
and severe traffic accidents by 50% on the demonstration highway segments. Also, a freeway safetysystem is being created to realize traffic guidance and weather services over distances longer than 100
km and with response times less than 15 minutes. At the same time, the project is developing a traffic
law enforcement and emergency management system covering more than 1,000 km, and an interactive
long-distance traffic safety education system.
Using existing databases of the public security and transportation departments, the project team isconducting research on a mechanism for data sharing and exchange, designing a traffic safety sharing
and exchange system, and developing a traffic safety analysis and decision support system for theaiding the formulation of policies, laws, regulations and safety measures.
It is expected that implementation of the first phase of the project will lead to annual decreases in thenumber of traffic accident fatalities, bringing the fatality rate per 10,000 vehicles close to the level ofdeveloped countries.

32

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in China (1950-2010)

Hongmei Zhou

References:1.

http://www.stats.gov.cn

2.

China Road Traffic Accident Statistics Yearbook 2004-2010

3.

The Blue Book of Road Safety in China 2010, Science Research Department of Ministry ofTransportation, China Communications Press, 2010.8

Author:Dr. Hongmei Zhou
Assistant Professor,
School of Transportation and Logistics,
Dalian University of Technology, China
Dr. Hongmei Zhou is an Assistant Professor in the School of Transportation and Logistics at Dalian
University of Technology (DUT), China. She earned her PhD in Transportation and Urban
Engineering from the University of Connecticut in the United States in 2009. She is a member of theInstitute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and has
served as a paper reviewer for the TRB Annual Meeting and the IEEE Vehicular Technology
Conference. Her research interests focus on traffic safety, transportation planning and management,
and intelligent transportation system (ITS).

33

34

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies andRegulations in Indonesia(1950–2010)

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)
Copyright(C) 2012 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences, All rights reserved.

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

1. Background
Traffic safety policies and regulations in Indonesia are recognized as inseparable from the regulations
and policies that govern road transport and traffic issues. Following its independence in 1945,
Indonesia produced in 1951 its first supreme law concerning road transport and traffic, enhancing a
law enacted earlier by the Dutch colonial government. Afterwards, further legislation on road transport
and traffic was passed in 1965, 1980, 1992 and 2009, with the aim of providing safety, security,smoothness and orderliness to road transport and traffic. In addition, various government regulations
were established to endorse the implementation of specific provisions of those laws (except the ones
enacted in 1951 and 1965). As the Indonesian government increasing turned its attention to road traffic
safety, it produced other regulations dealing with specific safety issues in order to minimize roadtraffic accidents.
This study examines such regulations in the context of traffic accident data for the period 1950–2010.
The structure of this paper is as follows: Section 2 presents time series data related to road traffic
safety; Section 3 reviews the traffic accident situation; Section 4 discusses organizations involved in
the road traffic safety; Section 5 presents the laws, regulations and programs related to traffic safety,
and Section 6 reviews them; Section 7 provides conclusions.

35

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

2. Data Related to Road Traffic Safety
2.1 National Population

Sources: [1], [7], [8], [9], [10] (Note: Some data are not available.)

Figure 1 National population

36

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

2.2 Vehicle Ownership

Sources: [1], [7], [8], [10], [11] (Note: Some data are not available.)

Figure 2a Vehicle ownership (4 classes of motorized vehicles)

Sources: [1], [7], [8], [10], [11] (Note: Some data are not available.)

Figure 2b Vehicle ownership (2 classes of motorized vehicles)37Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

2.3 Road Traffic Accidents

Sources: [1], [6], [10] (Note: Some data are not available.)

Figure 3 Road Traffic Accidents

38

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

2.4 Fatalities
2.4.1 Fatalities per 100,000 population

Sources: Compiled using data from [1], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]. (Note: Some data are not available.)

Figure 4 Number of fatalities per 100,000 population

2.4.2 Fatalities per 10,000 motorized vehicles

Sources: Compiled using data from [1], [6], [7], [8], [10], [11]. (Note: Some data are not available.)

Figure 5 Number of fatalities per 10,000 vehicles

39Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

2.5 Accident Data in 2009
2.5.1 Number of Accidents by Province in 2009

Source: [6]Figure 6 Number of accidents by province (2009)

2.5.2 Number of Motor Vehicles Involved in Traffic Accidents in 2009
The following bar charts show the number of traffic accidents in 2009 by vehicle type and provinces.
Since Indonesia consists of many islands, the province accident data are classified into the following
six groups:(1) Nationwide total (Figure 7a)(2) Sumatra (Figure 7b)(3) Kalimantan (Figure 7c)(4) Sulawesi (Figure 7d)(5) Java (Figure 7e)(6) Other islands (Figure 7f)

40

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Source: [6]Figure 7a Number of motor vehicles involved in traffic accidents in 2009 (nationwide total)

Source: [6]Figure 7b Number of motor vehicles involved in traffic accidents in 2009 (Sumatra Island)

41

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Source: [6]Source: [6]Figure 7c Number of motor vehicles involved in traffic accidents in 2009 (Kalimantan Island)

Source: [6]Figure 7d Number of motor vehicles involved in traffic accidents in 2009 (Sulawesi Island)42Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Source: [6]Figure 7e Number of motor vehicles involved in traffic accidents in 2009 (Java Island)

Source: [6]Figure 7f Number of motor vehicles involved in traffic accidents in 2009 (other islands)

43

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

2.5.3 Traffic Accident Casualties in 2009

Source: [6]Figure 8a Traffic accident casualties in 2009 (nationwide total)

Source: [6]Figure 8b Traffic accident casualties in 2009 (Sumatra Island)

44

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Source: [6]Figure 8c Traffic accident casualties in 2009 (Kalimantan Island)

Source: [6]Figure 8d Traffic accident casualties in 2009 (Sulawesi Island)

45

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Source: [6]Figure 8e Traffic accident casualties in 2009 (Java Island)

Source: [6]Figure 8f Traffic accident casualties in 2009 (other islands)

46

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

3. Review of Traffic Accident Situation
3.1 General Review
In general, annual data on population and vehicle ownership in Indonesia have been collected
relatively effectively since 1950 and have been documented by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
However, the same cannot be said for the reporting and documentation of data on traffic accidents,
especially road traffic accidents. The collection and documentation of time series data on road traffic
accidents was started in 1970, but was initially poor in quality, with many accidents going unreported
for various reasons. One of those reasons was that the use of an unaudited reporting process gave
police officers the potential to refrain from reporting accidents to the higher echelon in order to keep
the reported accident rate low in their areas of duty. Moreover, only the numbers of accidents andresulting casualties were recorded, with no documentation of other accident details.
As the Indonesian government became more concerned with traffic safety, the Indonesian National
Police started devoting greater attention to traffic accident prevention, and recognized that theestablishment of a proper database of accident information was the key to reducing the number ofaccidents. An intensive effort to document traffic accidents was launched on 2005. The data collected
showed extreme growth in the annual number of traffic accidents, with the number for 2005 (91,623)
totaling nearly five times that of 2004 (17,732). However, it is clear that this rise was not the result of
an increase in accident incidence, but was rather the effect of intensive reporting by the police.
Consequently, studies on traffic accidents in Indonesia must also consider this important phenomenon.

3.2 Trends in Road Traffic Accidents
3.2.1 Growth Rate
The following analysis on road traffic accidents is initially based on the trends in the variables related
to traffic accidents. Such trends are represented by the average growth rates of some variables that aredeveloped from data presented in sections 2.1 to 2.4. The growth rates are shown in Table 1. The
growth rates of some variables are also represented in bar charts that show the rate fluctuation
throughout the time of observation (Figures 9 to 11).
Due to the problem of poor accident reporting and documentation described in section 3.1 and basedon the patterns of the time series of variables related to traffic accidents, we decided to divide the timeseries data into the following six periods of observation:(1) 1950–1970(2) 1970 –1981(3) 1981–2002(4) 2002–2004(5) 2004–2007

47

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono(6) 2007–2010
Analysis is carried out based on the figures in the following table and bar charts, as well as the dataand graphs presented in Section 2.

Table 1 Average growth rate of selected variables
AVERAGE ANNUAL GROWTH RATEPERIOD
1950-1970

1970-1981

1981-2002

2004-2007

2007-2010

Number of automobiles**

15,00090,000220,000

860,000

3,000,000

1,000,000

Number of motorcycles**

19,000240,000

Total number of vehicles**

35,000330,000

600,000

3,000,000

6,000,000

5,000,000

820,000

4,000,000

9,000,000

6,000,000

Number of road traffic accidents
Number of people seriously injured

3,000-1,9802,700

16,089

1,669

-880

1,485

11,987

Number of people slightly injured

2,187-1,331

1,577

13,622

Total number of people injured

3,857-2,212

3,063

25,609Number of fatalities

877

*)

1,221

3,792

Population

2002-2004

3,000,000

Sources: Compiled using data from [1], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11].(* Not defined due to random fluctuation)** Data for 2010 are not available.

48

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Sources: Compiled using data from [1], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11].

Figure 9 Growth rate of vehicle ownership

49

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Sources: Compiled using data from [1], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11].

Figure 10 Growth rate of traffic accidents and casualties

50

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Sources: Compiled using data from [1], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11].

Figure 11 Growth rate of casualties

3.2.2 Analysis of Traffic Accident Time Series(1) 1950–1970
The only accident-related data available during this period are vehicle ownership and population. The
number of automobiles and the total number of motorcycles increased at the rate of 15,000 units/year
and 19,000 units/year, respectively. There were 45,663 automobiles in 1950, rising to 364,730 in 1970.
The number of motorcycles in 1950 was only 5,546, but this climbed to 440,005 in 1970. The
population grew steadily at an average rate of 3 million people/year, reaching around 117 million in
1970.
(2) 1970-1981
Collection and documentation of time series data on traffic accidents started in 1970. Before 2005, thenumber of traffic accidents peaked in 1981 at 51,385, with the number of fatalities per 100,000
population estimated at about 7.33, and the number of fatalities per 10,000 vehicles at 24.35. The
accidents in 1981 resulted in 11,105 fatalities, 22,529 serious injuries and 35,645 minor injuries. Dueto the problem of underreporting before 2009, it is not appropriate to compare those indicators of51

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

safety with the ones of other countries. The underreporting problem will be discussed in detail in
Section 6.
From 1970 to 1981, the number of accidents and the number of fatalities increased at the rate of
3,000/year and 877 people/year, respectively.

Given that both the number of deaths and the

population grew during this period, the increase in the number of fatalities per 100,000 population(health risk) shows that road safety in Indonesia was in poor condition. This implies that the increasein fatalities is more dominant than the increase in population.
Despite the rise in fatalities during this period, one indicator of traffic safety, the fatalities per 10,000
vehicles (traffic risk), tended to decrease. In the same period, the total number of vehicles increased at
the average rate of 330,000/year. The greater growth rate of vehicle ownership compared with that of
fatalities during that period led to the decrease in traffic risk.
(3) 1981–2002
In the years 1981–2002, the number of traffic accidents tended to decrease, reaching the minimum
point of 12,267 in 2002, with the health risk and the traffic risk standing at 4.32 and 3.81, respectively.
During this period, the number of accidents and the number of injuries decreased, falling by 1,980
incidents/year and 2,212 people/year, respectively.
The number of fatalities fluctuated randomly, reaching a minimum of 8,762 in 2002, and a maximumof 12,308 in 1997. The annual average was 10,574, with a standard deviation of 769.
Meanwhile, the growth rate of vehicle ownership accelerated at an average of about 820,000 units/year(248% of the average for 1970-1981). This growth continued to lower the traffic risk indicator.
(4) 2002–2004
In the period 2002-2004, traffic safety tend to worsen, with the number of accidents rising to 17,732 in
2004 (growing at 2,700/year), and the number of fatalities increasing to 11,204 in the same year
(growing at 1,200/year). During this period, however, the number of fatalities per 10,000 vehicles
hovered at about 3.6 to 3.8, mainly due to the significant growth rate of vehicle ownership, which
averaged 860,000 units/year (391% of the rate for 1981-2002). Moreover, motorcycle ownership rose
by 3,000,000 units/year, which was 500% of the rate for 1981-2002. Given these figures, it isreasonable to presume that vehicle ownership was a factor behind the deterioration of traffic safety
during this period, and this point deserves careful investigation.
The other important figures for the years 1995-2004 are the number of fatalities and the number ofpeople seriously injured. During this period, the number of fatalities outweighed the number of serious
injuries in some years, while the contrary was the case in the other years.
(5) 2004–2007
In 2005, the number of accidents abruptly rose from 17,732 in 2004 to 91,623 in 2005 (517% ). As
described in the previous section, the reporting and documentation of road traffic accident was52

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

intensively improved in 2005, including enhancements to accident report formats and to the databasesystem. For this reason, this study excludes the accident data for 2004–2007.
During this period, vehicle ownership continued to increase, growing at the rate of 3 million/year for
automobiles, 6 million/year for motorcycles, and 9 million/year for all motorized vehicles. Thesefigures show that this was a period of explosive growth for vehicle ownership, particularly
motorcycles. Again, this may have worsened the traffic accident problem.
(6) 2007-2010
Between 2007 and 2010, the number of traffic accidents kept worsening, increasing at the rate of
16,089/year (596% of the rate for 2002-2004). In 2010, the total number of accidents rose to 109,311
and the number of fatalities increased to 31,234. Fatalities per 100,000 population and fatalities per
10,000 vehicles in 2009 were 8.64 and 2.83, respectively.
Vehicle ownership during 2007-2010 continued to increase, albeit at rates lower than those of thepreceding period (2004-2007). The rates were 1,000,000 units/year, 5,000,000/year and
6,000,000/year, for automobiles, motorcycles and all motorized vehicles, respectively.
The other important figure is the significant growth in the number of minor injuries, which averaged
13,622 people/year (864% of 2002-2004) and was near the growth rate of accidents. Also, the growthrate of serious injuries was quite similar to that for fatalities.

3.2.3 Analysis of Traffic Accidents by Province and Mode in 2009
As shown in Figure 6, traffic accidents in Indonesia in 2009 were dominated by the provinces on Java
Island, namely, East Java (19.45%), Central Java (12.56%), Jakarta Special District (11.54%), WestJava (6.55%) and Yogyakarta Special District (6.79%). Given these figures and the fact that most ofIndonesia’s big cities are located on Java, further investigation should be made to validate the data of
the provinces outside Java, since their data may be skewed by underreporting.
In general, motorcycles were the dominant vehicle involved in traffic accidents in all provinces. As
shown in Figure 7a, the nationwide total of motorcycles involved in traffic accidents in 2009 was
72,815 (69.7% of all motorized vehicles involved in accidents). This percentage was even larger insome provinces, such as 75% on Java Island (East Java Province), 73.3% on Kalimantan island (East
Kalimantan Province) and 78.9% on Sulawesi Island (Central Sulawesi Province).
In contrast, 15,049 passenger cars and 13,385 trucks were involved in traffic accidents in Indonesia in
2009, accounting for 14.4% and 12.8% of the total, respectively. However, in terms of vehicle
ownership, passenger cars and trucks made up 14.7% and 7.3% of the total number of vehicles,
respectively. From those figures, it can be presumed that trucks are relatively more prevalent in traffic
accidents than are passenger cars.
In Central Java and East Java, the accident involvement of trucks exceeded that of passenger cars.
Attention should be given to this fact in investigation of the causes of accidents.

53

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

In term of casualties, slight injuries outweighed serious injuries and fatalities in all provinces except
South Sulawesi (Figure 8d), where minor injuries were on par with fatalities (1,013 and 1,111 people,
respectively). In East Java, the province with the biggest number of accidents, the breakdown ofcasualties 69% for slight injuries, 17.9% for fatalities, and 13.1% for serious injuries.

4. Organizations Involved in Road Traffic Safety
Organizations involved in road traffic safety and their responsibilities are specified in the following
laws and regulations.
(1) Indonesian Government Regulation No. 32 of 2011 on Traffic Engineering and Management,
Traffic Impact Analysis, and Traffic Demand Management
This regulation prescribes the following responsibilities for the heads of organizations involved inroad traffic safety.
a. Minister of Transportation
The Minister of Transportation holds responsibility for transportation-related matters, including:- Road space utilization- Road capacity- Use of roadside land
- Road facilities directly related to road users- Traffic management- Traffic performance- Potential locations of traffic accidents and congestionb. Minister of Public Works
The Minister of Public Works is responsible for road-related problems, such as:- Highway and intersection geometry- Highway structures- Road facilities indirectly related to road users- Potential locations of traffic accidents and congestion- Utilization of parts not utilized by road users
c. Head of Indonesian National Police
The Head of the Indonesian National Police is responsible for:- Traffic operation performance- Traffic safety culture- Traffic management- Areas with potential for

54

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono- Security violations- Traffic accidents- Traffic congestion- Traffic violations- Operation of traffic engineering
d. Governors, heads of regency, and city mayors are locally responsible for:- Highway and intersection geometry- Highway structures- Road facilities directly and indirectly related to road users- Potential locations of traffic accidents and congestion- Utilization of parts not utilized by road users- Road space utilization- Road capacity- Use of roadside land
- Traffic management- Traffic performance(2) Indonesian Law No. 22 of 2009 on Road Transport and Traffic
Under this law, the institutions involved in road traffic safety are designated as follows.
a. Ministry of Public Works: Responsible for road-related problems.
b. Ministry of Transportation: Responsible for road transport and traffic facilities.
c. Ministry of Industry: Responsible for the development of industries related to road transport andtraffic facilities.
d. Ministry of Research and Technology: Responsible for the development of technologies related
to road transport and traffic facilities.
e. Indonesian National Police: Responsible for motor vehicle and driver registration/identification,
law enforcement, traffic engineering and management operation, and traffic safety education.
(3) Indonesian Government Regulation No. 37 of 2011 on the Forum of Road Transport and Traffic.
This regulation designates the following institutions as organizations involved in road traffic safety.
a. Ministry of Public Works: Responsible for road-related problems.
b. Ministry of Transportation: Responsible for road transport and traffic facilities.
c. Ministry of Industry: Responsible for the development of industries related to road transport andtraffic facilities.
d. Ministry of Research and Technology: Responsible for the development of technologies related
to road transport and traffic facilities.

55

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

e. Indonesian

National

Police:Responsiblefor

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

the

motor

vehicleanddriverregistration/identification, law enforcement, traffic engineering and management operation, andtraffic safety education.
(4) National General Plan on Road Transport and Traffic Safety
According to this guideline, the following five institutions are involved in road traffic safety.
a. Ministry of Transportation: Responsible for coordinating the stakeholders involved in roadsafety management.
b. Ministry of Public Works: Responsible for providing safer roads.
c. Ministry of Industry: Responsible for providing safer vehicles, in which every vehicle on theroad is compliant with high safety standards.
d. Indonesian National Police: Responsible for shaping road user behavior to create safer road
users.
e. Ministry of Health: Responsible for providing adequate treatment of traffic accident injuries.

5. Laws, Regulations and Program
5.1 Traffic Safety-related Laws, Regulations and Program
The laws, regulations and a program related to traffic safety are presented in Table 2.

5.2 Description of Laws, Regulations and ProgramThis section describes laws and regulations that explicitly mention road traffic accidents rather thantraffic safety as a general target of road and traffic management. Moreover, one program related totraffic safety is presented since it has become a milestone of traffic accident data collection inIndonesia.
In order to show the continuity of the description about the impacts of these normative issues on traffic
accidents, the impacts of the regulations will be discussed in the next section.

56

1993

1998

2009

10

11

1993

6

9

1992

5

1993

1985

4

8

1980

3

1993

1965

2

7

Year
1951

No.
1

57

Indonesian Law No. 22 of 2009

Indonesian Government Regulation No. 44 of 1993
(derived from Indonesian Law No. 14 of 1992 )Indonesian Government Regulation No. 71 of 1998
(derived from Indonesian Law No. 14 of 1992 )Indonesian Government Regulation No. 41 of 1993
(derived from Indonesian Law No. 14 of 1992 )Indonesian Government Regulation No. 42 of 1993
(derived from Indonesian Law No. 14 of 1992 )Indonesian Government Regulation No. 43 of 1993
(derived from Indonesian Law No. 14 of 1992 )Indonesian Government Regulation No. 26 of 1985
(derived from Indonesian Law No. 13 of 1980)
Indonesian Law No. 14 of 1992

Indonesian Law No. 13 of 1980

Indonesian Law No. 3 of 1965

Law / Regulation / Policy
Indonesian Law No. 7 of 1951

Postponement of implementationof regulation concerning theobligations of providing and using
safety belts
Road transport and traffic

Vehicles and drivers

Inspection of motorized vehicles
on the road
Road traffic and infrastructure

Road transport

Road transport and traffic

Ro a d s

Roads

Concerning
Revision and addendum of
Government Legislation No. 86
of 1933 on road traffic
Road transport and traffic

This law enhances Indonesian Law No. 14 of 1992.
There are specific chapters concerning:- Road transport and traffic safety and security (Chapter XI, clauses
200-208)
Traffic accidents (Chapter XIV, clauses 226-241)

As stated in Indonesian Law No. 14 of 1992, drivers and front-seatpassengers must wear safety belts.

This regulation endorses implementation of clauses of Indonesian
Law No. 14 of 1992.
Two clauses of this regulation define traffic accidents and theauthority for traffic accident data reporting and investigation
No specific clauses concerning safety issues.

No specific clauses concerning safety issues.

This law enhances Indonesian Law No. 13 of 1980.
No specific clauses concerning safety issues.
No specific clauses concerning safety issues.

This law enhances Indonesian Law No. 7 of 1951.
No specific clauses concerning safety issues and no regulations
derived from this law.
This law enhances Indonesian Law No. 3 of 1965.
No specific clauses concerning safety issues.
No specific clauses concerning safety issues.

Remarks
No specific clauses concerning safety issues and no regulations
derived from this law.

Table 2 Laws, regulations and program related to traffic safety

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)
Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

2011

14

Development of a national
general plan concerning:- Development of national
program on road transport andtraffic safety- Provision and maintenance offacilities and instruments forroad transport and traffic safety- Studies on road transport andtraffic safety issues- Management of road transport
and traffic safety
Road safety improvement in somebig cities and intercities on Javaand Sumatra islands

Road Transport and Traffic
Forum

Indonesian Government Regulation No. 37 of 2011(derived from Indonesian Law No. 22 of 2009)

National General Plan on Road Transport and Traffic
Safety 2011–2035(derived from Indonesian Law No. 22, 2009)- Traffic engineering andmanagement- Traffic impact analysis- Traffic demand management

Indonesian Government Regulation No. 32 of 2011(derived from Indonesian Law No. 22 of 2009)

2007
Indonesia Integrated Road Safety Management Systems(IIRMSs)
2011
Sources: [3], [4], [5]

2011

13

15

2011

12

This program deals with long-term strategies and the implementation
framework for road safety, and with the database system for roadtraffic accident and road safety management .

This regulation endorses implementation of clauses of Indonesian
Law No. 22 of 2009 concerning:- Traffic engineering and management , including data inventory andanalysis on the number of traffic violations and accidents- Traffic impact analysis- Traffic demand management
This regulation endorses implementation of a clause in Indonesian
Law No. 22 of 2009 concerning the coordination among thestakeholders of road transport and traffic.
This plan is for implementing one clause of Indonesian Law No. 22
of 2009 , but it has not yet been legalized by government regulation.

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

58

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

5.2.1 Indonesian Government Regulation No. 43 of 1993
(1) Background
This regulation endorses implementation of Indonesian Law No. 14 of 1992 on road transport
and traffic. It concerns traffic management and engineering, road networks, road facilities,
pedestrians, and traffic accidents.
(2) Objective
Optimize network and traffic movement utilization in order to ensure the security, safety,
orderliness and smoothness of road transport and traffic.
(3) Content and period of policy
This regulation concerns the following road traffic accident issues.
a. Definitions related to traffic accidents
Fatality: Traffic accident victim who dies within 30 days after the crash.
Seriously injured: Traffic accident victim who incurs permanent physical damage or is
hospitalized for more than 30 days after the crash.
Slightly injured: Traffic accident victim other than the preceding two categories.
b. The authority for traffic accident recording and investigation
The Indonesian National Police has the authority to record traffic accident information anddevelop the traffic accident information system. Investigation of fatal accidents is carriedout by the police, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Public Works.
This regulation went into effect in 1993.
(4) Organizations responsible for executing the policy
The Indonesian National Police, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Public
Works are responsible for executing the provisions of this regulation that are related to thetraffic accident issues.
(5) Scope of the policy and its sources of funding
This regulation covers the national level and is funded from national and local government
budgets.

5.2.2 Indonesian Law No. 22 of 2009 on Road Transport and Traffic(1) BackgroundIndonesian Law No. 22 of 2009 is an improvement of Indonesian Law No. 14 of 1992
concerning road transport and traffic problems. It is realized that the role and potency of road59

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjonotransport as part of the national transportation system must be improved to ensure safety,
security, smoothness and orderliness for the transportation system.
This law is the current supreme regulation concerning transportation issues, and deals withcertain safety issues as well.
(2) Objectives
a. Establish road transport and traffic that provide safety, security, smoothness andorderliness, and are well connected to other modes of transportation.
b. Establish ethics for transportation.
c. Establish the law enforcement and certainty for the community.
(3) Content and period of policy
This regulation concerns the following road transport and traffic safety matters.
a. The Indonesian government is responsible for establishing safety in road transport andtraffic through the national general plan on road transport andtraffic safety, which

includes:- Creating national programs on road transport and traffic safety.
- Providing and maintaining facilities related to road transport and traffic safety.
- Conducting research on road transport and traffic safety issues.
- Implementing road transport and traffic safety management.
b. Supervision of the road transport and traffic safety programs includes:- Auditing by an independent auditor- Inspection by a mandatory (body) for road transport and traffic.
- Observation and monitoring by a mandatory (body) for road transport and trafficc. The mandatory (body) for road transport and traffic is responsible for building roadtransport and traffic safety culture through policies and programs that include:- Traffic safety education for young people- Internalization of and campaigns for traffic safety programs, culture and ethics- Appreciation to the traffic safety-related actions- Establishment of spaces that encourage people to use transportation in an orderly
fashion- Sustainable and consistent law enforcement
This law went into effect in 2009.
(4) Organizations responsible for executing the policy
The organizations responsible for executing the road traffic safety programs under this law are
as follows.

60

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjonoa. Ministry of Public Works: Responsible for road-related problems.
b. Ministry of Transportation: Responsible for the road transport and traffic facilities.
c. Ministry of Industry: Responsible for the development of industries related to roadtransport and traffic facilities.
d. Ministry of Research and Technology: Responsible for the development of technologies
related to road transport and traffic facilities.
e. Indonesian

National

Police:Responsible

for

motor

vehicleanddriverregistration/identification, law enforcement, traffic engineering and management operation,and traffic safety education.
(5) Scope of the law and its sources of funding
This law covers the national level, and there are some regulations derived from this law toendorse its implementation. It is funded from national and local government budgets.

5.2.3 Indonesian Government Regulation No. 32 of 2011 on Traffic Engineering andManagement, Traffic Impact Analysis, and Traffic Demand Management(1) Background
This regulation endorses implementation of Indonesian Law No. 22 of 2009, particularly withregard to issues related to traffic engineering and management, traffic impact analysis, andtraffic demand management, including traffic safety issues.
(2) Objective
Optimize network and traffic movement utilization in order to ensure the security, safety,
orderliness and smoothness of road transport and traffic.
(3) Content and period of policy
This regulation concerns the following road traffic accident issues.
a. Identification of potential traffic accident locations by the Ministry of Transportation, theMinistry of Public Works, the Indonesian National Police and locally by the governors,
heads of regency and city mayors.
b. Data inventory and analysis of the traffic situation, including data on potential locations oftraffic/security violations, traffic accidents and congestion. This is carried out by theIndonesian National Police.
c. Data inventory and analysis of the number of traffic violations and accidents on certain
links or areas. This is carried out by the Indonesian National Police, and includes:- Data collection, data base development and analysis of existing traffic violations andaccidents on all links.

61

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono- Data collection, database development and analysis of the causative factors of existing
traffic violations and accidents on all links.
- Comparative analysis of the number of traffic violations and accidents between thecurrent year and previous years, and among the causative factors of accidents.
- Analysis and evaluation of efforts to reduce and prevent traffic violations and accidents.
This regulation went into effect in 2011.
(4) Organizations responsible for executing the policy
The Indonesian National Police, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Public Works,
governors, heads of regency, and mayors are responsible for executing the provisions of thisregulation that are related to the traffic accident issues.
(5) Scope of the policy and its sources of funding
This regulation covers the national level and funded from national and local government
budgets.

5.2.4 Indonesian Government Regulation No. 37 of 2011 on the Forum of Road
Transport and Traffic(1) Background
Under Indonesian Law No. 22 of 2009, the institutions involved in road traffic safety are: theMinistry of Public Works, which is responsible for road-related problems; the Ministry ofTransportation, which is responsible for road transport and traffic facilities; the Ministry ofIndustry, which is responsible for the development of industries related to road transport andtraffic facilities; the Ministry of Research and Technology, which is responsible for thedevelopment of technologies related to road transport and traffic facilities; the Indonesian
National Police, which is responsible for motor vehicle and driver registration/identification,
law enforcement, traffic engineering and management operation, and traffic safety education.
In order to coordinate these institutions, it is necessary to create a forum consisting of amandatory (body), policy executors, scholars and community representatives.
(2) Objective
The Forum of Road Transport and Traffic is aimed at coordinating the institutions involved in
the planning and execution of road transport and traffic matters at the local and national levels,
including traffic safety issues.

62Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono(3) Content and period of policy
This regulation describes the membership, function and working mechanism of the forum.
The forum membership is separated into national, provincial and regency/city levels. In
general, the membership consists of:a. The Minister of Public Works, the Minister of Transportation, the Minister of Industry andthe Minister of Research and Technology for the national level, or the Governor for theprovincial level, or the Head of Regency/Mayor for the regency/city level.
b. The Head of the Indonesian National Police for the national level, or the Head of Provincial
Police for the provincial level, or the Head of Resort/City Police for the regency/city level.
c. State-owned companies related to road transport and traffic matters
d. Associations of public transport companies
e. Representatives from higher education institutions
f. Road transport and traffic experts
g. Non-governmental organizations
h. Road transport and traffic observers
This forum was established in 2011.
(4) Organizations responsible for executing the policy
All the members represent the organizations involved in this forum.
(5) Scope of the policy and source of funding
This policy covers the national level and funded from national and local government budgets.
(6) Impact of policy
Since the forum was established in 2011, it is too early to identify its impacts.

5.2.5 National General Plan on Road Transport and Traffic Safety (RUNK)(1) Background
In March 2011, the United Nations General Assembly designated the period 2011–2020 as the
Decade of Action (DoA) for Road Safety, with the aim of controlling and reducing traffic
accident fatalities globally by intensifying safety programs at the national, regional and global
levels. This concept is in line with the message of Indonesian Law No. 22 of 2009 regarding
road transport and traffic, particularly regarding the need to develop the National General Planon Road Transport and Traffic Safety (RUNK). Having this momentum, the government ofIndonesia established the RUNK and declared DoA to be part of it.[2]63Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono(2) Objectives
RUNK is intended to be a guide for stakeholders of road safety in planning and implementing
road safety programs in coordinated and integrated ways. Moreover, RUNK is also intended
as a guide for local governments to incorporate the plan into the implementation as programsof their regions.
(3) Content and period of policy
RUNK involves not only the development of national programs on road transport and traffic
safety, but also provision and maintenance of road safety facilities, studies on road safety, androad safety management.
In order to ensure its sustainability, RUNK encompasses a vision, missions, directions, targets,
strategies, policies, programs and activities.
The development of RUNK is based on the following five pillars of road safety:
a. Road safety managementb. Safer roadsc. Safer vehicles
d. Safer road users
e. Post-crash action.
Programs and activities are formulated within each pillar, and the associated indicators,
parameters and targets are set for five consecutive 5-year periods.
Policies established for the first 5-year period include the following objectives:a. Redefine some terminologies related to traffic accidents and set a standard operational
procedure for accident care.
b. Harmonize the information flow, communication, coordination and cooperation among
stakeholders.
c. Synchronize the financial resources from the government, business world, communities
and road users.
d. Encourage the stakeholders involved in research and education on traffic safety as well as
data and traffic accident surveillances.
The programs are also provided by the leading and supporting sectors responsible for theaction of the each program, namely, the National Development Planning Agency, the Ministryof Transportation, the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry ofCommunication and Information, the Ministry of Research and Technology, the Ministry of
Education, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justiceand Human Rights, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry ofSocial Affairs, the Ministry of the Environment, insurance companies, local governments, thebusiness world, the Road Transport Entrepreneur Organization, national/international partners,

64Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

higher education institutions, and communities.
RUNK was launched in 2011.
(4) Organizations for executing the policy
All the organizations involved in RUNK are assigned as executors of the programs.
(5) Scope of the policy and source of funding
RUNK covers the national level, but has not yet been legalized by government regulation.
(6) Impact of policy
Since RUNK was launched in 2011, it is too early to identify its impacts.

5.2.6 Indonesia Integrated Road Safety Management Systems (IIRMSs)(1) Background
The Indonesian government recognizes that traffic congestion in the cities and intercities has
adverse impacts on macroeconomic growth. In order to overcome such problems, thegovernment of Indonesia, working through the Ministry of Public Works, created the Strategic
Roads Infrastructure Project (SRIP) with the World Bank to improve the capacities of thenational road networks of some big cities and intercities on Java and Sumatra islands. One ofthe objectives of SRIP was to improve the safety of road users through creation of theIndonesia Integrated Road Management Systems (IIRMSs). The Ministry of Transportationand the Indonesian National Police were assigned as Project Implementing Units.[4](2) Objectives
IIRSMSs was aimed at:a. Developing the National Road Safety Strategy and the implementation framework of theinstitutions and policies involved in road safety.
b. Developing road safety management and a database system of road traffic accidents.
(3) Content and period of policy
This project consisted of the following elements:
a. Building a road safety “Results Focus” in Indonesia through capacity building; detailed
planning for a multi-sectoral pilot project and preparation of an integrated road safety
strategy, led by the Directorate General of Land Transport with involvement of key roadsafety agencies.
b. Creating a specification document that details the design of a road safety management
information system, using accident data from the Indonesian National Police and othersources.

65

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Period of project: September 2007–December 2011.
(4) Organizations responsible for executing the policy
IIRMSs was conducted by the two Project Implementing Units:
a. Directorate of Land Transport Safety of the Ministry of Transportation, which was
responsible for the development of the long-term strategies and the implementation
framework of the institutions and policies involved in road safety.
b. Directorate of Traffic of the Indonesian National Police, which was responsible for thedevelopment of the database system for road traffic accidents and road safety management.
(5) Scope of the policy and its sources of funding
IIRSMSs covered the road networks of some big cities and intercities on Java and Sumatra
islands, and was financed with a World Bank loan.
(6) Impact of the program
As one focus of this project was to set up a database system for road traffic accidents, theprogram encouraged the Indonesian National Police to treat traffic accident data more
intensively and professionally, leading to an increase in the amount of traffic accident datacollected. This resulted in an extremely large jump in the number of accidents reported in2010. As part of establishing the database system, the year 2009 was selected as the current
reference point for the traffic accident analysis.

6. Review of Major Changes in Traffic Safety Policies andRegulations
In general, the laws and associated government regulations discussed herein were intended to optimize
the utilization of network and traffic movement in order to ensure the security, safety, orderliness andsmoothness of road transport and traffic. Most of the clauses of those laws and regulations did not
explicitly mention about the issues of traffic safety, except for safety as a final target of road transport
and traffic management.
The first government regulation concerning the road transport and traffic was Indonesian Government
Regulation No.26 of 1985. It was derived to endorse implementation of Indonesian Law No.13 of1980. Even though no clauses mentioned traffic safety explicitly, it was understood that this regulation
was intended to make people safe in their utilization oftransportation. It is believed that thisregulation contributed to the decreasing trend in the number of accidents between 1985 and 1993.
Reflecting mounting concern about traffic safety, Indonesian Government Regulation No. 43 of 1993highlighted the issue of traffic safety explicitly, albeit simply, in its two clauses on the definition of
traffic accidents, and on the authority for traffic accident data reporting, recording and investigation.

66

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

These clauses were produced to highlight the importance of traffic accident data reporting andrecording.
This regulation defined fatalities as traffic accident victims who die within 30 days after the crash.
However, in practice, the Indonesian National Police categorized as fatalities only victims who died at
the scene, and categorized victims who died on the way to the hospital or within 30 days after thecrash as seriously injured victims [12]. To date, the Indonesian National Police still use thesedefinitions, while insurance companies and the Ministry of Health use different definitions.
Consequently, there were still disparities between the data collected by different units of theIndonesian National Police (internally different) and also between the data of police units and otherinstitutions related to traffic accidents (externally different) [12].
Moreover, the Indonesian National Police only took into account the road traffic accidents that were
processed up to the courts. All the other road traffic accidents were not counted in the data base.
In addition to the problems of traffic accident definitions, and the way the traffic accidents wereconsidered in the database, there was an important issue concerning the position of the Indonesian
National Police within the government. Before 1999, the Indonesian National Police were organizedunder the Indonesian National Armed Forces. This position made the police more concerned about
security issues than about safety ones. Due to this situation, police concern about traffic accident
issues, including the issue of data reporting and recording, were likely diminished around 1980. It is
understood that this may lead to a decrease in the traffic accident rate due to the problem ofunderreporting.

However, as mentioned above, such a trend may also due to the existence ofregulations related to traffic and road transport.
In 1999 the Indonesian National Police was separated from Indonesian National Army. This move wasaimed at making the Indonesian National Police more professional in community services, including
safety and security services. As a result, traffic accident data management started to be addressed more
professionally, with the police working to recover the data recording system at the national level.
These milestones are believed to have contributed to the increasing trend in traffic accidents after
2000, particularly the extreme rises in 2005 and 2006 (see figure 12). It is quite reasonable to presume
that such increases were more affected by the intensive data collection, rather than the effect ofcertain serious technical problems in traffic safety management. The significant rise in 2005 and 2006
was presumed due to the individual-based data recording program rather than institutional-based one.

67

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Source : Compiled using data from [1], [3], [4], [5], [6], [10]Note: IGR : Indonesian Government Regulation
IL : Indonesian Law

Figure 12 Trends in road traffic accidents in association withtraffic safety laws, regulations and program

In line with its policy concerning a data recording system, in 2007-2011 the Indonesian National
Police conducted a project with a World Bank loan to develop IIRMSs (Indonesia Integrated Road
Safety Management Systems). It focused on the issues of traffic accident database, including theimprovement of accident data reporting, recording and auditing. Again, it was believed to havecontributed to the increasing trend in traffic accidents.
Besides the problem of data collection, the increasing trend in traffic accidents after 2000 was believed
to be due to the extremely rapidly increasing vehicle ownership, which was dominated by
motorcycles. During the periods 1981-2002, 2002-2004, 2004-2007 and 2007-2009, ownership ofmotorcycles grew annually by about 600,000, 3 million, 6 million and 5 million units/year respectively.
This is supported by the traffic accident figures for 2009, which show that motorcycles significantly
dominated traffic accidents in all provinces. The total number of motorcycles involved in traffic
accidents in 2009 was 72,815 (69.7% of the total number of motor vehicles involved in accidents).
This figure was even larger in some provinces, such as 75% on Java Island (East Java Province),
73.3% on Kalimantan Island (East Kalimantan Province) and 78.9% on Sulawesi Island (Central
Sulawesi Province).

68Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Furthermore, as an improvement of the preceding law, Indonesian Law No. 22 of 2009 provides moreclauses concerning road transport and traffic safety and security, as well as traffic accidents. Theseclauses were then endorsed in government regulations concerning:- Data inventory and analysis on traffic violations and accidents (Indonesian Government
Regulation No.32 of 2011)- Coordination among the stakeholders of road transport and traffic (Indonesian Government
Regulation No.37 of 2011)-

Development of the National General Plan on Road Transport and Traffic Safety 2011–2035

It is realized that those were critical issues that had been raised to reemphasize the importance of data
inventory and analysis, coordination and planning on traffic safety programs.
Besides the issue of data inventory, the other important issue addressed in Indonesian Law No. 22 of2009 was the coordination among the stakeholders involved in road transport and traffic problems. As
described above, the organizations involved in road transport and traffic problems, including the roadtraffic safety issues, are the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry ofIndustry, the Ministry of Research and Technology and the Indonesian National Police (refer toIndonesian Government Regulation No. 37 of 2011). The Forum of Road Transport and Traffic wasintroduced to highlight the importance of collaboration and coordination among those institutions, andthe Ministry of Transportation was assigned to take the lead of the forum. Furthermore, in order tofocus on traffic safety issues, each of those institutions developed a special unit or division to be
responsible for road safety matters.
Indonesian Law No. 22 of 2009 also addressed the establishment of National General Plan on Road
Transport and Traffic Safety (RUNK) for the period 2011–2035. This plan was a comprehensive longterm plan on traffic safety that was in line with the spirit of the United Nations’ Decade of Action(DoA) for Road Safety 2011-2020. RUNK was developed to be a guide for implementation of nationalsafety programs, and encompasses strategies, policies, programs, indicators and targets to be
implemented in five consecutive time periods. RUNK was launched in June 2011, together with thelaunching of the DoA of Indonesia, and it demonstrated that the Indonesian government was devoting
serious attention to controlling and minimizing the number of traffic accidents and fatalities. However,it has not yet legalized by the implementation regulation.
Furthermore, some safety programs have been conducted in last decade by the central or local
governments and communities, either in the form of international collaboration/partnership or selfconducted programs, at the local, national, regional or international level in order reduce the traffic
accidents. Those programs are GRSP (Global Road Safety Partnerships, 2003-2007),

ITSAP(Indonesia Transport Safety Assistance, 2010-2014), Police Goes to Campus, Safety Riding, Traffic
Safety Campaign, School Security Patrol, Traffic Management Center, etc.
Again, as Indonesia is still dealing with the recovery of accident database, it is quite injudicious toinvestigate accurately the effect of those programs on the national trends in accident data.

69

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

7. Conclusions
Based on the analysis carried out on the time series data, as well as regulations related to traffic
accidents in Indonesia during 1970–2010, the following points can be highlighted:(1) The growth rate of motor vehicles in Indonesia continuously increased between 1980 and 2009,
especially from 2000-2009, and was dominated by motorcycles. Moreover, motorcycles are
suspected to have greatly contributed to the increasing trend of traffic accidents after 2000.

(2) The Indonesian government has devoted increasing attention to road traffic safety issues in last
three decades, as evidenced by the laws and regulations produced by the government to support
the safety programs. Some critical issues have been raised to underline the importance of the effort
to reduce the number of traffic accidents. Those include accident data inventory and analysis,organization and coordination among the stakeholders of traffic safety and planning of traffic
safety programs. In terms of organizations and coordination, some institutions having a major rolein traffic safety have established special units/divisions to handle road safety issues, and a forum
has been set up to coordinate the stakeholders of traffic safety. Moreover, the National General
Plan on Road Transport and Traffic Safety has been also created to be a guide for stakeholders ofroad safety in planning and implementing road safety programs in coordinated and integrated
ways.

(3) The recording and reporting of traffic accident data and analysis before 2009 was fairly poor,
partly due to underreporting, resulting in the skewing of the traffic accident data collected.
However, the government, particularly the Indonesian National Police, has intensively improved
its database in last two decades. This may be a factor behind the increasing trend in traffic
accidents for the last two decades. Moreover, this trend is also suspected to be due to theextremely rapidly increasing number of motor vehicles, during the last decade, particularly
motorcycles.

(4) Since the Indonesian National Police is still dealing with the recovery of accident data base andthe massive safety programs (RUNK) that are still to be implemented, it is quite injudicious toinvestigate accurately the impact of safety programs or regulations on the national trends in traffic
accidents during the period 1970-2010.

References :1.

http://www.bps.go.id

2.

http://www.dephub.go.id

3.

http://www.djpp.depkumham.go.id

70

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

4.

http://www.ibrd-srip.com

5.

http://www.setneg.go.id

6.

Kepolisian Republik Indonesia , Sub Direktorat Teknologi Informasi, National Traffic
Management Center (2010).

7.

Statistical Pocket Book of Indonesia 1956. BPS Djakarta

8.

Statistical Pocket Book of Indonesia 1958. BPS Djakarta

9.

Statistik 60 Tahun Indonesia Merdeka (2005). Biro Pusat Statistik.

10. Statistik Indonesia . Biro Pusat Statistik (yearly publication)
11. Statistik Kendaraan Bermotor dan Panjang Jalan. Biro Pusat Statistik (yearly publication)
12. Susilo, B.H. (2009) Pengembangan Metode Penyeragaman Data Korban Meninggal Dunia
Kecelakaan Lalulintas Jalan, Disertation, Civil Engineering Doctoral Program, Graduate Program,
Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, Bandung .

Author:Dr. Ir. Nahry, M.T.
Teaching Staff and Researcher,
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia

Nahry is a teaching staff and researcher in the Civil Engineering Department of Universitas Indonesia.
She received her Master’s and PhD degrees from Universitas Indonesia. For more than 15 years she
has conducted research on public transport planning and operations, and logistics, and has been
awarded research grants from Universitas Indonesia and the Indonesian Ministry of Education andCulture. Some of her research has been published in international journals. She is a member of theIndonesian Transportation Society and the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies.

71Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Indonesia (1950-2010)

Nahry, Soehodho, Tjahjono

Co-Authors:
Prof.Dr. Ir. Sutanto Soehodho, MEng.
Professor on Transportation
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia

Prof. Sutanto Soehodho is a Professor of Transportation in the Civil Engineering Department of
Universitas Indonesia. He received his Master’s and PhD degrees in transportation systems andoptimization from the University of Tokyo. His research interests include transport planning andmodeling, public transport network and schedule optimization, and logistics. He is a tenured faculty
member at the university with more than 17 years experience in research and consulting. Recently,
Prof Sutanto has also been appointed a member of Public Policy Committee at the Ministry of State
Owned Companies of the Republic of Indonesia, and Deputy Governor of Jakarta for Trade, Industry
and Transportation. He also has long cooperated with the Indonesian Police Department on road safety
matters.

Tjahjono, Tri, PhD.
Senior Lecturer,
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia

Senior lecturer in transportation. Member of the East Asia Society of Transportation Studies (EASTS)
and the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI). PhD from Leeds University, UK. Research interests
include transport safety, traffic accident prevention and analysis, and safety management systems. Has
received research grants from the Universitas Indonesia and the Ministry of Education and Culture’s
Directorate General of Higher Education.

72

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies andRegulations in Taiwan(1950–2010)

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)
Copyright(C) 2012 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences, All rights reserved.

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

1. Introduction
The evolution of traffic safety issues and practices in Taiwan had not been noted between the 1950s
and 1960s. Some important facts such as numbers of accidents, road type classifications, registration
numbers of vehicle types and driver’s licenses were not well recorded until the 1970s. Taiwan has
unique characteristics in its traffic system when compared with most developed countries, since thenumber of motorcycles accounts for two-thirds of total motor vehicles, and that has caused moredifficult situations in traffic management. This paper organizes government facts, reports, and research
literatures to offer some perceptions of the development of traffic safety practices in Taiwan. Firstly, a
profile of changes in traffic related facts including the composition of population, road type, vehicle
ownership and driver’s licenses are illustrated. Secondly, fatalities and injuries by various road types,
transport modes, victims’ age and gender combinations are analyzed. Thirdly, we introduce
organizations in charge of traffic safety work and their system structure. Finally, we describe sometraffic safety measures that are discussed in Taiwan which may be considered effective in thedeveloping process.

2. Basic Information
2.1 Population
Taiwan has a population of 23.2 million with a density of 645 persons per square kilometer in 2010.
As shown in Figure 1, the yearly growth rate of the total population is about 0.9% on average during
the last 40 years, and the population number between genders has been approaching since 1970s
onward (detailed facts can be found in appendix 1). Per capita income GNP per year in Taiwan has
increased to 19,155 US dollars in 2010, a rise of about 50 times in the past 40 years, which caused therise in the use of motor vehicles. The composition of age distribution (see Table 1) has also changed inrecent years. Taiwan entered an ageing society (65 years of age or older accounted for more than 7%
in total population) in 1993. This ageing index reached 10.8% in 2010, and is forecasted to be 14% (i.e.
aged society) in 2017 and 20% (i.e. super-aged society) in 2025 (Council for Economic Planning andDevelopment, 2010). This implies we will face more serious challenges in elderly traffic safety issues.

73Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Persons
25,000,000

Total population
Male

23,162,123

Female20,000,000
15,927,167
15,000,000

11,635,225
10,000,000
8,354,012

11,526,898

7,573,155
5,000,000

0
1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

Year

Figure 1 Population Growth Trend between 1974 and 2010
Source: Ministry of the Interior (2011)

Table 1 Age Composition of Population in TaiwanYear

age 0-14

age 15-64

age 65+

2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

21.10%
20.80%
20.40%
19.80%
19.30%
18.70%
18.10%
17.60%
17.00%
16.30%
15.70%

70.30%
70.40%
70.60%
71.00%
71.20%
71.60%
71.90%
72.20%
72.60%
73.10%
73.50%

8.60%
8.80%
9.00%
9.20%
9.50%
9.70%
10.00%
10.20%
10.40%
10.60%
10.80%

Source: Ministry of the Interior (2011)

2.2 Road Types
Road types in Taiwan can be classified into five main categories: freeways, provincial roads, county
roads, rural roads, and urban roads. In general, freeways and provincial roads are constructed andmaintained by the central government, while county roads, rural roads, and urban roads areconstructed and maintained by 23 local governments. Figure 2 shows that except from the length ofurban roads which had an increasing growth rate, the other four types of roads have a slowing growthrate from 2000 to 2010. In general, freeways and provincial roads offering traffic function between
cities have a faster travelling speed of around 100-110 km/h for freeways and 70-90 km/h forprovincial roads (expressways are classified into provincial roads). On the other hand, county roads,
rural roads, and urban roads are positioned as intra-city roads with a lower speed limit of 40-60 km/h.

74Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

In 2010, freeways accumulated to 993 km, provincial roads 4,984 km, county roads 3,544 km, ruralroads 11,765 km, and urban roads 19,701 km, respectively. Detailed facts about road lengths can befound in appendix 2.

KM
25,00020,000Freeway
Provincial RoadCounty Road
Rural Road
Urban

15,00010,0005,000

01966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010
Year

Figure 2 Road Type and Length between 1966 and 2010
Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011)

2.3 Vehicle Registration and Driver’s License
2.3.1

Vehicle registration

Road traffic regulations define motor vehicles including buses, heavy trucks, passenger cars, lighttrucks and motorcycles. Excepting motorcycles, over four-wheeled vehicles are classified by privateand business uses and only professional drivers are eligible to drive their corresponding businessvehicles, endorsed by a professional license (Ministry of Transportation and Communications, 2008).
Motorcycles accounted for about 20% of all registered motor vehicles in the early 1950s, followed byan increase to 60% in the early 1960s, and then rose to over 85% during the 1970s, accompanying
economic booms in Taiwan. Since then on, motorcycles still comprise two-thirds of all registeredmotor vehicles (see Figure 2 and details in appendix 3). In 2010, the number of registered motorcycles
is around 14,845 thousand, and passenger cars is 5,803 thousand, respectively. Over the last forty
years, the number of motorcycles has risen 18 times, and even for a high ownership rate with 641
motorcycles per thousand people owned, it sill kept an annual growth rate of 2.6% on average after theyear 2000. However, light-typed motorcycles (mopeds with engines sized under 50 cc.), which
accounted for about 40% of total motorcycles in 2000 and dropped to 25% in 2010, decreased by 19%
during 2003-2010, with an annual decrease rate of 2.7% on average. This might be that a stricter
2-stroke-engine motorcycles (mostly light-typed) emission standard has been implemented by the75Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in recent years.
Different from motorcycles which had an early growth in the 1960s to 1970s, the amount of
automobiles had a steady growth after the 1980s. Among four types of automobiles, passenger cars
showed an increase rate of 10.5 times in the last 30 years, while light trucks 2.9 times, heavy trucks
1.4 times, and buses 0.5 times in the same period (see Figure 4).
No. of Vehicle/Motorcycle(Millions)

16
Motorcycle
Over Four-wheeled Vehicles

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1952 1955 1958

1961 1964 1967

1970 1973 1976 1979

1982 1985 1988

1991 1994 1997 2000

2003 2006 2009

Year

Figure 3 Compositions and Growth between Motorcycle and Automobile after 1970
Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011)
Over Four-Wheeled Vehicle
7,000,000

Bus
Heavy Truck
Passenger Car
Light Truck

6,000,000

5,803,413

5,000,000

4,000,000

3,000,000

2,000,000

1,000,000

832,466
161,084

1952

1955

1958

1961

1964

1967

1970

1973

1976

0
1979

1982

1985

1988

1991

1994

1997

2000

2003

2006

Year

Figure 4 Compositions and Growth of Automobile after 1980
Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011)76

29,0302009

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

2.3.2

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Driver’s license

Road traffic regulations define driver’s licenses based on professional and private use. Professional
drivers have a stricter training and test process, and higher medical standards to obtain their licenses.
The maximum age limit for a professional driver is also set according to specifically authorizedcommercial vehicles. For example, professional licenses for a heavy commercial vehicle is restricted
to 65 years old, whereas professional licenses for a taxi might be released to 68 years old. Figure 5
shows that the registered number of professional driver licenses kept steadily constant in the last 20
years, while private driver licenses and motorcycle licenses had a comparable increase rate of double
the number of registered licenses during the same period (see detailed facts in appendix 4).
The motorcycle licensing system in Taiwan classifies motorcycles according to engine capacity:
mopeds (engine capacity less than 50 cc), light motorcycles (50–250 cc), and heavy motorcycles(greater than 250 cc). Without additional speed or power limitations for vehicles, engine capacity is
the only classification standard (Ministry of Transportation and Communications, 2008). The
minimum licensing age for mopeds and light motorcycles is 18 years, whereas for heavy motorcycles,
the minimum age is 20 years. Except for medical examinations, no prior experience or compulsory
training is required for mopeds and light motorcycles before the license tests. An individual can obtaina moped license simply by passing the theoretical test, or obtain a light motorcycle license by passing
the theoretical and practical tests. In contrast, heavy motorcycle licenses require an individual to haveheld a light motorcycle license for at least 1 year, and to have completed 32 hours of compulsory
training at a driving school before completing the theoretical and the practical tests. Without
compulsory education and training requirements for mopeds and light motorcycles, almost all riders
gain experience and skills by a process of self-learning.

77

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

License15,000,000

Professional driver license
Private driver license
Motorcycle license

12,500,000

13,102,056

11,465,273
10,000,000

7,500,000

5,000,000

2,500,000

476,944
0
1989

1992

1995

1998

2001

2004

2007

2010

Year

Figure 5 Compositions and Growth of Driver License after 1990
Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011)

3. The Profile of Traffic Accidents
The definition of road traffic accidents are divided into three categories: A1, A2, and A3. The latest
definitions of A1, A2, and A3 accidents, revised in 2000, are whether at least one person died within
24 hours, at least one injury occurred, and only property damage occurred in the accident, respectively.
The difference between the latest and its previous definition is that in the previous version, A1 data
could represent either the death of at least one person within 24 hours of the accident, or at least one
severe injury in the accident. However, only A1 and A2 crash data were recorded in the Taiwan
police-reported accident database, Road Accident Investigation and Reporting System (RAIRS) data.
RAIRS has been operating since 1985 but only A1 accident data have been fully recorded. A2
accident data were not formally recorded until 1998, and A3 data, had not yet been incorporated into
RAIRS at the end of 2010.
In addition to A1 data which records fatalities within 24 hours, this paper also applied traffic fatality
facts published by medical systems and estimated 30-days fatalities in Taiwan for the purpose ofinternational comparison.

3.1 Fatality and Injury Accident Trends
Figure 6 shows A1 and A2 data spanning from 1966 to 2010. The number of traffic fatalities wasaround one thousand in mid-1960s, and then fatalities rose to three thousands in mid-1970s, andfinally reached the peak of above four thousands in mid-1980s. Followed by the fluctuation between

78

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

2,500 and 3,500 in the next two decades, the fatalities approached nearly two thousands in 2010. Thisimplies that the deaths caused by crashes have been decreased since the year 2000. On the contrary,both number of accident events and injuries soaked between 2001 and 2010. The reason why A2 data
increased so rapidly needs to be studied. It might be caused by either well-recorded A2 data or theincrease of accident likelihood. More detailed facts about accident data is listed in appendix 5.

No.of Fatality
4,500
4,000
3,500

No. of Event(Injury) x 1,000
3,500

Event
Fatality
Injury

3,000
2,500

3,000
2,500

2,000

2,000

1,500

1,500

1,000

1,000

500

500

0

0
1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010
Year

Figure 6 Fatality and Injury Accident Trend between 1966 and 2010
Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011)

According to UN/ECE (2003), the most commonly cited definition of a road traffic fatality is: “anyperson killed immediately or dying within 30 days as a result of an injury accident”. For comparison,
we use different data sources to demonstrate traffic fatalities in Taiwan. In addition to police-reported
A1 fatalities within 24 hours, medical systems-reported estimated 30-days fatalities are also used inthis report. The estimated 30-days fatalities have been produced by the Institute of Transportation(IOT) since the year 2003. IOT linked police-reported A1 and A2 data with death certificate data inmedical systems to identify injury victims that finally died within 30 days.
Table 2 shows that medical system reported number of fatalities were about 1.6-1.8 times as much aspolice-reported fatalities within 24 hours, while the estimated 30-days fatalities had an adjustment
factor of 1.4-1.6 times that of police-reported 24 hour fatalities in the same time span between 2003
and 2009. Based on the medical system reported data, the number of fatalities reached the peak of over
7,500 persons during 1988-1989 (also see Figure 7). The adjustment factor between medical system
reported and police-reported fatalities were higher than 2 between 1991 and 1999, showing that79

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

police-reported fatalities seem to have been seriously underestimated during that period. From a longterm perspective, medical system reported fatalities had a decreasing trend from 1996 onward, while
police-reported 24 hour fatalities had a fluctuating pattern during 1991-2006, followed by a greater
decreasing rate after 2007. Over the last 20 years, even though the population and number of motor
vehicles have been steadily increasing, medical reported accident deaths have reduced by half.

Table 2 Police-reported, Medical System Reported, and Estimated Fatalities
Year

Police-reported Fatality(within 24 hr)
(1)

1966
1971
1976
1981
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

948
1,780
3,087
3,840
4,139
─
─
─
─
3,305
2,717
2,349
3,094
3,065
2,991
2,735
2,507
2,392
3,388
3,344
2,861
2,718
2,634
2,894
3,140
2,573
2,224
2,092
2,047

Medical System Reported Adjustment Estimated Fatality (within Adjustment
Fatality
Factor30 days)
Factor(2)(2)/(1)(3)(3)/(1)
─
─
─
─
6,270
7,034
7,524
7,584
7,333
7,322
7,216
7,367
7,250
7,427
7,077
6,516
5,903
5,526
5,420
4,787
4,322
4,389
4,735
4,735
4,637
4,007
3,646
3,464
3,515

─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
2.22
2.66
3.14
2.34
2.42
2.37
2.38
2.35
2.31
1.60
1.43
1.51
1.61
1.80
1.64
1.48
1.56
1.64
1.66
1.72

Source: Institute of Transportation (2011a) and Department of Health (2011)

80

─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
3,714
3,948
4,358
4,411
3,756
3,459
3,219
─

─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
─
1.37
1.50
1.51
1.40
1.46
1.56
1.54
─

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

No. of vehicle/population(x 1,000)

No. of Fatility

8,000

10,000

Police-reported Fatality (within 24 hr)

7,000
6,000

Medical System Reported Fatality

9,000

Estimated Fatality (within 30 days)

8,000

No. of Vehicle (x 10,000)

7,000

No. of Population (x 10,000)

5,000

6,000

4,000

5,000

3,000

4,000
3,000

2,000

2,000

1,000

1,000

0

0
1966

1970

1974

1978

1982

1986

1990

1994

1998

2002

2006

2010

Year

Figure 7 Comparison between Police-reported, Estimated, and Medical System Reported Fatalities
Source: Ministry of the Interior (2011), Department of Health (2011), Institute ofTransportation (2011a) and Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011)

3.2 Fatality and Injury Accident by Road Type, Transport Mode,and Victim’s Age
3.2.1

Fatality and injury proportion by transport mode

Based on police-reported fatalities, the number of fatalities and injuries by different transport modes
were analyzed between 1999 and 2009. Traffic accidents have caused over 1,186 motorcycle rider
fatalities (57% of all deaths) and over 179,000 injuries (73% of all injuries) in 2009 (detailed facts
demonstrated in Appendix 6). Figure 8 and Figure 9 shows that motorcycle rider fatalities and injuries
have the biggest portion in all fatalities and injuries respectively. Motorcycle rider fatalities comprised
50% of all fatalities in average between 1999 and 2009, and the rider death percentage was 39% in1999 and reached to 57% in 2009. Motorcycle rider injuries also had a high proportion in all injuries,
comprising 70% on average between 1999 and 2009, and increased from 60% in 1999 to 73% in 2009.
Thus, improving motorcycle safety is a pressing issue in Taiwan.
Over the past 10 years, pedestrians took the second highest portion in fatalities, around 14% on
average, passengers of all modes the third (around 13%), and then passenger car drivers (around 11%)and bicycle riders (around 6%). In terms of injuries, passengers of all modes had the second highest
portion (around 14%), passenger car drivers the third (around 6%) and then pedestrians (around 5%)
and bicycle riders (around 4%) spanning from 1999 to 2009.

81

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Other
1.54%

Bus Driver
0.16% Heavy Truck
Driver
1.22%

Passenger (allmodes)
12.83%

Passenger Car
Driver
11.10%
Light Truck Driver
3.06%

Pedestrian
14.22%Bus Driver
Heavy Truck Driver
Passenger Car Driver
Light Truck Driver

Bicycle Rider
5.89%

Motorcycle Rider
Bicycle Rider
Pedestrian
Passenger (all modes)

Motorcycle Rider
49.97%

Other

Figure 8 Fatality Compositions by Transport Mode between 1999 and 2009
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

Heavy Truck Driver
0.32%

Other
0.65%

Bus Driver
0.06% Passenger Car Driver
5.78%

Passenger (all modes)
13.67%

Light Truck Driver
1.38%

Pedestrian
5.33%

Bus Driver
Heavy Truck Driver
Passenger Car Driver
Light Truck Driver
Motorcycle Rider
Bicycle Rider
Pedestrian
Passenger (all modes)
Other

Bicycle Rider
3.76%

Motorcycle Rider
69.06%

Figure 9 Injuries Composition by Transport Mode between 1999 and 2009
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

3.2.2

Fatality rate by road type, transport mode, and victim’s age

As mentioned earlier, the number of fatalities tends to be decreasing in recent years. To further explore
the composition of fatality changes, we use the corresponding road length, vehicle registration number,and number of populations to calculate the fatality rate among different types of roads, modes oftransport, and age group of victims. Only the 24-hour police-reported data is able to be reached, andthe corresponding fatality rate spanning from 1999 to 2009 are demonstrated in Figure 10 throughFigure 17.
Figure 10 shows that freeways, provincial roads, and county roads had a higher but similar

82

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

significantly decreasing trend on fatality rates of about 200 to 80 fatalities per thousand km over thelast ten years. Urban roads had a slightly downward pattern of about 70 to 30 fatalities per thousandkm, while rural roads had a rather stable rate about 20 fatalities per thousand km between 1999 and2009. Freeways, provincial roads and county roads revealed a higher fatality rate, which may becaused by the higher running speed on these types of roads.
Fatalities/ 1,000 KM

250

Freeway

Freeway

Provincial Road

200

County Road
Rural Road

Provincial Road

Urban Road

150

100

County Road
Urban Road

50

Rural Road

0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Year

Figure 10 Fatality Rate by Road Type between 1999 and 2009
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

In terms of different transport modes (see Figure 11) passenger car drivers had the lowest fatality rateduring the ten-year period, while heavy truck, light truck drivers, and motorcycle riders had a higher
fatality rate as compared with passenger car drivers. Bus drivers, on the other hand, showed an
unstable pattern of fatality rates because of a relatively fewer of vehicle. All transport modes revealeda slightly decreasing trend on fatality rates with 3.26 fatalities of passenger car drivers, 5.19 fatalities
of light truck drivers, 5.67 fatalities of heavy truck drivers, 7.23 fatalities of bus drivers and 8.12
fatalities of motorcycle riders per one hundred thousand registered vehicles in the year 2009.

83

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Fatalities/ 100,000
Vehicles40

Bus Driver
Heavy Truck Driver

35

Passenger Car Driver
Light Truck Driver30

Bus Driver

Motorcycle Rider

25
20
15
10
5

Passenger Car Driver

0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2998

2009

Year

Figure 11 Fatality Rate by Motor Vehicle Type between 1999 and 2009
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

We further examined the fatality rate of drivers and passengers for different transport modes based on
various age and gender groups, shown in Figure 12 through Figure 17. Figure 12 shows that malepassenger car drivers, especially aged between 18 and 64, had a comparatively higher fatality ratecompared with their female counterparts. Male car drivers aged between 18 and 64 also had an
obviously decreasing trend of fatality rates over the past ten years. Moreover, male car drivers aged
18-24 had a dominantly high fatality rate between the year 1999 and 2006, but male drivers aged
25-64 ranked top since 2007.
The population-based motorcycle fatalities per one hundred thousand persons (Figure 13) is higher
than any other kind of their same age and gender counterparts of drivers or passengers shown in
Figure 12, Figure 14 through 17. For example, male motorcycle riders aged 18-24 had 14.5 fatalities
as compared with male passenger car drivers of the same age which had only 1.6 fatalities per one
hundred thousand persons. Similarly, male motorcycle riders also showed a higher fatality rate ascompared with female riders. Male riders aged 65 or above had the highest death risk in traffic
accidents, possibly because their frailty and lower resistance capacity to trauma. In addition to the
problem of older riders, male motorcycle riders aged 13-17 also had the risk even higher than any age
groups of female riders. Riders aged under 18 in Taiwan experiencing unlicensed motorcycling has
been an important issue. According to the ten years’ data, the fatality rate among different age andgender combinations for motorcycle riders revealed a rather stable pattern.
Elderly bicycle riders had a higher fatality risk as compared with their young counterparts (asdemonstrated in Figure 14). Older male bicycle rider aged 65 or above had the highest rate, and thenolder female aged 65 or above had the second highest rate. However, the difference between the two84

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

elderly gender groups seemed to be close in recent years. For the pedestrian part in Figure 15,
similarly with bicycle riders, both elderly genders as pedestrians show a higher fatality rate than their
younger counterparts. The population-based death rate of older pedestrians were higher than older
bicycle riders, and the rate for female pedestrians aged 65 or above was slightly higher than malepedestrians aged 65 or above. However, in both genders, elderly pedestrians had a diminishing trend indeath rates since 2003.
As for passengers seated in passenger cars and motorcycles, it is difficult to find a consistent trend forboth kinds of passengers in Figure 16 and Figure 17. Passengers aged 18-24 seated in cars seemed tohave a higher death rate between 2003 and 2008; however, male passengers aged 18-24 seated in
motorcycles also seemed to have a higher death rate between 1999 and 2003 and it turned out thatfemale passengers aged 18-24 seated in motorcycles have a higher rate of fatalities after 2005. Itshould be noted that passengers aged 13-17 seated in motorcycles also contribute to a significant partof passenger deaths.

Fatalities/ 100,000
Persons

Passenger Car Driver9

Age 18-24
Age 25-64

8

Age 65+

7

Age 18-24
Age 25-64

Age 18-24

6

Age 65+5
4
Age 25-64

3
Age 65+

2
1
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Year

Figure 12 Fatality Rate by Age of Passenger Car Driver between 1999 and 2009
(Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

85

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Fatalities/ 100,000
Persons
35

Motorcycle Riders
Age 13-17
Age 18-24
Age 25-64

30

Age 65+
Age 13-17
Age 18-24

25

Age 65+

Age 25-64
Age 65+20
Age 18-24
15
Age 25-64
10
Age 13-17
5
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Year

Figure 13 Fatality Rate by Age of Motorcycle Rider between 1999 and 2009
(Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

Fatalities/ 100,000
Persons
12

Bicycle Rider
Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+
Age 13-17
Age 25-64

10

Age 13-17
Age 25-64
Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+8
Age 65+
6

4

Age 65+

2

0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Year

Figure 14 Fatality Rate by Age of Bicycle Rider between 1999 and 2009
(Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

86

2009

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Fatalities/ 100,000
Persons

Pedestrian14
Age 65+12
10

Age 65+8
6
4

Age 0-12

Age 13-17

Age 18-24

Age 25-64

Age 65+

Age 0-12

Age 13-17

Age 18-24

Age 25-64

Age 65+

2
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Year

Figure 15 Fatality Rate by Age of Pedestrian between 1999 and 2009
(Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

Fatalities/ 100,000 Persons

4

Passenger (in Passenger Car)

Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+
Age 13-17
Age 25-64

3

Age 13-17
Age 25-64
Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+

Age 18-242
Age 18-24
Age 65+
1

0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Year

Figure 16 Fatality Rate by Age of Passenger Seated in Passenger Car
between 1999 and 2009

(Blue: Male, Red: Female)

Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

87

2009

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Fatalities/ 100,000
Persons

Passenger (in Motorcycle)

54

Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+
Age 13-17
Age 25-64

Age 18-24

Age 13-17
Age 25-64
Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+3

2
Age 18-24
1

0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004
Year

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Figure 17 Fatality Rate by Age of Passenger Seated in Motorcycle
between 1999 and 2009 (Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

3.2.3

Injury rate by road type, transport mode, and victim’s age

Different from fatality rates, the number of injuries appears to be increasing in recent years. Consistent
with fatality rates between 1999 and 2009, we applied 24-hour police-reported data to analyze thecorresponding injury rate by road type, transport mode and age and gender groups of victims. The
related figures are demonstrated in Figure 18 through Figure 25.
In Figure 18, we can find that only freeways had a slightly decreasing tendency over the past ten years.
Both urban and county roads had a similar increasing rate on road length based injury rates from theyear 1999 to 2008. Provincial roads and rural roads also had a comparable increasing rate. Up until
2009, urban roads had the highest injury rate with 7,342 injuries per thousand km, and county roads
had the second highest rate with 4,771 injuries per thousand km. However, provincial roads, ruralroads, and freeways had a lower injury rate of about 3,515, 1,742 and 1,376 injuries per thousand km
respectively.

88

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Injuries/ 1,000 KM
8,000

Freeway
Provincial Road

7,000

Urban RoadCounty Road
Rural Road

6,000

Urban RoadCounty Road

5,000
4,000

Provincial Road

3,000

Freeway

2,000
1,000

Rural Road

0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Year

Figure 18 Injury Rate by Road Type between 1999 and 2009
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

To analyze injury rates by transport mode, Figure 19 shows that over the past ten years, only
motorcycle riders have revealed a sharply increasing rate with over 60% growth in injury rates per
year. However, bus drivers showed a sharply decreasing trend since 2004, and heavy truck drivers aslightly decreasing rate in 2008 and 2009. Both bus drivers and heavy truck drivers had a comparable
injury rate with passenger car drivers for the last two years. Light truck drivers had a little higher rateof injuries than passenger cars over the ten-year period. Based on the vehicle based injury rate in theyear 2009, motorcycle riders revealed a high rate of 1,234 injuries per one hundred thousand
registered vehicles, and in addition, light truck drivers had a rate of 302 injuries, passenger car drivers
180 injuries, heavy truck drivers 145 injuries, and bus drivers with 137 injuries on the basis of per one
hundred thousand registered vehicles.

89Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Injuries/ 100,000
Vehicles1,400

Bus Driver

1,200

Heavy Truck Driver

Motorcycle Rider

Passenger Car Driver
Light Truck Driver

1,000

Motorcycle Rider

800

Bus Driver

600
400
200
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Year

Figure 19 Injury Rate by Motor Vehicle Type between 1999 and 2009
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

The population-based injury rate of drivers and passengers for different transport modes based on
different age and gender groups are demonstrated in Figure 20 through Figure 25. Figure 20 showsthat male car drivers aged between 18 and 64 had a relatively higher injury rate compared with theirfemale counterpart drivers. Male car drivers aged 65 or above also had a higher injury rate than female
drivers of the same age, and the injury rate of these elderly male drivers were just a little lower thanfemale drivers aged 25-64. The changes of injury rates over the past ten years revealed that male car
drivers aged 18-24 and 25-64 both demonstrated a sharp rise between 1999 and 2005, which is thenfollowed by an obviously downward trend since 2006, and male car drivers aged 25-64 took thehighest rate of injury in the recent two years.

Moreover, male car drivers aged 65 or above andfemale drivers aged 18-24 also increased slowly but steadily over the ten-year period.
Motorcycle rider injuries per one hundred thousand persons, as shown in Figure 21, is extraordinarily
higher than any other kind of drivers or passengers of the same age and gender combinations as shownin Figure 20, and Figure 22 through 25. Over the last ten years, except for unlicensed male and female
riders aged 13-17 having a stable pattern, all the other age and gender combinations revealed an
obviously increasing trend in injury rates, and the increasing trend was relatively significant for young
rider aged 18-24 for both genders (see Figure 21). In 2009, motorcycle riders aged 18-24 experienced
3,087 injuries for male and 1,890 injuries for female riders per one hundred thousand persons
respectively.
Bicycle riders also experienced an increasing injury rate over the last ten years. It should be noted thatbicycle riders aged 13-17 and aged 65 or over had a relatively higher injury rate, especially for male90

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

bicycle riders.
For the pedestrian part in Figure 23, both elderly genders aged 65 or greater as pedestrians show ahigher injury rate than their young counterparts. The population-based injury rate of older pedestrians
were a little higher than older bicycle riders, but different from older bicycle riders, elderly female
pedestrians experienced a higher injury rate as compared to their elderly male counterparts. The
reverse results in bicycle riding and walking injury risk between elderly genders may be caused by thedifference in exposure to these two means of traffic.
As for passengers seated in passenger cars in Figure 24, young passengers aged 18-24 for both genders
seemed to have a higher injury rate. The injury rate for young female passengers was even higher thantheir young male counterparts. Figure 25 shows that besides the age 18-24, younger motorcycle
passengers with relatively high injury rates also extended to passengers aged 13-17. Both young
female motorcycle passengers aged 13-17 and aged 18-24 had a higher injury rate than their malecounterparts of the same age since 2003. Female motorcycle passengers aged 18-24 experienced an
extraordinarily high rate of accident injuries. In addition, it should also be noted that children aged
under 12 as a passenger for both genders underwent a slow but steady increasing trend of injury rates
since 2003.

Injuries/ 100,000
Persons

140

Passenger Car DriverAge 18-24
Age 25-64

120

Age 65+
Age 18-24
Age 25-64

100

Age 65+

Age 25-6480
Age 18-24

60
40
20
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Year

Figure 20 Injury Rate by Age of Passenger Car Driver between 1999 and 2009
(Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

91

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Injuries/ 100,000
Persons

3,500
3,000
2,500

Motorcycle Rider
Age 13-17

Age 18-24

Age 25-64

Age 65+

Age 13-17

Age 18-24

Age 25-64

Age 65+

Age 18-24

2,000

Age 18-24

1,500
1,000
500
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Year

Figure 21 Injury Rate by Age of Motorcycle Rider between 1999 and 2009
(Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

Bicycle Rider

Injuries/ 100,000 Persons

180

Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+
Age 13-17
Age 25-64

160
140

Age 13-17
Age 25-64
Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+

Age 65+120
100

Age 13-17

Age 65+8060

Age 13-17

40
20
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Year

Figure 22 Injury Rate by Age of Bicycle Rider between 1999 and 2009
(Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

92

2009

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Injuries/ 100,000
Persons

200

Pedestrian
Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+
Age 13-17
Age 25-64

180
160

Age 13-17
Age 25-64
Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+

Age 65+

140
120
Age 65+

100
80
60
40
20
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Year

Figure 23 Injury Rate by Age of Pedestrian between 1999 and 2009
(Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

Injuries/ 100,000
Persons

Passenger (in Passenger Car)

200
180
160
140

Age 0-12

Age 13-17

Age 18-24
Age 65+

Age 25-64
Age 0-12

Age 13-17
Age 25-64

Age 18-24
Age 65+120
100
80
Age 18-24

60

Age 18-24

40
20
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

Year

2005

2006

2007

2008

Figure 24 Injury Rate by Age of Passenger Seated in Passenger Car
between 1999 and 2009 (Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

93

2009

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Injuries/ 100,000
Persons

600

Passenger (in Motorcycle)
Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+
Age 13-17
Age 25-64500

Age 13-17
Age 25-64
Age 0-12
Age 18-24
Age 65+

Age 18-24400
300

Age 13-17

200
100
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Year

Figure 25 Injury Rate by Age of Passenger Seated in Motorcycle
between 1999 and 2009 (Blue: Male, Red: Female)
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

3.3 International Comparisons
As mentioned earlier, the trend of accident fatalities in Taiwan diminished over the past ten years,
while accident injuries increased in the same period. Fatality rates have been one of the most common
indicators for international comparisons, even though some advanced countries are extending theirfocus on accident injury prevention, such as the European Union (EU) (European Commission, 2010).
To compare traffic safety performance with other developed countries, we use the estimated 30-days
fatality data to demonstrate population-based fatality rates from 1998 to 2008 (i.e. Taiwan with datafrom 2003 to 2008) in Figure 26 (detailed facts can be found in Appendix 7). Figure 26 indicates that
Taiwan had 191 fatalities per million persons in 2006 and reduced to 150 in 2008. Compared with thecountries with the best performance such as Sweden, United Kingdom, Japan, and Norway with 50 or
fewer fatalities per million persons in 2008, the traffic fatality rate in Taiwan was three times greater.
The traffic fatality rate in Taiwan also had 1.8-1.9 times more than the average of Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and EU. Thus, even with the reduction of
fatality rates in recent years, Taiwan still appears to have much to improve, especially concerning thespecific issues relating to motorcycle use, elderly road users, and the leading accident cause producedby drunk driving.

94Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Fatalities/ per Million
Persons
250

United Kingdom
CanadaUnited States
TaiwanSweden
Eu-27
Japan
OECD total

New Zealand
Norway
Korea

200

150

100

50

0
1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

Year

Figure 26 International Comparison of 30-days Fatality Rate between 1998 and 2008
Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b)

4. Organizations for Traffic Safety
For promoting road traffic safety activities, Taiwan has established the National Road Traffic Safety
Committee (NRTSC) under the Ministry of Transportation & Communications (MOTC) in 1983. It
assumes the responsibility of planning and supervision of nationwide road traffic safety administrative
agencies, and also invites the representatives of central administrative agencies to form the Committee,
which meets regularly once a month. These representatives include the Ministry of Education,
Ministry of the Interior, Administration of Police (under the Ministry of the Interior), Government
Information Office (under Executive Yuan), Department of Health (under Executive Yuan), Taiwan
Area National Freeway Bureau (under MOTC), Directorate General of Highways (under MOTC),
Institute of Transportation (under MOTC) and 25 local governments concerned, as well as academic
and professional specialists. The Meeting of the Committee examines traffic safety problems andsupervises nationwide and city authorities in the implementation of their corresponding safety
programs. There are three functions of the Committee as follows:95Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh(1) To strengthen the planning of special programs for road traffic safety and the coordination andsupervision of its implementation;(2) To examine, supervise and monitor the planning, expenditures and implementation status ofsubsidized traffic safety programs for central and local administrative; and(3) To recommend the revision of road traffic safety regulations.
All the local governments have established their corresponding Task Forces in connection with theoperation of NRTSC. The freeways, provincial roads and some county roads are maintained andmanaged by the central agencies, while urban roads, most of county roads, and rural roads aremaintained and managed by the local agencies. The annual budget of NRTSC is based on 1.76% of thenationwide fuel tax revenue, approximating NT$0.3 billion (US$10 million) annually in recent years.
To support the mission of road safety improvements, in addition to the dedicated organization
established, MOTC has also set up and promoted "Improving Highway Traffic Order and Safety
Projects" triennially since 1982. The Projects, conducted by NRTSC, aims to enhance traffic order andsafety but also to reduce deaths, injuries and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes. To
achieve their aims, NRTSC coordinates with central and local governments’ plans and annual
implementation programs through the connected links of traffic engineering, enforcement, education,
propaganda, and motor vehicles supervision, etc.
The ongoing 2011 Project belongs to the second year of the 10th triennial Project (from 2010 to 2012).
Three major issues are focused in recent years: reducing the accidents of the motorcyclists, seniorcitizens and drunk drivers. As a recent task, NRTSC has advocated the project “Pedestrian Right ofWay” since July 2010. This project promotes the concept of priority for pedestrians when motor
vehicles approach intersections. Other important programs that NRTSC continues focusing on are
engineering based improvements such as “Implementing the Projects of Accident-prone Locations
Improvement in Taiwan Area” and “Riding a motorcycle in order,” and enforcement based
improvements such as “Deterring Drunk from Driving”, “Promoting Motorcycle Helmets Use by
Enforcement and Education” and “Promoting the Concept of right of way Projects”. In addition toengineering based and enforcement based improvements, NRTSC has promoted through measures oftraffic propagandas to raise people’s awareness about road accident risks.

5. Changes in Traffic Safety Measures
5.1 Main Accident Causes
To further discuss changes in traffic safety measures in Taiwan, it is helpful to observe the trend of
main traffic causes in recent years. Figure 27 shows the changes of six main A1 accident causes
including drunk driving, careless driving, failing to yield, violating signals or signage regulations,inappropriate turning, and losing control out of speeding, over the past ten years. The number of the96Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

six main causes comprised about 60-70% of the total sum of main causes. Drunk driving has risen to
the peak in the year 2006, and though followed by a three-year decline, it remains to be the highest
cause since 2006. On the other hand, careless driving appears to have a decreasing trend. Failing toyield and violating signal or signage regulations slightly increased, while inappropriate turning slightly
decreased during the same period. The most dramatic change in main accident causes was losing
control out of speeding. Speeding was the second highest cause of accidents in 2000 and then dropped
to the fewest among the six main causes in 2009. However, since only one main cause was requested
to be recorded by the police, it is believed that speeding was usually underestimated and has remained
to be a serious problem in Taiwan.

No. per Year

Percent
Six Main A1 Accident Causes

800

100%

Drunk Driving

Careless Driving

700
Six Main A1 Causes%

600
500

80%

60%

400
300

40%

Failing to Yield

200

Violating Signal or
Signage Regulations

100

Inappropriate Turning

Losing Control out of
Speeding

0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

20%

0%

2009

Year

Figure 27 Six Main Accident Causes between 2000 and 2009
Source: National Road Traffic Safety Committee (2010)

5.2 Traffic Safety Measures
As mentioned earlier, triennially issued "Improving Highway Traffic Order and Safety Projects" hasbeen the principal guideline for traffic safety improvements followed by central and local governments
since 1982. The Projects basically emphasize the measures of the three Es (Engineering, Enforcement,
and Education), which are commonly applied to tackle traffic safety problems in international safety
communities. Enforcement, however, appears to be the most effective measure in Taiwan. The inverse
relationship between accident event rates and traffic violations cited or fined might strengthen theimage of the effectiveness of enforcement. In Figure 28, we can find the negative association between
event rates and traffic violations cited or fined during the period 2002-2010. From this, we can say theprincipal changes in traffic safety policies in Taiwan may be regarded as waves of amendments on

97

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

traffic laws and regulations. In addition, the comparably large number of motorcycles and their highproportion of accident composition in Taiwan, which has resulted in special engineering design formotorcycle riders, may have unique safety implications.

500

Event Rate (Number/ 1,000
Vehicles)Cases of Violations Cited(100,000 Events)
Fine (NT$ 100 Million)

450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1966

1970

1974

1978

1982

1986

1990

1994

1998

2002

2006

2010

Year

Figure 28 The Relationships between Accident Event Rate, Traffic Violation
Cited and Fined between 1966 and 2010
Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011)

5.2.1 Law amendments
Several waves of law amendments in Taiwan for accident prevention has been thought effective,
including mandatory helmets for motorcyclists, mandatory seatbelts for front seat occupants of cars,
and stricter punishments for drunk driving.
Mandatory restrain use laws for motorcycle riding and automobile driving was not enacted until theyear 1996 and 1985 respectively (see Table 3). Motorcycle helmet wearing was encouraged throughpromotions and campaigns in 1981, but there were no punishments for violators at that time.
Mandatory helmet wearing law with a fine for motorcyclists took effect in 1996. Car seatbelt fastening
law was enacted only for front seat occupants travelling on freeways in 1985, and was expanded toinclude front seat occupants travelling on expressways in 1996, and general roads in 2001 respectively.
The fine for not fastening seatbelts on freeways is higher than any other types of roads. Together withmandatory seatbelt fastening for front seat occupants on general roads, mandatory law for baby carseats also took effect in 2001, and the fine was raised for violating car drivers in 2005. Following the
successful examples of international practices, mandatory seatbelt fastening will expand to include
back seat occupants in the upcoming 2012.
Although mandatory helmets and seatbelts were conducted over 15 years, the helmet wearing rates
and seatbelt fastening rates have never been investigated through a large scale sampling survey. A

98Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

recent convenient sampling survey (Institute of Transportation, 2012) showed that restraint use
measures should be even more emphasized, since even with a low not-wearing rate(<5%), theunsuitably fastening rate is still high(>15%) for motorcyclists, and in addition, a high not-fastening
rate for front seat occupants(ranging from 5% to over 60%) and a extremely high not-fastening rate forback seat occupants(>95%) reveals that there is much room for improvement in various cities in
Taiwan.

99

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Table 3 Law Amendments for Mandatory Helmet and Seatbelt Wearing

TargetMotorcycle
HelmetWearing

Car

Time
July 17th, 1981

Amendment Contents◆Specific regulations for encouraging helmet wearing
were enacted, but there were no punishments forviolators.

December
1996◆ Mandatory helmets for both riders and passengers tookeffect, and violators were fined 500 NT dollars.

31th,March 1st, 1985

◆ Mandatory seatbelts for front seat occupants running on
freeways took effect (defined by traffic regulations on
freeways), and violators were fined 500 NT dollars.
(The amount of fine was raised to 1,000 NT dollars on
May 13th, 1986, and to 3,000 NT dollars on December
31th, 1996).

December
1996

31th,

◆ Mandatory seatbelts for front seat occupants runningon expressways took effect and violators were fined
1,500 NT dollars.

January 2nd, 2001

◆ Mandatory seatbelts for front seat occupants expanded
to general roads and violators were fined 1,500 NT
dollars.
◆ Car drivers violating the mandatory rule for baby carseats were fined 500 NT dollars.
◆ Violating mandatory seatbelts for front seat occupantsrunning on freeways was formally defined by traffic
law but no further adjustment was made to the amountof fine (3,000 NT dollars).

December
2005◆ The fine of violating the mandatory rule for baby carseats was raised to 1,500-3,000 NT dollars.
◆ The baby car seats applying for children aged under 4
or weight under 18 kg was clearly defined.

Seatbelt
Fastening

9th,

April 22th, 2011
(taking effect in
2012)

◆

Mandatory seatbelts expanded to back seat car
occupants.

◆The fine of violating the mandatory seatbelt wearing on
expressway was raised to 3,000 NT dollars, comparablewith freeways.
Source: The Legislative Yuan: Legal System Database (2012)100

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Law amendments for drunk driving has always been the main focus, since drunk driving has been thefirst two main causes of traffic crashes since 2002. Two types of laws were amended against drunk
drivers in Taiwan: Administrative and Penalty Law respectively. The BAC standard for drunk drivers
in administrative law is 0.05% (defined by the traffic regulations), and BAC standard for drivers that“cannot safely drive” while intoxicated is not rigidly defined in penalty law but 0.11% is thepractically accepted number by most of the judges.
Administrative law against drunk driving has been extensively amended since 1996. The scope of thelaw was expanded to drugged drivers and suspected drivers refusing to take the alcohol breath test.
The license suspension and revocation measures were used, and the fines for violators were largely
increased (see Table 4). The life-time license revocation was adopted in the Administrative Law in1996 under the conditions that the accident caused a victim severe injury or death, but was abandonedin 2005 because it was against the authorization by the Constitutional Law. However, a longer period
for license revocation was still applied. Penalty law for punishing drunk driving took effect in 1999
and the recent amendment in 2011 has increased the fines and imprisonment durations for serious
drunk drivers (see Table 5).

101

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Table 4 Administrative Law Amendments for Drunk Driving

Law Type
Administrative
Law for Drunk
Driving

Time
July 11th,
1975

Amendment Contents◆ Drunk drivers were fined 300-600 NT dollars andrestricted driving on the scene.
◆ The license for drunk drivers were also revoked for 3
years on conditions that the accident caused a victim
severe injury or death. (i.e. The definition of drunk
driving is defined as BAC over 0.05%.)

May 13th,1986◆ The fines for drunk drivers were raised to 900-1,800
NT dollars.

December
31th, 1996◆

January
2nd, 2001◆ The fines for drunk drivers, drugged drivers andsuspected drivers refusing to take the alcohol breath
tests were raised to 16,000-60,000 NT dollars.
◆ The suspension duration for the above violators’
licenses were extended from 6 months to one year
without causing any other injuries and from one year to
two years with causing injuries.

December
9th, 2005◆

The fines for drunk drivers were raised to
6,000-12,000 NT dollars.
◆ Drugged drivers and suspected drivers refusing to takethe alcohol breath test were also be fined 6,000-12,000
NT dollars..
◆ The license for the above violators were suspended for6 months without causing any other injuries and one
year when causing injuries.
◆ The licenses for the above violators were revoked forlife-time on conditions that the accidents caused a
victim severe injury or death.
◆ The sentence for imprisonment duration were extended
by half on conditions that an unlicensed or drunk drivershould receive a penalty law when they caused a victim
severe injury or death.

Regardless of causing injuries, the licenses forcommercial heavy vehicle drivers were revoked for 4
years on conditions that they drove while intoxicated.
◆ The life-time license revocation for drunk drivers,
drugged drivers and suspected drivers refusing to takethe alcohol breath test were lifted because life-time
revocation had been declared against the Constitutional
Law and were revoked for 8 years, 10 years, and 12
years on conditions that the accidents caused a victim
injuries, severe injuries and death, respectively.
Source: The Legislative Yuan: Legal System Database (2012)102Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Table 5 Penalty Law Amendments for Drunk Driving

Law Type
Penalty Law for
Drunk Driving

Time
March 30th,
1999

Amendment Contents◆ A driver taking drug, alcohol or similar substanceand cannot safely drive would receive at most
one-year imprison sentence, custody or at most
30,000 NT dollars. (i.e. The definition of“cannot safely drive” is practically regarded as
BAC over 0.11% or over and is through theverdict by the judge.)

December
18th, 2007

◆ The fine was extended to at most 150,000 NT
dollars.

November 9th,2011

◆ At most one-year imprisonment sentence was
extended to two years and would be extended to 6
months to 5 years and one to 7 years on
conditions that the accident caused a victim
severe injury or death respectively.
◆ The fine rose to at most 200,000 NT dollars.
Source: The Legislative Yuan: Legal System Database (2012)
From a chronological perspective (see Figure 29), mandatory law for helmet wearing in 1996 appeared
to have a significant effect on reducing crash deaths. Followed by the amendments of Penalty Law in1999 and fine rises in 2001 for drunk driving, and together with mandatory law for seatbelt fastening
in 2001, the fatalities steadily went downward. However, traffic accident fatalities increased with areversing trend since 2003 till 2006.
In 2005, law amendments on speeding higher than 60 km/h of the speed limit was attributed todangerous driving and violators would be fined 6,000-24,000 NT dollars, but it seemed no evidence
that the second wave of fatality reduction between 2006 and 2010 was contributed by an effective
speed management. On the contrary, the 2005 law amendments for general speeding enforcement also
limited the enforcement flexibility of the police since the position of the fixed speed cameras should
be informed in advance ahead of the cameras. Though without scientific evidence, it is believed thatthe fatality reduction between 2007 and 2010 was due to the heavier enforcement by the police on
drunk driving, red-light running, and several violation behaviors since the beginning of 2007.

103

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Person8,000

1996 Life-time License
Revocation for Serious
Drunk Driving

7,000
6,000
5,000

1996 Mandatory
Helmet Law

2001 Rising Fines for
Drunk Driving
2005 Rising Fines forDangerous Speeding

1999 Penalty Law
for Drunk Driving

4,000

2001 Mandatory
Seatbelt Law

3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1991

Police-reported Fatality (within 24 hr)
Medical System Reported Fatality
Estimated Fatality (within 30 days)
1994

1997

2000

2003

2006

2009

Year

Figure 29 Major Traffic Law Amendments between 1991 and 2010
Source: Department of Health (2011), Institute of Transportation (2011a), Ministry of Transportation
and Communications (2011) and The Legislative Yuan: Legal System Database (2012)

5.2.2 Special engineering design for motorcycle running
As mentioned before, motorcycle riders have comprised a big portion of all injured accidents, and alsosustained severe accident outcomes. Densely mixed with cars, motorcycle riders may experience ahigher accident risk. Thus, some special designs for segregating the running of motorcycles withengines sized under 250 cc and cars have been applied in Taiwan (see Table 6). For intersectionalsegregation measures, a two-phased left-turning, together with applying the inner prohibited lanes formotorcycle riders requires the left-turning riders to wait temporarily in front of the stop line of thetransverse direction, and to start when the green light of that direction turns on. It is usually installed ina running direction with over two lanes. In addition, a motorcycle exclusive stopping area behind thestop line offers motorcycle riders an isolated space in front of cars when waiting for a green light.
Motorcycle exclusive lane offers a separate lane space dedicated to motorcycle riders and a priority
lane also offers a separate lane space mostly for motorcycle riders unless cars have to pass through forthe purpose of parking along the curbs or turning right in the approaching intersection. Limited byroad space, a two-phased left turning, inner prohibited lanes and exclusive stopping areas behind thestop line are more likely to be installed than motorcycle exclusive or priority lanes.
According to Yeh’s (2011) study on motorcycle injury likelihood on different positions of the roads
using the 2009 A1 and A2 accident data, inner fast moving lanes for cars (i.e. usually motorcycle
running prohibited) had 51% higher and motorcycle priority lane had 28% higher injury likelihood as104

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

compared with a slow moving lane (i.e. the rightmost lane with mixed traffic and 40 km/h speed limit
if installed), while motorcycle exclusive lanes had 14% lower injury likelihood compared to a slow
moving lane. In addition, compared with right turning movements at intersections, motorcycle direct
left turning also had 93% higher and straight running had 3 times higher injury risk. The results
showed that two-phased left turning and motorcycle exclusive lanes might provide a protectivefunction for motorcycle riders.

105Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Table 6 Special Traffic Engineering Design for Motorcycles

Special Type
Motorcycle Exclusive Lane

Time
November
30th, 1978

Motorcycle
Left Turning

Two-Phased

December
15th, 1989

Motorcycle
Lane

Prohibited

December
15th, 1989

Motorcycle Priority Lane

July 13th,
2000

Motorcycle Exclusive
Stopping Area

September
24th, 2003

Road Markings

Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications: Administrative Traffic Law and Regulation
Database (2012)106

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

6. Conclusions
The evolution of traffic safety performance in Taiwan has made a significant progress in reducing
crash deaths over the past two decades. It might be mainly contributed by several waves of law
amendments including mandatory helmet and seatbelt wearing as well as stricter punishments fordrunk driving. Stricter enforcements also played a crucial role for implementing these revised
regulations.
The effectiveness of a new revision of Penalty Law on stricter sentence of imprisonment and higherfines for serious drunk driving requires more detailed observations. In addition, motorcycle involved
accidents, which still covers a big portion and with severe outcomes, has become the principal target
for promoting traffic safety in Taiwan. However, some structural barriers such as the riders’ training
system and traffic engineering design still need to change to enhance the safety performance of
motorcycle riding. Along with the coming of aging society, the safety of elderly road users has been
inevitably becoming a high priority issue in Taiwan. More research, evaluations, and institutionalchanges on these safety issues need to done to face the upcoming challenges.

References:
National Road Traffic Safety Committee (2010). 2009 Annual Report of Road Traffic Safety. pp.18.
Taipei, Taiwan.
Council for Economic Planning and Development (2010). Estimating Taiwan’s Population between theYear 2010 and 2060. pp.18. ISBN 1728-6859. Taipei, Taiwan.
Department of Health (2011). Health Statistics of Taiwan’s Death Causes. Taipei, Taiwan.
(http://www.doh.gov.tw/CHT2006/DM/DM2_2_p02.aspx?class_no=440&now_fod_list_no=11962&level_no=4&doc_no=81298) (October 12, 2011)
European Commission (2010). Towards a European Road Safety Area: Policy Orientations on Road
Safety 2011-2020. Brussels, Belgium.
Institute of Transportation (2011a). Traffic Safety Facts: Fatalities within 24 Hours and Estimated 30
Days. Taipei, Taiwan. (http://talas-pub.iot.gov.tw/default.aspx) (October 1, 2011)
Institute of Transportation (2011b). Comparative Study on Traffic Accident Characteristics and Safety
Strategies and Countermeasures (1/2). pp.134-135 & 176-188. Taipei, Taiwan.
Institute of Transportation (2012). Comparative Study on Traffic Accident Characteristics and Safety
Strategies and Countermeasures (2/2). pp.59-60. Taipei, Taiwan. (in press)
The Legislative Yuan: Legal System Database (2012). Taipei, Taiwan. (http://lis.ly.gov.tw/lgcgi/lglaw)

107

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Tsu-Hurng Yeh(January 1st, 2012)
Ministry of the Interior (2011). Statistical Abstract of Taiwan’s Population. Taipei, Taiwan.
(http://www.moi.gov.tw/) (October 15, 2011)
Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2008). Taiwan’s Road Traffic Regulations. Taipei,
Taiwan.
Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011). Statistical Abstract of Taiwan’s
Transportation and Communications. Taipei, Taiwan. (http://www.motc.gov.tw/) (October 12, 2011)
Ministry of Transportation and Communications: Administrative Traffic Law and Regulation
Database (2012). Taipei, Taiwan.
(http://www.motc.gov.tw/mocwebGIP/wSite/ct?xItem=4240&ctNode=478&mp=1) (January 1st, 2012)
United Nations Economic and Social Council. Economic Commission for Europe (2003). Working
Party on Transport Statistics (Fifty-fourth session, 11–13 June 2003). Intersecretariat working groupon transport statistics (IWG). Report TRANS/WP.6/2003/6.
Yeh, Tsu-Hurng (2011). Feasibility Evaluations on Lifting the Motorcycle Prohibited Lanes andTwo-phased Left Turning Measures. pp.7-11. Working paper submitted to the Ministry ofTransportation and Communications. (not printed)

Author:Dr. Tsu-Hurng Yeh
Deputy Director,
Safety Division, Institute of Transportation,
Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), Taiwan
Dr. Yeh received his PhD in 2007 from the Department of Transportation Technology andManagement, National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan. His main research interests are human factors,
driver behavior, and policy analyses on road safety issues. He has published several papers inTransportation Research Part A, Part D, and Part F, Safety Science, and Accident Analysis andPrevention over the latest five years. In addition, he has also been invited to serve as a reviewer byprofessional journals.

108Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Appendix 1 Number of Population in Taiwan

Year
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

Total
15,927,167
16,223,089
16,579,737
16,882,053
17,202,491
17,543,067
17,866,008
18,193,955
18,515,754
18,790,538
19,069,194
19,313,825
19,509,082
19,725,010
19,954,397
20,156,587
20,401,305
20,605,831
20,802,622
20,995,416
21,177,874
21,357,431
21,525,433
21,742,815
21,928,591
22,092,387
22,276,672
22,405,568
22,520,776
22,604,550
22,689,122
22,770,383
22,876,527
22,958,360
23,037,031
23,119,772
23,162,123

Male
8,354,012
8,501,391
8,678,165
8,829,635
8,991,263
9,160,239
9,320,105
9,479,508
9,636,285
9,769,572
9,904,853
10,023,344
10,114,710
10,217,434
10,328,081
10,424,102
10,540,635
10,640,276
10,734,609
10,824,161
10,907,032
10,990,657
11,065,798
11,163,764
11,243,408
11,312,728
11,392,050
11,441,651
11,485,409
11,515,062
11,541,585
11,562,440
11,591,707
11,608,767
11,626,351
11,636,734
11,635,225

Source: Ministry of the Interior (2011).

109

Female7,573,155
7,721,698
7,901,572
8,052,418
8,211,228
8,382,828
8,545,903
8,714,447
8,879,469
9,020,966
9,164,341
9,290,481
9,394,372
9,507,576
9,626,316
9,732,485
9,860,670
9,965,555
10,068,013
10,171,255
10,270,842
10,366,774
10,459,635
10,579,051
10,685,183
10,779,659
10,884,622
10,963,917
11,035,367
11,089,488
11,147,537
11,207,943
11,284,820
11,349,593
11,410,680
11,483,038
11,526,898

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Appendix 2 Road Length and Road Density in Taiwan
Year
1966
1971
1976
1981
1986
1991
1996
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

Total
(KM)
15,04015,747
17,10017,522
19,88528,472
32,77835,75036,44537,01637,28937,91838,51739,28539,52140,30640,86041,383

Freeway
(KM)
─
─
44
373
382
382
484
608
718
789
872
901
912
954
954
993
993
993

Provincial
CountyRural
Exclusive
Urban
Road(KM) Road(KM) Road(KM) Road(KM) Road (KM)
2,264
2,471
3,892
3,981
4,107
4,062
4,246
4,447
4,515
4,573
4,621
4,680
4,721
4,843
5,000
5,024
5,092
4,984

2,733
2,725
2,332
2,330
2,612
2,613
2,533
2,455
3,401
3,426
3,426
3,359
3,360
3,358
3,360
3,484
3,518
3,544

9,762
10,216
10,45910,451
12,396
12,42912,465
12,475
11,63011,613
11,613
11,63911,653
11,654
11,654
11,56011,765
11,765

281
335
373
386
388
387
390
390
390
414
414
414
414
414
414
396
396
396

─
─
─
─
─
8,600
12,66015,375
15,791
16,201
16,343
16,925
17,45718,062
18,13918,84919,096
19,701Road
Density(M/KM 2)
─
─
─
─
─
791
910
993
1,012
1,028
1,036
1,053
1,070
1,091
1,098
1,119
1,135
1,149

Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011).
Appendix 3 Composition of Motor Vehicle in Taiwan
Light Truck
Motorcycle
Passenger Car
BusinessYear(Taxi
Private Business Private Business Private Business Only) Private Business Heavy-type Light-type
1952
10,710244
1,379 1,511
2,188
2,089
490 490
316
9
─
─
1956
16,753423
2,176 1,919
2,480
4,760
834 834
262
10
─
─
1961
56,774498
3,102 2,880
3,675
6,671
2,297 2,297
1,280
34
─
─
1966
152,636963
4,576 3,291
7,852
11,0388,171 8,171
3,816
781
─
─
1971
957,295 1,732
7,168 8,028 13,964
32,824 22,287 22,287 24,686
907
517,684 308,808
1976
2,347,298 2,661 11,063 19,145 22,619 127,416 43,568 43,568 85,514
2,575 1,710,500 299,198
1981
5,413,409 4,726 14,064 34,782 31,782 438,052 68,239 68,239 206,748
4,556 3,833,293 758,254
1986
8,696,045 5,976 15,722 46,350 39,771 956,625 90,035 90,035 327,427
4,664 5,419,023 1,775,179
1991 10,611,036 5,381 14,739 66,184 54,977 2,440,685 100,679 100,679 489,381
5,786 4,798,804 2,610,371
1996 14,273,465 3,487 18,285 81,964 73,776 4,039,649 106,826 106,826 615,966
6,178 5,455,570 3,828,344
2000 17,022,689 2,748 21,175 81,003 74,620 4,608,960 107,257 107,257 643,796
9,167 6,848,116 4,575,056
2001 17,465,037 2,580 21,473 81,813 73,327 4,720,641 104,940 104,940 665,718
9,815 7,131,438 4,601,764
2002 17,906,957 2,326 22,753 82,649 73,156 4,888,050 101,286 101,286 690,750 10,228 7,386,784 4,596,973
2003 18,500,658 2,196 23,432 83,912 73,244 5,071,981 97,752 97,752 717,915 10,709 7,759,650 4,607,214
2004 19,183,136 2,042 24,411 85,662 74,798 5,262,693 128,155 95,665 743,939 14,870 8,239,700 4,554,250
2005 19,862,807 1,883 25,084 88,049 76,199 5,495,693 138,669 94,278 770,659 18,563 8,746,286 4,448,979
2006 20,307,197 1,812 25,710 90,142 76,069 5,555,507 142,817 92,418 783,979 21,611 9,225,155 4,331,873
2007 20,711,754 1,793 25,568 91,050 72,954 5,567,687 145,155 89,738 787,361 24,285 9,762,555 4,180,918
2008 21,092,358 1,723 25,616 91,215 70,016 5,530,314 144,112 88,779 786,782 25,658 10,349,865 4,015,577
2009 21,374,175 1,909 25,758 91,543 67,269 5,559,247 145,065 88,589 792,288 35,667 10,749,348 3,854,982
2010 21,721,447 1,856 27,174 93,304 67,780 5,642,969 160,444 87,449 803,493 28,973 11,112,224 3,732,708
Grand
Total

Bus

Heavy Truck

Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011).

110

111

10,649,187

10,885,591

11,149,212

11,390,746

11,656,279

11,942,217

22,362,540

22,846,348

23,403,464

23,939,606

24,484,174

25,044,273

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

476,944480,982

483,240

485,604

486,501

485,169

482,931

482,090

479,541

473,474

465,117462,832

479,595

463,529

Subtotal

111,371

111,262

111,291

110,046

108,170

99,482

96,201

92,59388,79085,00882,46063,52945,931

38,200TractorTrailer

85,82884,72482,04580,447

79,18075,682

74,21872,832

70,94567,90567,826

72,163

91,77995,543

Bus

129,271

131,847

134,124

136,109

136,850

136,980

136,974

137,938

138,486

138,117

136,709

139,421

138,387

133,635

HeavyTruck

Professional Driver

Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011).

9,969,719

10,334,755

21,165,753

21,803,355

2004

9,611,677

20,509,658

2002

2003

8,692,270

9,023,240

1996

18,934,549

7,465,839

16,194,060

1991

19,583,958

5,717,706

12,743,375

1989

2000

4,766,627

11,119,592

Year

2001

Automobile
Grand Total
Total

9,851,824

9,487,629

9,132,136

8,549,766

8,227,153

7,003,007

5,238,111

4,303,098

Subtotal

150,474 11,465,273

153,149 11,175,297

155,780 10,907,506

159,002 10,663,608

162,301 10,399,090

173,025 10,164,018

175,538

178,727

181,320

182,444

178,122

187,719

203,498

196,151

SmallVehicle

Automobile Driver

36,47733,80831,47829,711

28,192

26,78825,18523,093

21,305

19,25018,157

11,750

4,259

2,589

TractorTrailer

112,703108,196

103,697

100,371

96,58593,291

89,207

83,297

77,74270,436

67,77357,444

41,96133,901

Bus

524,715

516,517509,645502,364

493,249

489,748478,777

463,279

446,380

414,289

400,630

323,294

225,769

187,688

HeavyTruck

Private Vehicle Driver

Appendix 4 Composition of Driver License in Taiwan

8,728,221

7,025,669

6,352,965

893,064

653,151

571,274

Light-type

9,802,092 1,095,889

9,487,453 1,073,265

9,185,365 1,056,914

7,835,157

6,372,518

5,781,691

Heavy-type

Motorcycle Rider

10,791,378 13,102,056 12,083,127 1,018,929

10,516,776 12,827,895 11,785,932 1,041,963

10,262,686 12,548,860 11,480,318 1,068,542

10,031,162 12,254,252 11,161,299 1,092,953

9,781,064 11,960,757 10,849,663 1,111,094

9,554,191 11,713,353 10,594,164 1,119,189

9,258,655 11,468,600 10,345,748 1,122,852

8,917,960 11,196,034 10,078,034 1,118,000

8,586,709 10,897,981

8,045,791 10,560,718

7,740,593 10,242,279

6,610,519

4,966,122

4,078,920

SmallVehicle

Motorcycle
Total

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)
Tsu-Hurng Yeh112

10,08810,517

10,072

8,630

4,729

3,619

52,95264,26486,259120,223

137,221155,814160,897

163,971

170,127

184,749

219,646

1971

1976

1981

1986

1991

1996

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2,047

2,092

2,224

2,573

3,140

2,894

2,634

2,718

2,861

3,344

3,388

2,990

3,305

4,139

3,840

3,087

1,780

948

Fatality(Person)293,793

246,994

227,423

216,927

211,176

203,087

179,108

156,303

109,594

80,612

66,895

2,939

4,308

9,983

13,377

14,792

13,412

7,793

Injury(Person)

1,973

2,016

2,150

2,463

2,999

2,767

2,502

2,572

2,725

3,142

3,207

3,619

4,729

8,630

10,072

10,517

10,088

6,045

Event
(Number)

2,047

2,092

2,224

2,573

3,140

2,894

2,634

2,718

2,861

3,344

3,388

2,990

3,305

4,139

3,840

3,087

1,780

948

Fatality(Person)

774

893

983

1,006

1,301

1,383

1,248

1,262

1,284

1,490

1,541

2,939

4,308

9,983

13,377

14,792

13,412

7,793

Injury(Person)A1 Accidents－
65,354
79,122
108,310155,041
177,860
201,704
209,875
215,921
226,440
246,101
293,019－
61,122
83,534
117,651
134,719
153,047
157,898
161,508
167,977
182,733
217,673－－－

49,745

－

－

－

－

－

－
－

－

Injury(Person)－Number(Event)A2 Accidents

Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (2011).

6,045

Number(Event)

1966

Year

Total

37.19
14.24
7.62
4.97
3.20
2.18

210.76
48.53
19.99
10.37
4.58
2.63

101.93

87.01

81.39

79.95

80.11

79.81

72.83

66.04

48.77

37.27

0.95

0.99

1.06

1.25

1.56

1.48

1.40

1.49

1.62

1.94

2.03

73.42

468.1931.76

Fatality Rate
(Number/ 1,000
Vehicles)Event Rate
(Number/ 1,000
Vehicles)Road Traffic Violations

136.34116.32108.80105.77105.14104.02

95.06

85.86

61.97

46.75

40.13

2.14

4.17

11.99

26.54

68.26

280.21603.58

9,918

11,027

11,957

12,493

12,067

11,966

12,336

13,781

17,931

20,192

21,987

20,538

8,083

－

－

－

－

－

16,104

16,73818,324

19,90819,064

20,547

20,344

21,932

24,50423,09620,003

10,713

3,009

－

－

－

－

－

Cases of
Injury Rate (Number/
Violations Cited Fine(NT$ Million)
1,000 Vehicles)(1,000 Events)

Accident Rate per Ten Thousand Vehicles

Appendix 5 Accident Frequency, Rate and Traffic Violations in Taiwan

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)
Tsu-Hurng Yeh

320
476
421
287
265
267
362
309
256
209
186
3,358

Fatality

3,107
6,646
6,370
6,256
9,853
11,001
12,83812,353
10,922
10,124
10,102
99,572

InjuryPassenger Car
Driver

87
143
98
74
82
74
98
83
74
69
43
925

Fatality

650
1,502
1,600
1,560
2,480
2,618
3,054
2,858
2,539
2,389
2,454
23,704

Injury
29
39
51
30
28
34
40
37
31
27
22
368

Fatality

Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b).

1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Total

Year
236
390
335
371
576
607
731
716
676
437
394
5,469

Injury
3
4
3
7
5
9
5
4
6
0
2
48

45
89
69
72
177
151
148
100
80
49
36
1,016

Fatality Injury

Injury933
17,5791,526
40,383
1,556
51,015
1,429
71,537
1,314
105,352
1,304
121,960
1,442
138,808
1,742
146,372
1,415
153,834
1,263
164,4151,186
179,096
15,110 1,190,351

Fatality
421
477
491
443
421
409
398
361
330
278
271
4,300

Fatality
1,821
4,488
5,173
6,447
8,570
9,867
10,88910,926
10,814
11,36911,51591,879Injury
134
200
205
168
160
170
142
183
141
139
140
1,782

Fatality
938
2,123
2,778
4,044
5,754
6,473
7,093
7,356
7,985
9,593
10,68664,823

InjuryAppendix 6 Numbers of Fatalities and Injuries by Transport Mode between 1999-2009
Light Truck
Heavy TruckBus Driver Motorcycle Rider
Pedestrian
Bicycle Rider
DriverDriverInjury444
4,742
493 10,946
472 12,341
384 15,319
350 21,813
315 24,983
337 27,940
367 29,214
282 28,518
218 29,053
219 30,725
3,881 235,594

Fatality

Passenger(all modes)

21
31
46
39
81
52
69
49
35
21
23
467

Fatality

149
297
374
426
1,711
1,440
1,576
1,387
1,272
1,239
1,339
11,210InjuryOther

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)113

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Tsu-Hurng Yeh

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Taiwan (1950-2010)

Appendix 7 Fatality Rate (per million population ) among Developed Countries
Year
Country
TaiwanUnited States
Korea
New Zealand
CanadaOECD total
Eu-27
NorwayJapan
United Kingdom
Sweden

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

─
154
226
132
97
120
123
79
95
62
60

─
153
232
134
98
117
120
68
92
62
65

─
149
218
121
95
114
117
76
93
62
67

─
148
171
118
90
109
112
61
89
63
65

─
149
152
103
93
109
110
68
85
63
63

164
147
151
115
87
103
103
61
78
62
59

174
146
136
107
85
99
96
56
75
57
53

191
147
132
99
91
96
91
49
70
55
49

193
143
131
95
89
93
87
52
65
55
49

163
136
127
100
83
90
86
49
52
50
51

150
123
121
86
82
82
79
53
47
43
43

Note: No. of fatalities is based on (or estimated) 30-days.

Source: Institute of Transportation (2011b).

114

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies andRegulations in Turkey(1950–2010)

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)
Copyright(C) 2012 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences, All rights reserved.

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

1. Introduction
In this report Turkey’s policies on traffic safety and the general aspects are examined. First, we
provide an overview of the main aspects of the problem of traffic accidents in Turkey. We began witha brief summary of the traffic regulations and transportation policies prior to year 1950. This
information will help to clarify the background of the policies after 1950. We consider the issue oftraffic accidents after 1950 to be a direct consequence of transportation policies, economic
development, educational level, etc., as well as a consequence of various new laws and regulations on
traffic. We then provide an overview of all the traffic laws that were in effect from the beginning of
the republic period (1923) to the year 2010, highlighting their basic principles and newly adopted
ideas. Next we provided important background information related to these laws and regulations, theirobjectives and goals, and the period in which these laws and policies were in effect. Finally, we
explain the development of institutions on traffic safety and road transportation, and clarify theirrespective aims.

115

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

2. Overview of Traffic Accidents in Turkey
Road traffic accidents are a worldwide problem resulting in more than 1.2 million fatalities andbetween 20 and 50 million injuries every year [1]. Road traffic accidents are currently the ninth
leading cause of death around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that thisfigure will rise to become the fifth leading cause of death by the year 2030 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Leading cause of death, 2004 and 2030 compared [1]The situation is even more severe for the developing countries. Over 90% of the world’s traffic
fatalities occur in low-income and middle-income countries, despite the fact that these countries have
only 48% of the world’s vehicles. Low-income and middle-income countries have higher road traffic
fatality rates (21.5 and 19.5 deaths for every 100,000 people, respectively) than high-income countries(10.3 deaths per 100,000) [1]. Table 1 presents the accident data from various countries.

116

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Table 1 Comparison of 2009 Traffic Accident Data from Various Countries [2] [3]Country

Number of
Fatal andInjuryAccidents

Numberof
Fatalities

Numberof
Vehicles(x1,000)

Population(x1,000)

Vehiclesper 1,000
population

Fatalities
per
100,000
VehiclesFatalities
per
100,000
PeopleFatalities
per billion
veh-kmAustria

39,468

633

5,972

8,373

713

10.6

7.6

9.0

Canada151,3212,130

21,30034,076

625

10.0

6.3

6.3

C. Republic

16,415901

8,500

10,512

809

10.6

8.6

19.4

Finland

7,052

279

3,100

5,358

579

9.0

5.2

5.2

France58,215

4,273

31,95165,447

488

13.4

6.5

7.8

Germany

320,314

4,152

39,17081,758

479

10.6

5.1

6.0

Japan

886,864

5,772

90,188

127,380

708

6.4

4.5

7.7

Netherlands

25,308644

9,200

16,605

554

7.0

3.9

5.6

New Zealand

7,425

384

3,200

4,365

733

12.0

8.8

9.6

Norway

6,733

212

3,029

4,877

621

7.0

4.3

5.4

Poland46,876

4,572

20,782

38,164

545

22.0

12.0

9.1

Portugal

35,680840

5,600

10,637

526

15.0

7.9

Slovenia

11,731

171

1,315

2,057

639

13.0

8.3

9.6

South Korea

209,524

5,838

20,85049,773

419

28.0

11.7

20.0

Spain

99,797

2,714

30,15645,989

656

9.0

5.9

Sweden16,344

358

5,114

9,349

547

7.0

3.8

4.4

Switzerland

27,088

349

4,986

7,783

641

7.0

4.5

5.7

Turkey110,906

4,324

14,31772,561

197

30.0

5.9

43.4*

UK

258,404

2,337

35,40962,042

571

6.6

3.8

4.6

*Due to the limited resources in travelling data, the figures include only accidents that occurred on freeways,
state roads, and province roads.

Turkey, with 5.9 fatalities per every 100,000 people, may at first glance look like one of the safest
countries. Yet because Turkey has the lowest vehicle ownership among the given countries, thisstatistic is misleading. A more meaningful formulation of the data would show that Turkey has a ratioof 30 fatalities per every 100,000 vehicles—which is the highest of all the countries cited above. For
the better comparison, we might instead use the exposure data, i.e. the total vehicle-kilometers. Whenformulated this way, Turkey—with 43.4 fatalities per every billion vehicle kilometers—has by far thehighest death ratio.
Moreover, it becomes clear that the situation in Turkey is even worse when traffic data only includes
the fatalities that occurred within the day of accident. (Data in most of the other countries include thefatalities that occurred within 30 succeeding days of the accident.)
Accordingly, WHO estimates that these unreported fatalities are added, the number of fatalities in
Turkey in 2009 rises from 4,324 to 6,022 [1].

117Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

3. Transportation Policies at the Beginning (1923-1950)
Since the founding of the Republic of Turkey, investments in transportation infrastructure have served
as the backbone of the country’s development policy. In the beginning, there were only 13,900km
stabilized road and only 4,000 km of the total road network were in good condition. During the first 30
years of the new state, railroad constructions constituted the biggest government investments, andnearly no motorways were constructed. The natural difficulties in transportation that arose from thegeography of the land had a huge role in shaping the social and economic structure of Turkey. The
land’s mountainous formation and lack of rivers suitable for travel made the transportation very costly
and prevented the integration of social and economic life in Anatolia. In the 1920s, the prioritization ofrailroads was a response to the necessity of an integrated national market and to an increase in theexport capacity of the country [4]. Railroad constructions began in 1924, and led to 3,360 km of new
network in 20 years. Considering the simple construction technology and scarce resources of that time,
construction of railroads was very fast.
Construction of motorways was very slow until the Second World War. Between 1923 and 1929, thelength of the road network increased only from 13,900 km to 14,400 km. Yet the majority of theseroads were not in good condition—in fact, by today’s standards they would not even be regarded as“roads.” Between 1923 and 1933, Turkey constructed 2,600 km of new stabilized road, and repaired
6,170 km of road. Between 1939 and 1945, the war economy brought transportation investments to a
halt. In 1947, there was 825 km of asphalt road and 43,743 km of stabilized road [4]. Road
infrastructure was not suitible for transportation at all.

4. Traffic Regulations (1923-1950)
The 564th and 565th clauses of Turkish Panel Code (Act No: 765), which came into effect on March
13, 1926, authorized the city police to control drivers who endanger the safety of life and property.
These clauses were very effective in preventing traffic accidents. The clause the 565th in particularstates that any person endangers another person or property on the street or in any open public space
while driving automobile or riding an animal is subject to a jail term of 20 days and a nominal fine.
Moreover, if this person is a professional driver or a coachman, he is subject to a one-monthsuspension of his driver’s license. These statements were in effect the first traffic regulations in
Turkey. At that time, there were only 1,000 automobiles in all of Turkey, 800 of which were in
Istanbul [4].
Municipality Law (Act no: 1580), that came into effect on April 14, 1930, authorized themunicipalities to control the maximum cargo limits of vehicles and to determine the classes andnumbers of automobiles, trucks, buses and horse cars that travelled on the roads between municipal
areas and villages. Moreover, the district municipalities began at this time to monitor driving skills andthe health of the drivers. The same clause states that, for borders between towns, the municipalities are118

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

responsible for determining the maximum and minimum speed limits and cruising price lists ofcarriage vehicles. The law also put municipalities in charge of maintaining traffic order. A traffic
guideline was prepared and put into effect in order to accomplish these tasks. The guideline mainly
concerns vehicle registrations and the administering of driver’s license by conducting traffic tests andcontrolling the traffic order in big cities. However, by making the municipalities responsible for traffic
services, the law resulted in different applications of rules in every municipality. In addition, otherconsequences of the law included difficulties in vehicle inspections, corruption in driver tests, anddifficulties in traffic checks on the intercity roads and rural roads.
In 1934, the law passed regarding police duties gave the police officers the authorization to control
drunk driving and other traffic offences that endanger the public safety.
As technology developed, the number of motor vehicles increased rapidly and traffic accidents becamea big problem. For this reason, lawmakers and developers began to reconsider the road traffic law thatwas passed in 1930. As a result, General Directorate of Safety, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, andAnkara, Istanbul, Izmir Municipalities together prepared a new law draft. In 1938, this bill was
submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), but it did not pass.
During the Second World War, economic shortage had a negative effect on vehicle supply. After thewar, the social and economic developments increased the demand on transportation services. In
addition to this, technological advances made high-speed vehicles a real possibility, and countries allaround the world began to construct new road systems. Within this global context, the roadtransportation in Turkey also developed rapidly. Due to all these developments, the number of traffic
accidents, fatalities and injuries rapidly increased.

5. Transportation Policies and Traffic Regulations (1950-1980)
5.1 Transportation Policies
In the 1950s, particulary after the start of the U.S. Marshall Plan, construction of strategical roads
became very important. Within the framework of Marshall aid, national govenment abandoned
railroad transportation policies and ceased investments in railroads. The construction of motorways
took up nearly 95% of all state investments on transportation [6]. Automotive firms that grew
tremendously during the Second World War (e.g., American Ford, General Motors and petrolleum
companies) strongly asserted that they were on the side of road transportation all around the world.
Until 1950, Turkey’s transportation infrastructure was largely based on rail transport. During thepreliminary arrangements to Marshall Aid, the Vice Director of Federal Bureau of Public Roads, Mr.
Hilts visited Turkey and prepared a report in 1947 suggesting improvements to the highway system.
His suggestions were accepted by Turkish Ministry of Transportation in February 1948. Mr. Hilts´suggestion appears to have been based on the premise of the necessity to distribute the increased119Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emiragricultural production nationwide. As a matter of fact, the highway systems of Turkey developed
using machinery, asphalt and technical assistance all provided by the U.S. Many Turkish civilengineers were sent to the U.S. for education. On March 1, 1950, Turkey established The General
Directorate of Highways (KGM), a beurocratic division not connected to Ministry of Transportation.
KGM began to implement the construction of roads, and the Turkish Government increasingly put
more effort into road constructions in the 1950s. Between 1952 and 1962, KGM’s budget reached to
10% of the total state budget [4].
The period between 1950 and 1970 witnessed the rapid development of the road network system. In
1950, the total length of repaired and heavy-machinery-constructed roads was 8,024 km; this number
increased to 33,000km in 1960. Moreover, the length of roads suitable for transport in any season was
9,624 km in 1950, and 22,000km in 1960 [7]. Between 1960 and 1970, the main policy for road
construction was to build roads of low physical and geometrical proportions that were suitable fortransport in both summer and winter. The paving of the roads became increasingly important during
this period. By the end of 1970, the government initiated the construction of expressways. They had
built superstructures for 48,125 km of the total 59,469 km of state and city roads, and asphalted 19,000
km of these roads. In the 1970s, they focused on improving the physical standards of roads, pavingwith asphalt 32% of the total road network. Road construction investments had the biggest portion ofstate’s transportation budgets at that time. After 1980, despite a decrease in road investments in termsof the total state budget, freight and passenger transport on the roads did not slow down. In the 1980s,
Turkey had 62,500 km of long road network, 34,000 km of which were paved with asphalt [7].
After 1960, Turkey’s economic progress was promoted with development plans. The State Planning
Organization played a major role during this period. Turkey announced that they would enact a seriesof four five-year development plans between 1960 and 1980. These plans included major development
paths for critical economic sectors such as transportation, energy, housing, and finance. At the
beginning of the planned period (1963), the portion of passenger transport by roads was 73%, railroads
had 24%, maritime transportation had nearly 3%, and air transport had 1%. The portion of railroads infreight transport (43%) was nearly the same as road transportation (40%).
In the first five-year development plan, Turkey determined that the geometric standards of the roads
were above the national need, but in the second plan, however, they stated that the standards were notsufficient. For that reason, Turkey began to generate new budgets for improving the geometricalstandards as well as the physical standards of the roads.
During the first three plans (1963-1978), the growth of transportation sector was bigger than othersectors, and the portion of this sector in the gross national product increased from 7% in 1960 to 8.6%
in 1978. Each plans’ emphasis on the construction and repair of roads was not the result of a general
concern for traffic safety. In fact, in the first three plans traffic safety precautions were insufficient inseveral regards. It was not until the second five-year plan (1968) that an emphasis on traffic accident
was made, and this emphasis remained in place through the third plan (1973) [5]. Yet these plansstressed only the improvement of road standards. There were no budget plans for improving the traffic

120Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emirsignal system, for increasing awareness on traffic accidents, or for traffic education. In the fourth plan,
they stressed the need to improve alternative transportation systems. However, the reason behind thisemphasis was not the traffic safety considerations but rather the oil shortages and the recession of
automotive sector of that time.

5.2 Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations
The General Directorate of Highways (KGM) was established on March 1, 1950 (Act no: 5539). The
main duties of the KGM were improving the infrastructure of road network system and constructing
new roads. These projects began to gather pace with the establishment of the KGM. The constructionof new roads led to a more frequent use of motorways. As a result, the number of traffic accidents andthe number of people killed and injured in traffic accidents rapidly increased. Before the 1950s,
authorities did not sufficiently deal with the problem of traffic accident because railroads were still thedominant mode of freight and passenger transportation. Yet eventually, traffic accidents became a lifeand property threatening problem that had to be dealt with. For this reason, the govenment began toexert more effort in writing traffic laws, eventually resulting in the Road Traffic Act (Act number:
6085), which was passed by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and came into force on May 11,
1953. This act was the first general law to deal specifically with road traffic. There has been a previous
general law drafted in 1938, but this law did not pass through the parliement due to the generalelections. This demonstrates that traffic safety problem had, by 1953, become a national security
problem, and that previous laws were not sufficient in handling the problem.
Road Traffic Act (1953) states in its third clause that the “duty of arrangement and inspection of traffic
is implemented by city and provincial traffic police who are directly connected to General Directorateof Security. Furthermore, City Security Directorates shall establish traffic bureaues in all city centers
and towns where they have organizations.” Through these means the law—passed 30 years after thedecleration of the Turkish Republic—made possible the creation of a police organization that deals
exclusively in traffic. The law assigned all additional duties to General Directorate of Highways andGeneral Directorate of Security. It also established the City Traffic Commissions for making decisions
about traffic order in cities. Furthermore, it gave extra obligations to municipalities in order to arrange
traffic and construct infrastructure of roads in municipal borders. Before the Road Traffic Act of 1953,
only the municipal police was responsible for the arrangement of traffic, and there was no central
organization for traffic control. The new act, however, cancelled the clauses that were relevant to roadtraffic in the Municipalities Act (Act number: 1580) and assigned the main responsibility ofcontrolling the traffic order was given to the General Directorate of Security.
The Road Traffic Act of 1953 stressed the following three main points:•

Penalties related to traffic offences will be given by the courts of justice,121

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)•Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

The arrangement and control of traffic will be implemented by the traffic police officers who havemotorized vehicles,•

Making vehicle inspections and controls, and ensuring traffic safety equipments are theresposibilities of General Directorate of Highways.

With the act number 6547, dated May 2, 1955—Turkey became member of the Road Traffic
Agreement that was signed in Geneva, Switzerland on September 19, 1949.
The General Directorate of Security Traffic Organization was established with the passing of Act 6376
on March 20, 1954. The Technical Commitee of Roads was founded with the passing of Act 6387 on
March 21, 1954. And the Traffic Courts were established with the passing of Act 6406.
Subsequently, due to budget problems the Turkish government was not able to apply the Road Traffic
Act throughout the whole of the country. The government had been commissioned to enforce the law
gradually over a period of 4 years, with the goal of eventually assuming full enforcement
responsibility. In the first year, the act applied only to Istanbul and Ankara. Some of other big cities
joined in 1955, such as Bursa, Adana, Izmir and Aydın. In 1956, the act was expanded to apply tothirteen other cities. The remaining 48 cities were included in 1957. Finally, in March, 1958 thegovernment completed the establishment of traffic organizations and applied the Road Traffic Act toall regions of Turkey.

122

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Table 2 Number of Road Motor Vehicles by Type (1950-1980) [8]
Bus

Truck

Light
Commercial
vehicle*Minibus,
Van*

Motorcycle

Year

Car

1950

13,405

3,755

15,404

-

-

2,661

1951

16,427

4,569

18,356

-

-

3,464

1952

23,9385,510

24,722

-

-

4,528

1953

27,692

5,933

27,549

-

-

6,587

1954

28,5996,671

30,250

-

-

8,345

1955

29,9706,848

34,429

-

-

9,510

1956

33,377

7,914

35,070

-

-

1,135

1957

36,755

8,291

36,919

-

-

9,743

1958

34,244

8,065

39,721

-

-

7,329

1959

37,616

8,881

48,094

-

-

8,215

1960

45,767

1,981

57,460

-

-

9,380

1961

52,381

1,956

64,706--

11,076

1962

60,731

1,437

73,323--

12,816

1963

72,034

1,269

80,695--

15,055

1964

79,44920,41275,379--20,575

1965

87,584

22,16979,121--

26,094

1966

91,46912,04147,931

31,462

10,91332,0991967

11,367

13,332

56,88939,927

16,00839,647

1968

12,375

13,94862,61643,441

18,96747,062

1969

13,345

15,52969,47848,655

20,54052,9591970

13,771

15,98070,73052,152

20,91660,994

1971

15,67617,14073,43357,011

22,38068,417

1972

18,272

18,50478,92062,79625,55974,402

1973

24,36020,01186,78071,04330,05580,8601974

31,16021,40495,30981,02534,12286,028

1975

40,54623,763

108,381

98,57940,62391,421

1976

48,89425,388122,176

116,861

46,066

96,984

1977

560,424

27,096

138,093

134,213

51,999102,127

1978

624,438

28,559146,551

144,695

56,836

109,890

1979

688,687

30,634

157,095

155,278

61,596

120,378

1980

742,252

32,783

164,893

165,82164,707

137,931*Since the number of small trucks, vans and minibuses (Light Commercial Vehicles) are treated together withthose of trucks and buses until the year 1966, these items could not be given separetely in the table.

123

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Table 3 National Population (1950-1980)[8]

Year
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980

Population In Census Years
20,947,188

24,064,763

27,754,820

31,391,421

35,605,176

40,347,719

44,736,957

Mid-Year Population Estimate
20,807,000
21,351,000
21,951,000
22,569,000
23,204,000
23,857,000
24,540,000
25,250,000
25,981,000
26,733,000
27,506,000
28,227,000
28,931,000
29,652,000
30,391,000
31,149,000
31,936,000
32,750,000
33,586,000
34,443,000
35,321,000
36,215,000
37,132,000
38,073,000
39,037,000
40,026,000
40,916,000
41,769,000
42,641,000
43,531,000
44,439,000*Annual intercental increase between two concecutive cencuses are calculated by formula Pn=Po er.n**Mid-year population is calculated by the annual population increase rate as of 1st of July
Where;
Pn : Population at n date (at the initial period),
Pn+t : Population at n+t date (t years later ),e : Logarithm,r : Annual growth rate of population,t : The time period between two dates (in years).

124

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Table 4 Number of Accidents, Fatalities and Injuries on Roads in Turkey from 1955-1980 [8]Year

Accidents

Fatalities

Injuries

1955

7,493

1,247

8,673

1956

7,397

1,083

7,370

1957

7,816

1,329

8,157

1958

6,856

1,206

6,636

1959

7,542

1,320

7,441

1960

8,136

1,590

7,729

1961

10,3091,861

10,325

1962

11,7702,086

11,691

1963

12,6192,422

12,001

1964

14,043

2,526

13,273

1965

14,8052,564

13,654

1966

16,2183,134

15,138

1967

16,763

3,364

15,211

1968

19,973

3,747

16,896

1969

20,0093,772

17,233

1970

19,207

3,97816,838

1971

26,783

4,149

19,271

1972

29,891

4,282

21,423

1973

35,254

5,116

24,392

1974

40,674

4,699

25,065

1975

46,643

6,054

30,864

1976

50,475

5,389

30,207

1977

56,467

6,983

33,144

1978

51,853

5,417

30,407

1979

41,481

4,368

25,332

1980

36,9604,100

23,816125

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Table 5 Annual Traffic Accident Injuries and Fatalities by Mode of Transport (1955-1960) [9]1955Type of Vehicle

Fatalities

1956
Injuries

Fatalities

1957
Injuries

Fatalities

Injuries

Motorcycle

26

381

17

338

20

282

Automobile

144

2,035

141

1,976

113

1,902

Bus

155

1,416

128

1,268

172

1,142

Truck

655

3,214

565

2,565

722

2,860

Small Truck

68

609

40

389

61

507

Minumus1958
Type of Vehicle

Fatalities

1959
Injuries

Fatalities

1960
Injuries

Fatalities

Injuries

Motorcycle

23

255

19

298

14

274

Automobile

141

1,601

157

1,908

188

1,794

Bus

137

1,147

175

1,390

239

1,383

Truck

656

2,233

713

2,714

800

2,888

Small Truck

72

554

69

542

119

886

MinibusAs seen in Table 2, vehicle ownership numbers increased four times between 1950 and 1960. This wasa result of (1) newly added motorways and (2) changes in transportation policies that caused adecrease in railroad use. Because the road network was used primarily for freight transport, trucks
numbered more than any other vehicle type. However, Table 4 shows that there was nearly no changes
in the number of road accidents, fatalities and injuries during these years. This indicates that newly
adopted traffic regulations and traffic police were efficient in keeping accident numbers approximately
the same. Considering vehicle properties and safety criteria in the automotive sector at that time, theincrease in the length of asphalt roads can be another reason for the similar numbers.
At first, Turkey experienced many problems in implementation the Road Traffic Act of 1953. Afterthe start of its country-wide implementation in 1958, each traffic organization sustained its own
development. The traffic system was improved in terms of vehicle registrations, driver’s licenses,
traffic signals, vehicle inspection stations, traffic police, tickets, insurances and vehicle taxes. The newtraffic system was first becoming similar to the system of develped countries in terms of bothorganizational and regulational aspects. However, the coordination between different trafficorganizations was not developing as expected, and this led to many problems. Hence, the issue oftraffic safety remained inefficient.
In 1961, Road Traffic Act was replaced by a new act—Act 232 which was designed to handle thedifficulties in applying the traffic law. With this change, police became authorized to issue tickets forcertain traffic violations. Furthermore, judicial responsibility for traffic offences was taken form

126

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

drivers and given to the vehicle owners. Tractors now had to be registered, and the tractor drivers were
obliged to acquire a driver’s license.
In 1964 and 1967, two changes were added to the Road Traffic Act based on Acts 471 and 866.
Despite all these improvements, however, the problems related to the application of the act continued
to persist. The act was not sufficient to handle the expansion of road network, or to respond to theincreasing number of vehicle and road accidents. The act also proved ineffective in improving
coodination between the various traffic organizations. Between 1960 and 1980, the number of
automobiles increased from 46,000 to 742,000. And the rate of increase in the number of motocycles
was even greater. The number of fatalities was nearly 1,900 in the year 1960, and this number
gradually increased up to 7,000 in 1977.
The lack of a comprehensive traffic safety plan and proper consideration of traffic safety resulted in alarge increase in the number of road accidents. Improvements in geometrical and technical standardsof roads in 1970s could not compensate the rapid increase in the number of vehicle ownership. In
addition, speed limits were the same as the European countries but the geometry and superstructure ofroads were not suitable for those limits.

6. Transportation Policies (1980-2010)
The share of transportation investments in the total public investments was 20.5% in 1983 and it
gradually increased to 32.3% in 1988. This made up the largest portion of public investments. In 1988,
the transportation sector made up 9.1% of gross domestic product. At the 2nd Izmir Economy
Congress, representative of State Planning Organization

M. Barutçu, summarized the state’s

transportation policy as follows:“…In the field of transportation sector we must aim for (1) the lowest-cost transportation services, (2)fast transportation services,(3) safe transportation services,(4) the permenant improvement andcutting edge technology compatible with transportation services, (5) efficient, comfortable andsuitable transportation services. To reach these objectives, we will prepare the “Master Plan ofTransportation.” The way to have a consistent and progressive transportation policy is to havecomprehensive and reliable data and policies. We can only do this by preparing master plans forevery economic sector” [6].
During this period, Turkey put together the “1983-1993 Transportation Master Plan,” the goal ofwhich was obtaining a healty transportation structure. With regard to the question of how to enhance
the road system, they placed their main emphasis on “the improvement of life- and property-safety inareas of transportation.” The plan targeted a decrease in freight- and passanger-transportation ratio on
roads in order to effect a structural change in the transportation system. The table below illustrates the127Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

targeted distributions of passenger and freight transport with respect to transportation types in 1980
and 1993.
Table 6 Distribution Targets of Passenger and Freight Transport
by Type of Transportation (1980-1993) [4]Type ofTransportation

Passenger Transport% 1980% 1993

Maritime
Rail
Road

1.18
4.12
93.96

1.08
4.08
94.06

Air

0.74

0.82

Freight Transport% 1980% 1993
15.87
32.16
10.41
27.45
72.26
36.06
0.1

0.2

As seen from Table 6, they envisaged no major change in passenger transport, and instead attempted
to transfer the freight transport load to maritime and rail transportation in order to achieve a balance
between the transportation types. They intended to revise the plan every three years. However, looking
at the final distribution figures, they were ultimately unable to meet their targets. This might show thatthe master plan was not implemented successfully.
The total length of railroads was 8,397 km in 1980, and it was only increased by 210 km when it
reached 8,607 km in 1997. The present railroad network is still not convenient for fast transportation,and the network is at the end of its economic life. Due to these facts, it is clear that the railroadtransportation is far behind the road transportation.
Table 7 The Distribution of Passenger and Freight Transport by Transportation Types [4]
Year
1960
1970
1980
1990
1997

Road
Passenger
37.8
60.9
73.5
81
92.6

Freight
72.9
91.4
94.8
94.6
94.8

Rail
Passenger
47.7
21.2
10.1
10
7.2

Freight
24.3
7.6
4.5
4.5
3.6

With regard to city roads, subway projects were implemented in big cities such as Ankara and Istanbul
for the purpose of decreasing the traffic loads on roads. However, public transportation projects suchas the Kızılay-Batıkent Subway in Ankara and the Aksaray-Yeniköy Subway in İstanbul were noteffectively meeting the needs of the population growth and, therefore, only the number of subway
users increased to problematic levels. The consequences of having an insufficient public transportation
system pushed people to buy private vehicles. This resulted in a rapid increase in the number of car
ownership and in traffic volumes on the city roads. Traffic congestion and increasing travel times alsobrougth about considerable energy losts [4].

128Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Significantly, in 1980s and 1990s authorities began to acknowledge the importance to freeway
constructions. In 1999, the General Directorate of Highways owned 62,611 km of state roads andprovince roads, and 1,726 km of long freeways. Freeways in Ankara-Istanbul-Edirne, Aydın-Izmir,and Adana-Gaziantep were completed during this period [4].

7. Traffic Safety Policies and Traffic Regulations (1980-2010)
In 1981, Ministry of Internal Affairs started preparing a law draft of a new Road Traffic Act thatwould respond to the necessities of Turkey and be in accordance with other international laws. In
preparation of this law, the ministry made use of the regulations of foreign countries regarding
technical topics and common provisions. After a substantial study of the draft, it was passed into law
on October 13, 1983 under the name Road Traffic Act 2918. The authorities decided that some of theclauses would be activated after 20 months, so the full effectuation of policies of the law was on June
18, 1985.
With the passing of this law, a new organizing period was initiated in order to begin its
implementation. According to the 5th clause of the law, traffic organizations was established in centers,
regions, cities and counties. Furthermore, the law authorised traffic police the use of scientificmethods for evaluating traffic accidents. Another feature of this law was that it sent a message thatanyone who commits a traffic crime risks getting caught, thus increasing the perceived presence ofstate authority over the roads.
In addition, the law also gave the various ministries of public works, health, national education,transportation, agriculture and forestry the authorizations, duties and responsibilities of making roads
safer and improving technical services such as infrastructure services.
The main subjects that the Road Traffic Act (1983) stressed were listed as follows:•

The redetermination of authorities, duties and responsibilities of relevant organizations related tothe evaluation of traffic rules, human errors, vehicles and roads.

•

The establishment of traffic schools to educate driver candidates.

•

Embedding mandatory traffic courses in the curriculum of the primary schools and high schools.

•

Putting emphasis on the safety of students in traffic.

•

Authorization of traffic police to take the minutes according to the license plates of the vehicles
when the driver of the vehicle cannot be identified.

•

Improving the standards of vehicle inspections with more scientific methods.

•

Determining penalty points for every traffic crime. (It was decided that when a driver exceeds 100
penalty points, his driver’s license would be suspended for two months. )129

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

7.1 Main Arrangements in the Road Traffic Act (1983)(1) Alcohol Levels
It is stated both in the Road Traffic Act and the Road Traffic Regulation that drunk driving is to be
regarded as a traffic offence.
The prohibition of driving while under the influence of alcohol (measured by the amount in the blood)
falls under two cases:•

Public servants, taxi and jitney drivers, as well as drivers of minibuses, busses, trucks, carriers thattransport passengers and cargo are not allowed to drive with any quantity of alcohol in the blood.

•

All drivers other than those stated above cannot drive if the alcohol quantity in their blood exceeds
0.5 promils.

If a drunk driver is involved in a traffic accident, the alcohol quantity in his blood is determined andrecorded in the accident minutes by the police. If it is the driver’s first drunk driving offence, his
driver’s license will be confiscated for six months. If it is his/her second offence, it will be confiscatedfor two years. For third-time offenders, the period of suspension is five years. In addition, the driver
has to comply with the requirements such as tickets and mandatory traffic trainings. Psychiatrictreatment is required if it is the third traffic accident caused by drunk driving. In the cases of accidents
involving fatalities and injuries, they will be recorded as serious faults in their accident minutes.
The use of drugs or other pleasure-inducing substances is illegal in Turkey [5]. In addition to thepenalties given for the drug usage, if the police detect that a driver used drugs, the driver will be
subject to a minimum penalty of a six-months prison sentence, a nominal fine, and an indefinite
confiscation of the driver’s license.
(2) Speed Limits
The Road Traffic Act contains three clauses that concern speed limits on roads. Unless special
arrangements are stated, the speed limit on state roads and province roads is 90km/h. On freeways andin residential areas, the speed limits are 120km/h and 50km/h, respectively.

130

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Table 8 Speed Limits on Turkish Roads [10]Type of Vehicle

Residential areas

Automobile
Bus
Minibus, Truck,
Small Truck

50
50

Outside residential
areas
90
80

50

80

90

Motorcycle and Jeep

50

70

80

Vehicle Carrying
Hazardous Substances

30

50

60

Bicycle3050-

Tractor andHeavy Equipment

20

20

-

Freeways
120
100Special Cases on Speed Limits:•

If there is no force majeure, minimum speed limits are 15km/h on intercity roads and 40km/h
on freeways.

•

Vehicles carrying hazardous substances can move between the speed limits of their vehicle
types if they are unloaded.

•

The speed limit of truck trailers and wreckers is 15km/h when they are pulling vehicles thathave brake failures.

•

Ministry of Internal Affairs can increase the speed limits of automobiles on freeways by
20km/h by taking the view of Ministry of Public Works.

•

The penalty of exceeding the speed limits by an excess of between 10% and 30% was $74(140 Turkish Liras); for exceeding the speed limits by more than 30%, the fine was $153 (290TL) in 2010. If a driver exceeds the speed limits by 30% five times within a year, his/herdriver’s license will be suspended for one year.

(3) Seat Belt Usage and Security Systems
According to the Road Traffic Act, “certain drivers and passengers must use security systems on theroads.” The arrangements on the security systems are set out in the Road Traffic Regulation.
•

The drivers and passengers of motorcycles and motorized bicycles are required to wear helmets;
and the drivers of these vehicles are required to wear safety glasses.

•

Drivers and front-seat passengers of automobiles, buses, minibuses, trucks and small trucks are
required to wear seat belts. In 1995, a change in traffic regulation made it obligatory to installback-seat passenger seat belts for vehicles imported or produced in Turkey.

•

Sitting on the front seats of vehicles is forbidden for children under ten years old.

(4) Space Cushions
The Road Traffic Regulation determined “space cushions” as follows:131Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)•Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Drivers must not drive too close to the vehicle immediately in front of them. The distance should
be at least half of their vehicle speed in km/h in terms of meters.

•

The “space cushion” should be equal to the distance that the trailing vehicle moves in two seconds.

•

The vehicles carrying hazardous substances have to maintain at least a 50m distance when
following another vehicle.

•

The drivers of the vehicles moving in a convoy should remain far enough away from the next car
to allow for passing vehicle to enter.

8. Road Traffic Accidents in Turkey (1980-2010)
Although the transportation sector offers alternative modes such as maritime, railway and airline, thechief mode of transportation in Turkey is road transportation (Table 6). The dominant role of roadtransport in passenger and cargo transportation and the low safety level of traffic environment (which
is not adequate to the road-dominated transportation system) cause a high frequency of traffic
accidents. Some of the main reasons behind these traffic accidents can be listed as following: the rapid
increase in the number of motorized vehicles, an insufficient road system, inadequate road safety
policies, reckless driving, and inadequate emergency services. Traffic accidents result in deaths,
injuries,disabled persons and enormous economical losses.

132

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Table 9 Number of Vehicles by Type (1980-2010) [8]

Year
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009

Car

Bus

Truck

Light
Commercial
vehicleMinibus,
Van

Motorcycle

776,432

33,839172,372

172,269

66,514

160,557

811,465

35,432

180,772

178,762

69,598

182,795

856,350

38,478190,277

186,427

73,585

217,327

919,577

43,638

197,721

198,106

80,697

256,338

983,444

47,119205,496

212,505

87,951

289,052

1,087,234

50,798217,111

224,755

97,917327,326

1,193,021

53,554

225,872

233,480

106,314369,894

1,310,257

56,172

234,166

240,718

112,885

420,889

1,434,830

58,859241,392

248,567

118,026

472,853

1,649,879

63,700257,353

263,407125,399

531,941

1,864,344

68,973

273,409280,891

133,632

590,488

2,181,388

75,592

287,160

308,180

145,312655,347

2,619,852

84,254

305,511354,290

159,900

743,320

2,861,640

87,545

313,771374,473

166,424

788,786

3,058,511

90,197

321,421397,743

173,051

819,9223,274,156

94,978333,269

442,788

182,694

854,150

3,570,105

101,896353,586

529,838

197,057

905,121

3,838,288

108,361

371,163

626,004

211,495

940,935

4,072,326

112,186

378,967

692,935

221,683

975,746

4,422,180

118,454394,283

794,459

235,885

1,011,284

4,534,803

119,306

396,493

833,175

239,381

1,031,221

4,600,140

120,097

399,025875,381

241,700

1,046,907

4,700,343

123,500

405,034

973,457

245,394

1,073,415

5,400,440

152,712

647,420

1,259,867

318,954

1,218,677

5,772,745

163,390

676,929

1,475,057

338,539

1,441,066

6,140,992

175,949

709,535

1,695,624

357,523

1,822,831

6,472,156

198,128

729,202

1,890,459

372,601

2,003,492

6,796,629

199,934

744,217

2,066,007

383,548

2,181,383

7,093,964

201,033

727,3022,204,951

384,053

2,303,261

133

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Year
1981

Table 10 Road Accidents, Fatalities and Injuries (1980-2010) [8]
Number of
Number of
Fatalities
Population
Driver’s
Accidents
Licenses
45,540,000
40,023
4,327

Injuries
27,711

1982

46,688,000

46,264

4,832

35,4891983

47,864,000

55,256

5,200

43,888

1984

49,070,000

60,705

5,684

49,234

1985

50,306,000

63,473

5,477

49,058

1986

51,433,000

92,468

7,278

71,445

1987

52,561,000

110,207

7,661

80,456

1988

53,715,000

107,651

6,848

79,243

1989

54,893,000

103,758

6,352

79,928

1990

56,098,000

115,295

6,317

87,668

1991

57,064,000

142,145

6,231

90,5201992

57,931,000

171,741

6,214

94,824

1993

58,812,000

208,823

6,457

104,330

1994

59,706,000

233,803

5,942

104,717

1995

60,614,000

279,663

6,004

114,319

1996

61,536,000

344,6435,428

104,599

1997

62,510,000

387,533

5,125

106,246

1998

63,451,000

440,149

4,935

114,552

1999

64,385,000

465,915

5,713

125,158

2000

65,311,000

500,664

5,510

136,751

2001

66,229,000

14,491,332

442,960

4,386

116,203

2002

67,140,000

14,994,960

439,777

4,093

116,412

2003

68,043,000

15,488,493

455,637

3,946

118,214

2004

68,938,000

16,151,623

537,352

4,427

136,437

2005

69,825,000

16,958,895

620,789

4,505

154,086

2006

70,703,000

17,586,179

728,755

4,633

169,0802007

70,586,256

18,422,958

528,561

5,007

189,057

2008

71,517,100

19,377,790

950,120

4,236

184,468

2009

72,561,312

20,460,739

1,053,346

4,324

201,380

2010

73,722,988

21,548,381

1,106,201

4,045

211,496

Table 10 shows the trends in the number of accidents, fatalities and injuries that occurred on roads in
Turkey between 1981 and 2010. The number of accidents has continued to increase each year,
culminating in 1,000,000 accidents in 2009. This increasing trend can be attributed to the rapid
increase in population and the high number of vehicles on the road in the last decade. Table 10 showsthat the number of persons killed in road accidents have been decreasing since 1988 and 1989, eventhough the numbers of accidents and persons injured have been increasing after a local decrease in1988 and 1989. This trend deviation is attributable to the construction of freeways and safer roadinfrastructures.

134

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Table 11 Annual Traffic Accident Injuries and Fatalities
by Mode of Transport (1990-1999) [11]Type of Vehicle

1990

1991

1992

Motorcycle
Automobile
Bus
Minibus
Truck

Fatalities
436
2,020
337
187
420

Injuries
8,747
33,034
5,357
5,455
4,758

Fatalities
468
2,184
324
230
368

Injuries.
9,525
35,327
5,600
5,728
5,326

Fatalities
507
2,115
529
241
445

Injuries
11,29137,671
5,986
5,969
5,538

Small Truck

104

2,960

144

3,080

104

3,177

Type of Vehicle
Motorcycle
Automobile
Bus
Minibus
Truck
Small Truck

Type of Vehicle
Motorcycle
Automobile
Bus
Minibus
Truck
Small Truck

Type of Vehicle
Motorcycle
Automobile
Bus
Minibus
Truck
Small Truck

1993
Fatalities
556
2,398
447
272
386
146

1994
Injuries
12,69744,570
6,024
6,278
5,559
3,906

1996
Fatalities
Injuries
139
4,074
1,568
22,785
389
2,996
113
2,725
302
4,424
127
2,474

Fatalities
405
2,379
316
205
430
152

1995
Injuries
10,40647,854
5,318
5,760
5,776
4,139

1997
Fatalities
Injuries
172
5,867
2,520
58,880
544
7,381
270
7,457
921
1,110
316
9,265

Fatalities
356
2,505
293
232
530
149

Injuries
10,70252,609
5,715
5,812
6,959
4,787

1998
Fatalities
Injuries327
12,191
3,342
9,3414720
12,277414
12,423
1,908
21,549602
17,585

1999
Fatalities
Injuries
141
7,778
1,208
40,876
191
3,168
135
3,810
514
5,995
272
8,952

In order to provide a safe traffic environment, various organizations responsible for traffic issues havemade considerable effort, and the media has offered its support in raising safety awareness among
drivers, pedestrians, passengers and institutions.
In December 2001, the Turkish government established the “National Traffic Safety Program for
Turkey“ to diminish the magnitude of the problem caused by traffic accidents. The objectives of thisprogram were as follows•

To increase enforcement on traffic safety with rules, legislations and regulations.

135

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir•To minimize losses and damages caused by traffic accidents.

•

To improve efficiency of transport infrastructure safety.

•

To raise road users’ awareness of and willingness to comply with the law.

•

To decrease traffic volume on roads by improving other alternative transportation
systems.

This safety program covered the period from 2002 to 2011, and established several mid-term and longterm strategies. The objectives of the mid-term strategies (2002-2006) were to reduce the number ofroad traffic fatalities by 20%, the number of accidents involving unprotected road users by 20%(passengers and cyclists), and the number of accidents involving children aged between 0-14 years by
25%. The long-term strategy has aimed to reduce road traffic fatalities by 40%, the number ofaccidents involving unprotected road users by 40%, and the number of accidents involving children
aged between 0-14 years by 50% [13].
Consequently, in recent years there has been a marked decline in traffic acciden; however, traffic
accidents still remain one of the most serious problems in Turkey.While the number of fatalities has
decreased, the number of injuries has continued to rise in past years. The above-mentioned
improvements have helped to decrease the severity of accidents, yet they have not yet eliminatedinjury risk. It seems that there is still a large potential for improving road safety in Turkey. To achievethis, it is necessary to understand the causes of the accidents and to adopt a methodical approach tofind remedial actions.
There are three categories of factors affecting accident occurrences: road environment, vehicles, androad users. These factors have a combined role in causing accidents, and it is necessary to evaluate all
three to understand the nature of accidents.
Table 12 Fault Distribution in Police Reports for the Road Traffic Accidents in Turkey [12]Accident Fault Distribution (%)
Year
DriverRoad
Vehicle Pedestrian Passenger
2000
96.06
0.77
0.52
2.40
0.25
2001
96.56
0.43
0.38
2.32
0.31
2002
96.82
0.25
0.31
2.39
0.23
2003
97.03
0.22
0.27
2.32
0.16
2004
97.30
0.19
0.22
2.18
0.11
2005
97.39
0.22
0.25
2.03
0.11
2006
98.07
0.13
0.10
1.61
0.09
2007
98.03
0.11
0.14
1.63
0.09
2008*
90.53
0.42
0.26
8.36
0.43
2009*
89.60
0.61
0.29
9.09
0.41
Average
95.74
0.34
0.27
3.43
0.22
* For fatal and injury accidents only

Table 12 shows the fault distributions (according to the police reports) for traffic accidents that
occurred between 2000 and 2009 in Turkey. According to this data, drivers are responsible for136

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

95.74% of all accidents, while the road environment and the vehicles are only responsible for 0.34%
and 0.27%, respectively. However, the problem is that the majority of the police officers do not havethe necessary education about highway design to come up with a sound judgment about the roaddeficiencies that lead to an accident. Moreover, current accident data forms include a detailed list ofdriver faults to help the officer decide, while there is little space on the form for road deficiencies.
(This is partly because the possible design problems that can cause an accident are innumerable.)Given the current state of the forms, it is much easier to blame drivers rather than conduct a thoroughinvestigation of road deficiencies. Hence, it is understandable that the police officers cite drivers as thesole cause for the majority of the accidents.
Unfortunately, however, merely faulting drivers as the primary cause of accidents will not lead to a
reduction in accidents. It should be taken into account that faulty road design is often the cause ofhuman error. The road environment and the vehicles must be designed, built and maintained to informthe road users in a way that minimize the possibility of human error. A well-designed road should
allow road users to accurately perceive the demands of the road environment and prevent crashes fromoccurring in the first place. If there is a failure in the road user’s ability to accurately perceive thisdemand, then the roadway should be “forgiving,” i.e. it should enable the road user to recover andcontinue, thereby changing the outcome of the event or minimizing the severity of the accident.
Roadsides designed according to these principles are called “forgiving roadsides” [14].
“Roadside design” is the design of the area between the outside shoulder edge and the right-of-way
limits. Considering the limited amount of infrastructure funds, one may question whether spending
resources on materials other than pavement is beneficial. Yet statistics show how important roadsidesafety in the reduction of accident severity [15].
Table 13 shows the number of accidents involving fatality and injuries by the accident types, as
occurred in 2009.

137

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Table 13 Number of Accidents in Turkey Involving Fatalities and Injuries
by Accident Type (2009) [12]Accidents Involving Accidents Involving
Fatality
InjuryType of Accident

1) Front collision
2) Rear-end collision
3) Side collision
4) Collision with stationary
vehicle5) Collision with fixed object
6) Hitting pedestrian7) Hitting animal8) Overturning9) Running off the road10) Passengers dropped from thevehicle11) Supplies dropped from thevehicleTotal(5+8+9) Roadside Accidents

NumberofAccidents
333
210
316

NumberofAccidents
14.33
5,556
9.04
9,564
13.60
28,540%

Total

NumberofAccidents
6.21
5,889
10.70
9,774
31.92
28,856

%

%
6.42
10.66
31.46

61
207
530
5
217
427

2.63
8.91
22.82
0.22
9.34
18.38

2,350
8,684
16,148312
6,798
11,090

2.63
9.71
18.06
0.35
7.60
12.40

2,411
8,891
16,678317
7,015
11,517

2.63
9.69
18.18
0.35
7.65
12.56

16

0.69

316

0.35

332

0.36

1
2,323
851

0.04
100
36.63

48
89,406
26,572

0.05
100
29.72

49
91,72927,423

0.05
100
29.90

Among the given eleven types of accidents in Table 13, three are associated with roadside safety. The
majority of accidents involving fixed object collisions, overturning and running off the road occur at
the roadside. According to the table, 29.9% of accidents involving fatlity and injury happen at theroadside. In other words, one in every three serious accidents ends up at the roadside. The table also
shows that 36.63% and 29.72% of the roadside accidents end up with fatality and injury, respectively.
These figures become even more striking when the data is categorized by the accident location, as it isdone in Table 14. The table shows that, in rural areas 60.57% of all the fatal and injury accidents areroadside accidents. Hence, for the rural roads, designing a safe roadside becomes much more
important than designing the road itself.

138

Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)

Table 14 Number of Accidents in Turkey Involving Fatalities and Injuries by Accident Location and theAccident Type (2009) [12]RuralType of Accident

1) Front collision
2) Rear-end collision
3) Side collision
4) Collision with stationary vehicle5) Collision with fixed object
6) Hitting pedestrian7) Hitting animal8) Overturning9) Running off the road10) Passengers dropped from thevehicle11) Supplies dropped from the vehicle
Total(5+8+9) Roadside Accidents

NumberofAccidents
1,192
2,789
3,194
330
2,246
813
180
3,402
7,508
41
24
21,71913,156

Urban

5.49
12.84
14.71
1.52
10.34
3.74
0.83
15.66
34.57

NumberofAccidents
4,697
6,985
25,662
2,081
6,645
15,865
137
3,613
4,009

0.19
0,.11
100
60.57

291
25
70,01014,267

%

Total

6.71
9.98
36.65
2.97
9.49
22.66
0.20
5.16
5.73

NumberofAccidents
5,889
9,774
28,856
2,411
8,891
16,678317
7,015
11,517

6.42
10.66
31.46
2.63
9.69
18.18
0.35
7.65
12.56

0.42
0.04
100
20.38

332
49
91,72927,423

0.36
0.05
100
29.90

%

%

In Table 15, serious accidents in Turkey (2009) by the number of vehicles involved are presented.
The table shows that 47.55% of all serious accidents are single vehicle only. This value supports thepreviously stated assumption that the majority of fixed object collisions, overturning and running off
the road accidents happen at the roadside. Due to the nature of them, single vehicle accidents can only
end up with a roadside, pedestrian or animal collision. Subtracting the hitting pedestrian (18.18%)
and hitting animal (0.35%) accident ratios from the single vehicle only (47.55% ) accident ratio
gives 29,02% which is very close to the assumed roadside accident ratio of 29.9%. Therefore, it canbe said that that approximately 30% of all the serious accidents are single vehicle, running off the roadtype accidents. Roadside areas are often unsafe, with steep and high side slopes, stone or concrete
lined ditches, rock cuttings and hazardous objects (e.g., poles and trees) close to the roadway.
Guardrails are often missing. In many medians there are dangerous columns and no guardrails.
Deformable and energy absorbing supports are not used.

139

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Table 15 Serious Accidents in Turkey by the Number of Vehicles Involved (2009) [12]Accidents Involving Accidents Involving
Total
Number of
Death
InjuryVehiclesNumber of
Number of
Number of
Involved%%%
Accidents
Accidents
Accidents
Single Vehicle
Two Vehicles
Multiple Vehicles
Total

1,347 57.99
837 36.03
139 5.98
2,323 100

42,266 47.27
41,839 46.80
5,301 5.93
89,406 100

43,613 47.55
42,676 46.52
5,440 5.93
91,729 100

It was suggested in the Road Improvement and Traffic Safety Project (Sweroad 2001) that roadsidedesign principles should be reconsidered and a new design code should be prepared. General
Directorate of Highways (KGM) prepared a new road design code that was mainly based on AASHTO(American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) manual of the US. Before the
new code, roadsides were designed and constructed according to the road design regulation preparedin 1965 and revised in 1997 [13]. The old code had insufficient emphasis on the roadside safety. Since
2002, Turkish roads have been designed according to the new code, and roadside improvements havebeen carried out by KGM.

9. Organizations Relevant to Traffic Safety in Turkey
Although different ministries and organizations share the responsibilities, in the present situation themain actors on the national level are:•

The General Directorate of Security, under the Ministry of Internal Affairs,•

The General Directorate of Highways under the Ministry of Public Works,•

81 Municipilities. Although there are some unions of municipilities, they are not acting as
representative bodies in the traffic safety area.

There are several voluntary organizations, but they are not represented by one single organization.
Some of them have the right to attend coordination councils.
The Ministry of Transportation has a very minor role in highway transportation and traffic safety.
Railway transportation is governed by the Ministry of Transportation, and it is also responsible forregulation of the transportation sector.
Turley has attempted to establish cooperation on a national scale through two safety councils
described below. On a provincial base, the province and town (sub-province) traffic commissions

140

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emirobtain coordination with one another. These councils and commissions have the rights to make traffic
regulation decisions.
The State Planning Organization, which is directly subordinated to the Prime Ministry, evaluates planand budget proposals. There are no mid- and long-term plans. There are short-term plans fortransportaion sectors. There is also a lack of plans for traffic safety.
The main roles and responsibilities of different ministries/organizations are summarized as follows.
(1) Ministry of Internal Affairs - General Directorate of Security and General Commandershipof Gendarmerie•

Law enforcement (traffic control and monitoring),•

Registration of the vehicles and issuing driving licenses,•

Taking necessary actions after traffic accidents in order to secure a safe area for other road users,
as well as reporting accidents,•

Reporting statistics about vehicle registrations, driving licenses and accidents,•

Public information.

(2) Ministry of Public Works - General Directorate of Highways•

Physical arrangements and signing for a safe road transportation,•

Decisions on the standards of signs ,•Roadside facilities (gasoline stations, accesses, lighting, etc.),•

Periodic vehicle inspections,•

Stationary and mobile weight controls.

(3) Ministry of National Education•

Regulation of driving license schools and performing tests (including issuing certificates).

•

Pre-school, primary school and high school as well as public traffic education and training(including coordination with other agencies).

•

Public information.

141

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

(4) Ministry of Health•Regulation and implementation and follow-up of first aid and emergency services, as well as
medical care and rehabilitation.

(5) Ministry of Industry and Commerce•

Vehicle type approvals.

(6) Ministry of Transportation•

Coordination of transportation by issuing regulations in the transportation sector.

(7) Ministry of Forestry•

Traffic regulation for forest roads.

(8) Ministry of State - General Directorate of Village Affairs•

Traffic regulations for village roads.

(9) Ministry of Justice•

Giving necessary help in revising the law.

(10) Municipalities•

Physical implementation and regulation of traffic safety measures on municipality roads.

10. Coordination(1) Supreme Highway Traffic Safety Council
Head: The Prime Minister.
Participants: Ministers of the following Ministries: Justice, Interior, Finance, National Education,
Public Works, Health, Transportation, Forestry, State (which holds General Directorate of Village
Affairs). Head Commander of Gendarmerie, Under Secretary of State Planning Organization, General
Directors of General Directorate of Security and General Directorate of Highways.
Meetings: Twice a year
Tasks and responsibilities: The issues are prepared by Traffic Services Department (General
Directorate of Security), approved by the Highway Traffic Safety Council, and later discussed in theHigh Council. The decisions (proposals) are followed and precautions for the coordination are takenby the Council in its implementation areas. Secretarial work of the Council is given by General142

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Directorate of Security. Guidelines related to Council´s work are arranged by regulations prepared by
the Cabinet.

(2) Highway Traffic Safety Council
Head: The Director of the Traffic Services Department in General Directorate of Security.
Participants: Related Heads of Departments of the Ministries and Organizations stated above.
Representatives from:
Commandership of Gendarmerie, State Standardization Institution, Turkish Drivers and Automobiles
Association, Universities, Chamber of Engineers and Architects, Prevention of Traffic Accidents
Foundation, Aid for Traffic Accidents Foundation, Metropolitan Municipality of Ankara.
Meetings: Every monthTasks and responsibilities: Giving proposals to achieve coordination and to reduce accidents.
Finding deficiencies in the applications and the legislative deficiencies in traffic safety area.

(3) Municipal traffic units
UKOME (Transportation Coordination Centre)
Head: Mayor (Head of greater municipality).
Participants: General Directors or Directors of Municipal transportation/traffic units. General
Directors or Regional Directors of Organizations related with transportation/traffic.
Mayors of towns within the province border. The number of municipal representatives must notexceed the number of participants from other organizations.
Tasks and responsibilities:•

Follow and monitor fulfilment of the tasks given tomunicipalities by the traffic law and other tasks
related to urban transportation by the municipality law.

•

Monitor competition and balance among different urban transportation modes by arranging tariffs,
ticket prices, and so on.

•

Making decisions about the working conditions of the commercial vehicles in the province has tobe approved by Province Traffic Commissions.

143

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

(4) Province and Town (sub-provincial) Traffic Commissions
Head: Governor/Deputy governor/Head offcial of a district.
Participants: Representatives from Municipility, Security (police), KGM, Gendarmerie, Automobile
and Drivers Association, Other representatives from universities, etc., approved by the governor(maximum three persons).
Tasks and responsibilities:•

To take necessary precautions for achieving traffic regulation and safety in the district.

•

To make necessary decisions about upgrading of the infrastructure, and give proposals to the
Ministry of Internal Affairs.

•

To make decisions about the working conditions of the commercial vehicles in the province,
regardless of the regulations issued by the Ministry of Transportation.

•

To make decisions about parking areas.

(5) Foundations and Associations (Voluntary Organizations )•Turkish Automobiles and Drivers Association•

Automotive Industry Association•

Prevention of Traffic Accidents Foundation•

Aid for Traffic Accidents Foundation

144

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

References:
1. World Health Organization, 2009, Global Status Report on Road Safety, Geneva,
2. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Traffic Safety Data andAnalysis Group, 2010, IRTAD Road Safety 2010 Annual Report.
3. Directorate of Strategy Development, Branch Office of Transportation and Cost Studies, 2009,
Traffic and Transportation Data, Ankara.
4. Elmas, G.andB. Yıldızhan, 1999, Transportation Policies in Turkey and Economic Analysis ofTraffic Accidents, 2ndTransportation and Traffic Congress-Exhibition.
5. T.R. Ministry of Internal Affairs, Research and Investigations Center, Development of Traffic
Regulation in Turkey, Ankara.
6. Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects, 2009, Necessity of Planning inTransportation and Traffic Policies-Chamber Report, Ankara.
7. C. Çelik, 2007, The Territorial Traffic Security In Turkey In The Process Of Adaptation To EU
Transmission Policy-MA Thesis, İstanbul.
8. Turkish Statistical Institute, 2010, Statistical Indicators 1923-2009, Ankara.
9. Ministry of Public Works, 1955-1960, Statistical Yearbook of Traffic Accidents, Ankara.
10. Road Traffic Regulation, 1997.
11. Turkish Statistical Institute and General Directorate of Security, 1990-1999, Statistical Yearbookof Road Traffic Accidents, Ankara.
12. Turkish Statistical Institute and General Directorate of Security, 2011, Statistical Yearbook ofRoad Traffic Accidents-2009, Ankara.
13. Ministry of Internal Affairs& Ministry of Public Works and Settlement & Ministry of National
Education& Ministry of Health & Gazi University & SweRoad, 2001,Road Improvement andTraffic Safety Project – Final Report, Ankara.
14. New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority, 2006, Road Environment Safety, New South
Wales.
15. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, 1996, Roadside Design
Guide, Washington, D.C.

General References:
16. Road Traffic Act, 1953.

145

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

17. Road Traffic Act, 1983.
18. Road Traffic Regulation, 1997.
19. SweRoad, 2001, National Traffic Safety Program for Turkey, Ankara.
http://www.kgm.gov.tr/SiteCollectionDocuments/KGMdocuments/Eng/Traffic/Executive.pdf

Websites of state organizations about Traffic and Traffic Safety•

Head of Traffic Services

www.trafik.gov.tr•

General Directorate of Highways

www.kgm.gov.tr•

General Directorate of Road Transportation www.kugm.gov.tr•

Head of Revenue Administration

http://www.gib.gov.tr/•

General Directorate of Meteorology

http://www.dmi.gov.tr/•

Ankara Security Directorate

http://www.ankara.pol.tr/2011_v1/•

Bayburt Security Directorate

http://www.bayburt.pol.tr/

Some of semiofficial websites•

Foundation of Turkish Drivers-Ankara

http://www.tsof.org.tr/•

Turkish National Committee of Roads

http://www.ytmk.org.tr/•

Traffic Insurance Information Center

http://www.tramer.org.tr/•

Vehicle Inspection Stations, Istanbul

http://www.tuvturk.com.tr/•

Chamber of drivers, Antalya

http://www.antalyasoforlerodasi.com.tr/

Websites of Some Turkish Universities•

Bogazici University:www.boun.edu.tr•

Istanbul Technical University:

www.itu.edu.tr•

Middle East Technical University:www.metu.edu.tr•

Koç University:

www.ku.edu.tr

146

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Turkey (1950-2010)Ilgin Gökaşar, Erhan Emir

Author:Ilgin Gökaşar
Assistant Professor,
Department of Civil Engineering,
Bogazici University, Turkey
Ilgın Gökaşar is an Assistant Professor and Vice Chair in the Civil Engineering Department at
Bogazici University. She has played an important role in the establishment of the Local Traffic
Control Center and Intelligent Transportation Laboratory, a collaborative effort between the
University and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Dr. Gökaşar received her MS degree and PhDfrom the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rutgers University, NJ, USA, and her
BS degree from the Civil Engineering Department at Bogazici University, Turkey. Her research is in
the areas of incident management and traffic safety, real-time traffic control, ramp metering,evacuation modeling, pre-trip information and social influences on mode choice, and economic
evaluations of intelligent transportation systems. She has many publications including journal articles,
conference papers, and technical reports. She is a technical reviewer for various journals and is
involved with many technical committees.
Co-author:
Erhan Emir
Graduate Student,
Department of Civil Engineering,
Bogazici University, Turkey
Erhan Emir is a graduate student in the Civil Engineering Department at Bogazici University. Mr.
Emir received his BS degree from the Civil Engineering Department at Bogazici University, Istanbul
Turkey. His research is in the areas of intelligent transportation systems, transportation planning, andevacuation modeling. He is a member of the Chamber of Turkish Civil Engineers.

147

148

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies andRegulations in UK(1950-2010)

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)
Copyright(C) 2012 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences, All rights reserved.

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

1. Review of the Traffic Accident Situation in the UK
1.1 National Population
The population of the UK has grown throughout the century but at a declining rate. For example,
between 1901 and 1911 the growth rate of the UK population averaged 1% per annum. Between 1981
and 1991, however, the average growth rate of the population had fallen to about 0.26% per annum.
The following graphs in Figure 1 shows how the population has changed over the period 1951-2010.

Figure 1 UK population statistics 1951-20101

1source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/oct/21/uk-population-data-ons
Extrapolated between 1951 and 1961 and again between 1961 & 1971

149

Samantha Jamson

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

The proportion spilt between gender and age groups over the same period are shown in Figure 2 andFigure 3.

Males

Females

53
52
51
50
%

49
48
47

2008

2005

2002

1999

1996

1993

1990

1987

1984

1981

1978

1975

1972

1969

1966

1963

1960

1957

1954

1951

46

Figure 2 UK population split by gender1<20 years

20-64 years

65+ years

70
60
50
40
30
20
10

Figure 3 UK population split by age1

150

2009

2007

2005

2003

2001

1999

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1985

1983

1981

1979

1977

1975

1973

0

1971

%

Samantha Jamson

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

The projection of the UK population statistics is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 Actual and projected population of the United Kingdom and constituent countries, 1951–20812

1.2 Vehicle Ownership Numbers
Licensed stock in the UK has been steadily increasing since 1950, with a noticeable increase inmotorcycle numbers in 2000 onwards, Figure 5.
Private cars

Total vehicles

Motorcycles, scooters & mopeds

40,0001,800

35,000

1,600
1,400
1,200

25,0001,000
20,000800
15,000Motorcycles

Thousands of vehicles

30,000600

10,000

400

5,000

200
0
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010

0

Figure 5 Vehicle ownership (licensed stock 1950-2010)3

2

Source: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/npp/national-population-projections/2010-basedprojections/rep-2010-based-npp-results-summary.html
3
Department for Transport statistics Vehicle Licensing Statistics Table VEH0103

151

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

1.3 Annual Traffic Accident Fatalities
Fatalities for each mode are shown in Figure 6. All modes show a decline, which is particularly
noticeable for 2005 onwards overall. Motorcycle fatalities have remained relatively stable, but haveseen large increases in vehicle stock.
9,000

Pedestrians
Pedal cyclists

8,000

Motorcyclists

7,000

Car Users

No. of fatalities

6,000

All

5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0

Figure 6 Road fatalities (1950-2010)4

There has been a rise in cyclist deaths however over the past three years, with serious injuries being
2,428 in 2007 and 2,660 in 2010.

1.4 Annual Traffic Accident Injuries
Injuries sustained on UK roads are shown in Figure 7. Sharp decreases in overall numbers can be seenfrom 2000 onwards.

4

http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/releases/road-accidents-and-safety-annual-report-2010

152

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

450

Injuries ('000s)

400
350
300
250
200
150

Figure 7 Injuries (1950-2010)5

2. National Organizations with Jurisdiction for Traffic Safety
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport (DfT) is the government department which is
responsible for the English transport network along with a limited number of transport matters in
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (those which have not been devolved to local control). The
department is run by the Secretary of State for Transport, currently Justine Greening (since 14 October2011). The Secretary of State is supported by a small team (around 3) of junior Ministers.

2.1 Organisation
The DfT also has a number of executive agencies, considered central to delivering the Government’s
transport priorities and services:(1)

Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA)
VCA tests and certifies new models of vehicles and components against European and United
Nations safety and environmental performance standards. It also provides a service tomanufacturers who wish to be certified as meeting international quality, environmental andsafety management system standards. VCA publishes the definitive data on emissions, fuelconsumption and noise. This helps people decide what vehicle to buy and enables in-service
testing of car emissions. This information also supports the Department and the Inland
Revenue in applying Vehicle Excise Duty schemes linked to vehicle fuel consumption.

(2)

Highways Agency (HA)
HA is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the strategic road network, onbehalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. This comprises 9,380 km/5,863 miles of5

Department for Transport statistics
and-safety-annual-report-2010

http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/releases/road-accidents-

153

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

motorways and trunk roads in England, on which over 170 billion vehicle/km journeys are
made each year. HA’s aim is ‘Safe roads, reliable journeys, informed travellers’ which
supports the DfT objective of a transport system that works for everyone. The agency:•

improves road safety;•

makes journeys more reliable through better network management and information; and•respects the environment.

HA also has an international role, building good working relationships and sharing expertisewith other overseas road administrations. This helps promote the value of UK knowledge andbest practice across the world to support UK industry.
(3)

Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)MCA delivers and implements the Government’s maritime safety strategy. The agency coordinates search and rescue at sea through Her Majesty’s Coastguard, and checks that ships
meet UK and international safety rules. It works to prevent loss of life at the coast and at sea,
to ensure that ships are safe, and to prevent coastal pollution.

(4)

Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA)
The GCDA is a non-profit making executive agency which aims to be the first choice supplierof secure transport, distribution and mail related services to Government, the wider public
sector and other approved customers.

(5)

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
DVLA maintains an up-to-date record of all those who are entitled to drive various types ofvehicles, together with a register of all vehicles entitled to travel on public roads. It is
responsible for driver licensing, the collection of vehicle excise duty and vehicle registration
policy for Great Britain. DVLA also contributes to Government policies and to broader
objectives, such as an improved environment and modernised, customer-focussed services.

(6)

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA)VOSA works with Traffic Commissioners to improve road safety and the environment and tosafeguard fair competition by promoting and enforcing compliance with commercial operator
licensing requirements.

(7)

Driving Standards Agency (DSA)
DSA promotes road safety in Great Britain by improving driving standards, through testing
drivers and driving instructors. The DSA has continued to contribute to the target for reducing
road casualties set in the Government’s road safety strategy, Tomorrow’s Roads - Safer for
Everyone.

154

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

2.2 Brief History
Over the years the name of the department has changed numerous times:
1919–1941: Ministry of Transport
1941–1945: Ministry of War Transport - after absorption of Ministry of Shipping
1945–1953: Ministry of Transport
1953–1959: Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation
1959–1970: Ministry of Transport
1970–1976: Department for the Environment
1976–1979: Department of Transport
1979–1981: Ministry of Transport
1981–1997: Department of Transport
1997–2001: Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
2001–2002: Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
2002– Department for Transport
In 1910, the Road Board was set up to administer grants paid to local authorities for road
improvements. Its functions were taken over by the new Ministry of Transport in 1918. In 1936 TrunkRoads Act transferred responsibility for main roads from local authorities to Ministry of Transport. In
1967 the Ministry of Transport issued "Road Safety - A Fresh Approach", a Paper proposing a wide
range of measures to reduce the number of injuries and the Road Traffic Act 1974 was published. In
1980, the Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Transport Safety (PACTS) was set up followed by
the Driving Standards Agency in 1990.
The role of the Department is to determine overall transport strategy and to manage relationships with
the Agencies responsible for the delivery of that vision.
The Department was set up to provide a stronger focus on delivering the Government’s transport
strategy. The role of the centre of the Department is to set strategy and policy context, and to establish
and manage relationships with the organisations that are responsible for delivery. The centre of the
Department has been structured to reflect this role with a strong central strategy, delivery,
communications and finance group.
The Transport Committee is charged by the House of Commons with scrutiny of the Department forTransport. Its formal remit is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department
for Transport and its associated public bodies. Recently, The Transport Committee has decided toundertake an inquiry into the Government’s strategic framework for road safety, which was publishedin May 2011. The Government’s vision for road safety is to ensure that Britain remains a world leader
on road safety and that the relatively high risk of accidents amongst some groups, such as cyclists andchildren from deprived areas, is quickly reduced. The Committee will examine whether the strategic
framework will fulfil this vision.

155

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

2.3 The Road Safety Bill – a Case Study
DFT published its strategy for reducing road accident casualties over the next ten years in its report"Tomorrow's Roads - Safer for Everyone" in March 2000. The Road Safety Bill emanated from thatstrategy and aimed to improve road safety measures to reduce casualties on the roads. Bills andLegislation sets out the proposals for new laws, and plans to change existing laws, that are presented
for debate before Parliament. A Bill is a draft law; it becomes an Act if it is approved by a majority in
the House of Commons and House of Lords, and formally agreed to by the reigning monarch (known
as Royal Assent). An Act of Parliament is a law, enforced in all areas of the UK where it is applicable.
The passage of a Bill is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8 Passage of a Bill in the UK

The main provisions of the Road Safety Bill were:(1)

Police given power to use roadside breath testing as evidence(2)

Offenders disqualified for two years or more to re-take the driving test, closing a loopholeallowing those at highest risk of re-offending to drive pending medical enquiries andencouraging take-up of the Drink Drive Rehabilitation Scheme and introducing anexperimental scheme for alcohol ignition interlocks(3)

Variable fixed penalties for speeding, increasing the range of penalty points from 3-6 to 2-6
and maximum penalties increased for other road traffic offenses(4)

Bans the carriage or use of speed camera detectors and jammers(5)

Exemptions from speed limits and other traffic restrictions allowed in certain cases, such as
donor vehicles(6)

Provision is made to prevent foreign drivers escaping punishment in the UK by requiring themto pay a deposit where an offence is committed

156

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)(7)

Samantha Jamson

Gives police the power to detect uninsured driving through the use of Automatic Number
Plate Reading technology(8)

Gives police access to insurance data and confers new enforcement powers on vehicle
examiners

Timeline:
Origin: House of Commons
Introduced: 30 November 2004
Second reading: 11 January 2005
Programme motion: 11 January 2005
Money resolution: 11 January 2005
Committee stage: From 20 January 2005 to 3 February 2005
Remaining stages: 8 March 2005
Responsible department: Department of Transport
Origin: House of Lords
Introduced: 24 May 2005
Second reading: 8 June 2005
Committee stage: 27 June, 4 July, 17, 26 October 2005
Report stage: 22 & 29 November 2005
Third reading: 10 January 2006
COMMONS:First reading: 11 January 2006
Second reading: 8 March 2006
Committee stage: 16, 21 & 22 March, 18 & 20 April, 19, 24 & 25 July, 4 & 5 October 2006
Report stage: 9 October 2006
Third reading: 9 October 2006
ROYAL ASSENT: 8 November 2006

3. Major Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations
3.1 Government Target Setting
One of the most recent strategic implementations in terms of traffic safety policy is that of targetsetting. Having clear goals and identifiable measures of success provide direction and cooperation. By
way of example the road safety strategy “Tomorrow’s Roads - Safer for Everyone” was published by
the UK government on 1 March 20006.
6

Prior to this the 1987 target to reduce road casualties by one-third by 2000 was more than achievedfor deaths and serious injuries, cutting deaths by 39 per cent and serious injuries by 45 per cent.

157

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

Even though the UK has a comparatively good road safety record and the casualty reduction targets
for deaths and serious injuries, set in 1987, were achieved, by the late 1990s the decline was lessening.
Therefore the new strategy was formulated.
By 2010, the Government wished to achieve, compared with the average for 1994-98:•

a 40% reduction in the numbers of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents;•

a 50% reduction in the numbers of children killed or seriously injured; and•a 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate, expressed as the number of people slightly injured
per 100 million vehicle kilometres.

The strategy and targets were reviewed every three years and a Road Safety Advisory Panel wasestablished to assist in that review process. The keys areas identified were:(1)

Safer for children•

babies and very young children - through advising their parents and first teachers onprotection in cars and teaching safe behaviour on the road;•primary age children - through child pedestrian training schemes and, later, cycle training,alerting parents to the risks of cycling in particular traffic conditions;•older children - by providing road safety information as they change schools and go on longer
journeys on their own; and•(2)older teenagers - providing advice as they contemplate much more independent mobility.
Safer drivers - training and testing•

instil in young people the right attitudes towards road safety and safe driving;•

guide learner drivers to take a more structured approach to learning, to prepare them for theirdriving career, not just to pass a test;•

raise the standard of tuition offered by driving instructors;•

improve the driving test in the light of better understanding about what needs to be examinedand effective ways to do it;•

focus on the immediate post-test period for novice drivers;•

enhance the status of advanced motoring qualifications;•address the needs of professional drivers; and•bring safety benefits for all categories of motor vehicle.

(3)

Safer drivers - drink, drugs and drowsiness•introduce new measures to reduce drink-driving further;•develop more effective ways to tackle drug-driving;•

carry out research to improve understanding of drug-driving;•strengthen and enforce laws on driving time for lorry, bus and coach drivers; and•make people aware how much tiredness contributes to road accidents and advise drivers andemployers how to cut the risks.

158

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)(4)

Samantha Jamson

Safer infrastructure•

ensure safety continues to be a main objective in designing, building, operating andmaintaining trunk and local roads;•

ensure safety continues to be part of the planning framework for main and local routes;•

publish guidance about engineering for safer roads based on sound research and experiment;•

use local transport plans to promote safer neighbourhoods; and•monitor progress on local efforts to reduce casualties.

(5)

Safer speeds•

publicise widely the risks of speed and reasons for limits:•

develop a national framework for determining appropriate vehicle speeds on all roads, andensure that measures are available to achieve them;•

research a number of speed management problems to gain the necessary information todevelop and test new policies; and•take into account environmental, economic and social effects of policies when assessing theirability to reduce accidents.

(6)

Safer vehicles•

improvements which prevent accidents happening in the first place;•

improvements which protect car occupants in the event of an accident;•

improvements which protect other road users;•

better information for consumers, helping them to choose safer vehicles;•

better standards of vehicle maintenance; and•renewed emphasis on new vehicle safety inspections by manufacturers and dealers.

(7)

Safer motorcycling•

to improve training and testing for all learner riders;•to publish advice for people returning to motorcycling after a break, and people riding as partof their work;•

to ensure the quality of instruction;•

through training and testing, to help drivers become more aware of how vulnerable
motorcyclists are;•to promote improvements in engineering and technical standards which could protect
motorcyclists better; and•to work with representatives of interested organisations, in an advisory group, to look at issuesof concern.

(8)

Safety for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders•

helping drivers become more aware of their responsibilities towards all vulnerable road users
through better training and testing.

•working with the CTC to develop cycle training courses for adults:

159

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson•

schemes to promote cycle helmets;•

supporting training schemes for horse riders through the British Horse Society; and improving
victim support systems.

(9)

Better enforcement•

more effective road traffic law enforcement;•

better public understanding of and respect for road traffic law;•

penalties more appropriate and proportionate to the seriousness of offences;•more emphasis on education and retraining; and•maximum use of new technology.

In 2010, the targets were met or exceeded with:•

24510 people killed or seriously injured – down 41% from 41564 in 2000 (against a target of40%)•

184,138 slight injuries – down 34% from278,719 in 2000 (against a target of 10%)•2502 children killed or seriously injured in the 0–15 age group – down 52% from 5202 in2000 (against a target of 50%)

In parallel, a post-2010 strategy was considered, with a scoping study taking place in 2009 along witha consultation (Department for Transport, 2009). It provided a number of recommendations to informthe development of a road safety strategy beyond 2010. Consequently, the Strategic Framework forRoad Safety was published in May 2011 highlighting the following areas for further improvement:(1)

Make it easier for road users to “do the right thing”(2)

Better education and training for children and learner and inexperienced drivers(3)

Remedial education for those who make mistakes and for low level offences(4)

Tougher enforcement for a small minority of drivers who deliberately choose to drive
dangerously

The Road Safety Action Plan was developed as a result and more sophisticated methods of monitoring
progress are under development with the Road Safety Outcomes Framework, to help local authorities
assess and prioritise their actions.

3.2 Changes to the Driver Training Regime
Prior to July 1996, drivers in the UK were required only to pass a practical driving test, taken in a test
centre local to the candidate and lasting for approximately forty minutes. The driving skills of thecandidates are evaluated by driving examiners employed by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), an
agency of the Department for Transport. The tests are conducted on public roads, on one of several
test routes selected for that particular test centre. The UK driving test covers a range of different typesof road and driving conditions, as well as being required to pass an eyesight check, answer vehicle

160

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

safety questions and demonstrate a range of driving skills including a reversing manoeuvre and an
emergency stop.
The Environment, Transport and Rural Affairs Committee (ETRAC) conducted an inquiry on Young
and Newly-Qualified Drivers: Standards and Training in 1999 and made a number of specificrecommendations, including the introduction of a Hazard Perception Test as part of the computerised
theory test. ETRAC rejected suggestions for a probationary driver scheme and a proposal that the Pass
Plus scheme be made mandatory.
Thus the Theory Test for Car Drivers (and Motorcyclists) was introduced in July 1996 and aimed to
improve the safety of newly qualified drivers and includes assessment of:•alertness•

attitude and safety margins•

hazard awareness•vulnerable road users•

vehicle handling•rules of the road•road & traffic signs

The test is separated into two parts with the first consisting of multiple choice questions and thesecond part being the hazard perception test. Candidates must pass both parts of the test. Some of themultiple choice questions are presented in the form of a case study which shows a scenario followedby five questions. The subject of the scenario focusses on real life examples and experiences that may
be encountered when driving.
With regards to effectiveness, the ‘Cohort II’ study was commissioned by the Department forTransport, in order to evaluate how different cohorts of learner drivers in Great Britain are trained.
One of the aims of the study was to assess the impact of changes to the testing procedures, specificallythe hazard perception test which was introduced during the period of study. The findings (Wels et al.
2008) indicate that the introduction of the hazard perception component in the theory test is associatedwith a small reduction in the likelihood of having accident:“For reported non-low-speed accidents on a public road where the driver accepted some blame,
the size of the accident reduction in the first year of driving for those who had taken thehazard perception test (controlling for age, sex, experience and exposure) compared with those
who had not was at least 3%”.
There was also found to be a relationship between scores on the hazard perception test and levels ofreported accidents in the first year of driving:“For non-low-speed public road accidents, in which the driver accepted some blame, those in
the highest scoring group in the hazard perception test had an accident liability estimated to beat least 4.5% lower than that of the lowest scoring group”.

161

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

3.3 Changes to Motorcycle Policy
Over the last sixty years there has been more substantial changes to motorcycle training than there has
been for passenger car drivers. In 1960 law was introduced which limited all new riders to riding
machines of less than 250cc with L-plates. In the early 1970’s whilst 16 year olds were still allowed toride mopeds (less than 50cc and restricted to 30 mph), the new learner age was raised to 17. In the
1980’s a two part test was introduced with Part 1 requiring riders to complete a figure of eight, a slow
ride and a junction crossing. Part 2 still required a test being conducted by an examiner watching fromthe side of the road. In addition, learners can no longer take a passenger on their motorcycle.
In 1990 the Part 1 test abolished and replaced by Compulsory Basic Training; meanwhile the Part 2
test is updated with a "pursuit" test whereby the examiner follows the learner in a car or on a
motorcycle and communications via a radio headset. The road ride is approximately two hours inlength.
In 2001, all new riders had to complete a theory test and in 2002, a hazard perception test was
introduced as part of this test. More recently there have been moves to bring the UK motorcycle test
in line with those in the rest of Europe.
With regards to the efficacy of these changes in training, there has been little longitudinal researchcompleted in the UK. A scoping study (Sudlow, 2003) concluded that the UK motorcycle training
industry“is very fragmented, with many one-man or small businesses, a wide range of qualifications
held by instructors, many agencies providing training and a wide variation in courses offered”.
In 2010 (compared with the 1994-98 average), there were reductions in the number of reported KSI
casualties (of between 25 and 64%) for all of the main road user types, with the exception of
motorcyclists where the number fell by 20%. However, over this period motorcycle traffic increased
by 21 % in total (more than any other road user type), so that the KSI casualty rate for motorcyclists
actually fell by 34%. Motorcycle traffic increased from the 1994-98 average until 2003. Since 2003,
the traffic has been fairly volatile, with the 2010 traffic figure 10% lower than the 2008 figure; thisvolatility makes it quite difficult to assess any effects of training, without investment in experimental
or longitudinal studies. The move to introduce compulsory helmet wearing in 1973 has undoubtedly
decreased the likelihood of serious head injury. Hurt et al. (1981) concluded that the risk of death ismore than halved if a helmet is worn.
Talking about improvement of helmet protection, Hopes and Chinn (1989) investigated the effect ofhelmet shell and liner stiffness on the ability of a helmet to protect the head. Research found that
present helmets are too stiff and resilient, with the maximum energy absorption of the liner occurring
at high impact velocities where the probability of death is high. Helmet shells and liners should be less
stiff in order to provide maximum energy absorption at lower, more prevalent, impact velocities where
the benefit of wearing a helmet can be more effectively realised.

162

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

3.4 Introduction of Mobile Phone Legislation
Following the rapid increase in mobile phone sales at the turn of the century, the government
introduced a law banning the use of hand-held phones while driving. Following numerous roadsidesurveys that indicated wide-spread flouting of the law, the legislation was updated in 2007 whereby
the maximum fixed penalty fine was doubled to £60, and three points could be added to offenders'licences (with 12 points comes a ban from driving). It was also announced that motorists will be
prosecuted for using a hands-free phone if they are not in control of their vehicle.
Much effort has been taken by the government to support the legislation via educational campaigns,
with particular reference to the Think! Campaign in 2009. The THINK! Road Safety publicity
campaign was launched in 2000, as part of the Government’s road safety strategy, Tomorrow’s roads:
safer for everyone (see earlier).
With the stricter legislation coming into force in February 2007, the campaign activities took place
between January to March 2007 in order to raise awareness of the new penalties and of the dangers ofusing a hand held mobile phone whilst driving. TV, radio and on-line material was produced and theevaluation focussed on:(1)

Awareness and recognition of the Mobiles campaign(2)

Awareness of the change in legislation for using a hand held mobile phone whilst driving(3)

Attitudes towards use of mobile phones whilst driving(4)

Communication of the campaign’s key messages

It was found that campaign awareness saw a steady decline since the high level of awareness achievedat the original post stage of research conducted in April 2007. Surveys to monitor mobile phone use bydrivers have been carried out, commissioned by the government, since 2002. Each year the survey iscarried out at 30 sites in the South East of England. Surveys take place throughout daylight hours andinvolve observers recording mobile phone use by drivers in free-flowing traffic, aided by a mobile
phone detector. Since the previous survey in September 2008, the proportion of drivers observed
using hand-held mobile phones whilst driving increased (from 1.1 per cent to 1.4 per cent for car
drivers and from 2.2 per cent to 2.6 per cent for van and lorry drivers). There was also an increase in
the number of drivers who appear to be using hands free mobile phones (from 0.5 per cent to 1.4 percent for car drivers and from 1.1 per cent to 2.4 per cent for van and lorry drivers) was observed in thesame period.
There is thus still room for improvement with regards to the effectiveness of the legislation –education and enforcement are key here. Further discussions within the academic community aretaking place regarding the appropriateness of banning only hand-held mobile phones, when hands freephones have the potential to cause cognitive distraction (e.g. Lin et al., 2006).

163

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

3.5 Drink Driving Legislation
Driving whilst impaired by drink or drugs has been an offence in the UK since 1930. However, until
the 1960s, impairment had to be proven. Following the publication of international researchdocumenting the relationship between blood alcohol levels and involvement in road traffic accidents,
in 1967 legislation was introduced such that it was illegal to drive with a blood alcohol limit above
80mg/100ml. Following that, evidential breath tests in police stations were introduced in the 1980s.
This required a suspect to undergo road-side screening, and then, if the breathalyser indicated apositive result, this further breath test at the police station was performed which can be used as
evidence.
Policies on drink driving have combined the enforcement of heavy penalties for drink driving and highprofile advertising. A cultural shift has occurred – among the general driving population, drink driving
is longer considered acceptable. Over recent decades there has been a reduction in deaths and serious
injuries associated with drink driving, with current levels at around 400 deaths and 1600 serious
injuries. The North Report (North, 2010) reported that “there is very considerable public support for a
reduction in the current drink drive limit, ….that support is clear from the evidence to the Review,
both written and oral”. It has been estimated that a reduction to 50 mg/100 ml would save between 43- 168 lives.

3.6 Investment in Road Engineering
The variety of engineering solutions for improving traffic safety is too wide to go into detail here.
However, the introduction of 20mph zones in the UK serves as a good example. They were introducedon the premise that urban roads account for a high number of casualties and that the majority ofpedestrian casualties occur on residential roads. Given that speed significantly increases the chance ofbeing injured in a collision and that studies have shown that accidents at speeds above 20mph are
more likely to result in severe injuries, rather than slight injuries (Cuerden et al., 2007) it was thoughtthat urban 20m zones could provide a way of significantly reducing the likelihood of a serious injury.
In December 1990 the Department of Transport set out guidelines for the introduction of 20mph speed
limits whereby local authorities had to apply for consent from the Secretary of State to introduce one
in their area. There were 450 20mph speed limits introduced between 1991 and 1999. Following thatthe law changed giving Highways Authorities more flexibility so they no longer had to apply for
permission to implement a zone. The updated legislation made two distinct types of 20mph speed limit
possible:(1)

20mph limits, which consist of just a speed limit change to 20mph and indicated by the speed
limit (and repeater) signs, and(2)

20mph zones, which were designed to be “self-enforcing” due to the traffic calming measuresthat were also introduced

164

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

The Department for Transports encourages and supports Local Authorities to implement 20 mph limits
and zones where there is a particular risk to vulnerable road users (DfT, 2006). The advice is that theyshould be implemented where average speeds are already low (below 24mph) or along with trafficcalming measures. The latest figures in England are that by 2008 there were an estimated 2,148 20mph
zones, of which 399 were in London.
With regards to their effectiveness, the first widespread evaluation of 20mph zones in the UK was
carried out by Webster in 1996. They reported that injury accidents were reduced by 60%, and childinjury accidents were reduced by 67%. Whilst there was a decrease in traffic by 27% in the zones
during the evaluation, this was attributed to parallel bypass schemes. Hull, in the North of England led
the way in wide-scale implementation of 20mph schemes – by 2003, there were 120 zones covering
500 streets and with a reported 56% decrease in accidents. The largest reductions were pedestriancasualties, which fell by 54%, with child pedestrian casualties falling by 74%.
TRL examined the effectiveness of 20mph limits that were implemented with and without trafficcalming measures (Mackie, 1998). It was found that traffic calming was a more effective way of
reducing vehicle speeds than signs only, which only produced a small reduction in speed.
The Department for Transport (DfT) guidance for the implementation of 20mph limits has evolved
over time and currently stipulates that they should not be implemented on roads with a strategic
function or on main traffic routes, and that they should be generally self-enforcing.

3.7 Primary and Secondary Safety Measures
While primary safety systems provide assistance to the driver in normal driving and in crash scenarios,
secondary safety measures aim to lessen the consequences of the accident. The development of policy
for both of these has been driven at the European level, but they are worth discussing in relation totheirs on the UK situation. A notable example of each will be covered.
With regards primary safety, Euro NCAP organises crash-tests and provides motoring consumers witha realistic and independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars soldin Europe. It was established in 1997, and in its own words “has rapidly become a catalyst forencouraging significant safety improvements to new car design”. It is a non-profit international
association, independent of the automotive industry, supported by seven European governments(France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, and the Catalonia
region of Spain), consumer groups through International Consumer Research and Testing, European
motoring clubs through the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, and the Motor Insurance
Repair Research Centre (Thatcham).
By law, all new car models must pass safety tests before they are sold, but these are minimum
standards. On the other hand, Euro NCAP encourages manufacturers to exceed these minimum
requirements. Following testing, Euro NCAP releases an overall rating with a maximum of 5 stars for165

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

each vehicle. The rating is comprised of scores for:•adult protection (driver and passenger)•

child protection•pedestrian protection•

safety assisting technologies

The underlying dynamic tests include full-scale frontal and side-impact tests, front-end component
tests for pedestrian protection, and sled tests for whiplash prevention during rear-end crashes. The
types of technologies that can increase a rating are seat belt reminders, speed limiters, and electronicstability control.
Since 2010, Euro NCAP Advanced awards higher rating to vehicles that are equipped with newtechnologies with a scientifically proven safety benefit for consumers and society. These technologies
are usually crash-avoidance ones, which inform, advise or alert drivers to a potentially dangerous
situation. Some also initiate autonomous braking. This provides an incentive to manufacturers toaccelerate the availability of new safety equipment across all their vehicles (not just the luxury ones).
As an example of secondary safety, seatbelt and child restraint legislation has become more stringent
in the past 50 years. Whilst home-made devices were used by some U.S. physicians as early as the
1930’s and competing racing drivers in the U.S. were required to wear one, it was not until much later
were they made mandatory. Voluntary belts were supplied in Volvos throughout the 50’s and 60’s, it
was not until 1962 when the consumer magazine Which? strongly advocated belt wearing, revealingthat a "first survey" of their effectiveness in Britain showed they would reduce the likelihood of deathand serious injury by 60%. In 1965 it became compulsory to fit seat belts in the front of cars built in
Europe (but not compulsory to wear them) and in 1967 front seat belts by law in the UK. A period ofcompulsory retrofitting took place in parallel there were various attempts to introduce a seat belt Bill.
Finally, in 1981, with an amendment to the Transport Bill which introduced seat belt wearing for a
trial period of three years the Bill became law and from 31 January 1983, it became compulsory for
drivers and passengers (adult and children) to wear seat belts for a three-year trial period. Over 90 %of drivers complied at that time. The law was retained, and modified to include a requirement that rearseat belts required to be fitted to new cars, with compulsory use following shortly after. The law
continues to be effective, with the most recent observational survey reporting that the proportion of car
drivers observed wearing seat belts is 95%., with rear passenger compliance being at 90% (PACTS,
2009).
References:Angle, H. et al (2009). THINK! Road Safety Campaign Evaluation Post evaluation of June 2009
Mobile Phone campaign. Department for Transport, London.
Brightwell, S. (2003). Hull Reaps Road Safety Rewards From Slowing the City's Traffic, Local
Transport Today: 10-1.

166

Samantha Jamson

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Broughton. J., Johnson, B., Knight, I., Lawton, B., Lynam, D., Whitfield, P., Carsten, O. and Allsop, R.
(2009). Road Safety Strategy Beyond 2010: A Scoping Study. Road Safety Research Report No. 105.
Department for Transport: London.
Cuerden, R., Richards, D. and Hill, J. (2007). Pedestrians and their survivability at different impact
speeds Paper Number 07-0440, presented at the 20th ESV conference.
Department for Transport (2009). A Safer Way. Consultation on making Britain’s roads the safest in
the world. London.
Department for Transport (2002). Tomorrow’s Roads – safer for everyone. Department for Transport,
London.
DfT Circular 01/2006 Setting Local Speed Limits
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/speedmanagement/dftcircular106/dftcircular106.pdf
Hopes, P.D., and Chinn B.P. (1989). Helmets: a new look at design and possible protection. IRCOBI
Conference on Biomechanics of Impacts, Stockholm. pp. 39-54.
Hurt, H.H., Ouellet, J.V. and Thom, D.R.,(1981).

Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and

Identification of Countermeasures, Volume 1: Technical Report, Traffic Safety Center, University ofSouthern California, Los Angeles, California 90007, Contract No. DOT HS-5-01160, January 1981
(Final Report).
Lin C.J. and Chen H.J., (2006). Verbal and cognitive distractors in driving performance while using
hands-free phones. Percept Mot Skills, 103(3):803-10.
Mackie, A. (1998).Urban speed management methods, TRL Report 363.
North, P (2010). Report of the Review of Drink and Drug Driving Law. Department for Transport,
London.
PACTS, (2009). Seatbelt and mobile phone use surveys: 2009 results.
http://www.pacts.org.uk/statistics.php?id=36
Sudlow, D. (2003). Scoping study on motorcycle training. Road Safety Research Report No. 36.
Department for Transport, London.
Webster, D.C. and Mackie, A.M., (1996). Review of traffic calming schemes in 20 mph zones, TRL
Report 215.
Wells, P., Tong, S., Sexton, B., Grayson, G and Jones, E. (2008). Cohort II: A Study of Learner and
New Drivers Volume 1 – Main Report. Transport Research Laboratory Road Safety Research Report
No. 81.

167

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in UK (1950-2010)

Samantha Jamson

Author:Dr. Samantha Jamson
Principal Research Fellow,
Institute for Transport Studies,
University of Leeds, UK

Dr. Jamson is a Chartered Psychologist at the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds. She
has been principal investigator on a range of projects including evaluations of driver support systems,
road design, and driver impairment. She is a member of the British Standards group on Human
Machine Interface issues and chaired a European Working Group on motorcycle safety, deliveringhigh-priority research needs to the European Commission. Her research involves collaboration withnational and international policymakers (Department for Transport, Highways Agency, European
Commission) as well as industrial collaboration. Dr. Jamson has published widely in the field of traffic
safety and is a member of the Editorial Board for Transportation Research Part F. She is currently
supervising PhD students working in the areas of driver workload, fatigue, and medical impairment.

168

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies andRegulations in USA(1950-2010)

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)
Copyright(C) 2012 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences, All rights reserved.

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

1. Introduction
Since the beginning of the widespread use of automobiles in the USA, the federal and state
governments have implemented various policies and regulations to improve traffic safety. This reportaims to examine regulatory changes implemented from 1950 through 2010, annual traffic safety trends,
and any possible relationship between them. Regulatory changes include tougher restrictions ondrinking and driving, the mandatory use of seat belts and helmets, setting safe speed limits and a
graduated driver licensing plan. The report will also examine the judgment, if any, available in theliterature on the successes and failures of various policies.
The first task in this regard is to examine the annual trends on traffic fatalities and injuries along withrelated variables such as annual automobile/motorcycle usage and ownership, as well as population
trends. These trends are presented in the next section. The data used to examine these trends wereobtained from official government sources, the National Safety Council (NSC) and specific individual
sources, which are noted below.

2. Trends in Traffic Safety and Vehicle Ownership Data
2.1 Population Trends
The USA is one of the few industrialized nations whose population growth has remained above thereplacement level in the recent past. The best estimate of the US population comes from the US
Census Bureau data, and this estimate is available for every census year. Figure 1 shows the US
population from 1950 through 2010, which is the study period for this report [1].

US Population 1950-2010
350,000,000
300,000,000
250,000,000
200,000,000
150,000,000
100,000,000
50,000,000
0Figure 1 US population 1950-2010[1]169Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

It can be observed that the US population grew from close to 150 million in 1950 to about 310 million
in 2010. With such a large increase in population, traffic injuries/fatalities per capita were all but
certain to go down over this period. Moreover, as noted below not only have per capita fatalities gone
down in recent years but so have the overall fatalities.

2.2 Car Usage and Driving Trends
A more relevant figure (compared to total population) for examining the traffic-related injuries andfatalities in the USA would be the Vehicle-Miles Traveled (VMT). The trend since 1950 is shown in
Figure 2 [2] along with the annual number.

VMT (In Billions) per year
3,500
3,000

VMT (In billions)

2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0

year

Figure 2 US vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per year, 1950-2010 [2]VMT increased from close to 500 billion in 1950 to about 3 trillion in 2010, representing a six-foldincrease. As shown in Figure 2, the annual VMT flat-lined or declined slightly only in the 1970s(during the oil embargo and economically challenging periods in late 1978 through 1981) and during
the recent downturn (starting in 2008). The increase in VMT is not surprising since the number ofpeople who owned at least one car in 2010 was 255.9 million, compared with close to 50 million in1950 [2]. The increases in VMT also correspond closely to the increases in the miles of paved roads in
the USA. The trend in paved roads is shown in Figure 3 [3].

170

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

US Paved Roads

Paved Road (Thousands of Mile)

3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0

Figure 3 Paved road mileage in the USA by year [3]2.3 Automobile Ownership per Capita
Since 1950 the USA has maintained one of the world’s highest vehicle ownership rates. Vehicle
ownership in the USA grew rapidly in the decades leading up to the 1980s, but slowed thereafter.
Figure 4 shows the trend since 1950 in terms of vehicles per 1,000 people [4].

Automobile Ownership per 1000 People
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

Figure 4 Automobile ownership per 1,000 people [4]Figure 5 shows the trend in the number of registered motorcycles in the USA. The number declined
during the 1980s, but has been steadily growing since the mid-1990s [5].

171

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

Registered Motorcycles in the USA
9,000,000
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0Figure 5 Number of motorcycles in the USA since 1960 [5]

2.4 Traffic-related Fatalities
In this section the trends in traffic-related fatalities are presented with respect to the raw numbers aswell as normalized by VMT and population. It may be observed in Figure 6 that while the annual
number of fatalities increased in the 1960s and then again slightly in the first few years of the newmillennium, the more recent trend in fatalities has been downward since 2006. It will be interesting to
examine if there are some recent regulations that may have affected these trends.

Traﬃc Fatalities per year
60,000Traﬃc Fatalities

50,00040,00030,00020,00010,0000

Figure 6 US traffic fatalities per year (1950-2010) [2]172

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic fatalities are at theirlowest since 1950, despite the increases in the population and VMT. Fatalities as a fraction of
population have gone down as shown in Figure 7. This was not the case in the 1960s, and while thefraction trended downwards between 1970s through 2005 it was not a consistent decrease [2].

Fatalities as Fraction of Population

Fraction of population

0.00030.000250.00020.000150.00010.00005
0

Figure 7 US traffic fatalities as a fraction of population (1950-2010) [2]

The fatalities normalized by VMT follow a far more consistent trend. The number of highway deaths
normalized by VMT declined in the 1950s, increased in the 1960s, and has been on a steady decline
since the 1980s [2].

Fatalities per 100 million VMT per year

Fatalities per 100 million VMT per Year
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Figure 8 US fatalities per 100 million VMT 1950-2010 [2]173Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

2.5 Pedestrian Fatalities
Information on pedestrian fatalities was gathered from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) website,which used two different sources, namely, the National Safety Council (through 1989; [6]) and the Fatality
Analysis Reporting System (FARS; 1994 onwards; [7]). It appears that the pedestrian deaths have been
reduced in terms of their absolute number, as well as a fraction of total traffic fatalities.

US Pedestrian Fatalities
12,000US Pedestrian Fatalities

10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0

Figure 9 US pedestrian fatalities per 100 million VMT 1950-2010 [6] [7]Figure 10 shows the number of motorcycle fatalities since 1994. The number consistently increased
till 2008, and then dropped significantly in 2009 [7].

US Motorcycle Fatalities
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0

Figure 10 US motorcycle fatalities (1994-2009) [7]174

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

Figure 11 shows the number of bicycle fatalities from the FARS dataset since 1994 [7]. It is apparent
that while the overall trend is downward and the numbers are below 1,000, the trend is not assignificant as that for pedestrian fatalities. Note that the accurate data for pedestrian, bicycle, andmotorcycle fatalities from FARS are available only from the year 1994 onwards.

US Bicycle Fatalities
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

Figure 11 US bicycle fatalities [7]Note that the injury information is not as accurate as the fatality information due to poor reporting
reasons, especially if one wants to examine data from 1950 onwards. For example, FARS and the GES
estimates on traffic crash injuries are only available from the early 1990s and thereafter. The author
concluded that reliable and accurate nationwide traffic injury data that can be correlated withnationwide regulatory regime from the year 1950 onwards are not readily available for the USA.

3. National Organizations for Traffic Safety
3.1 A Brief History since 1950
In 1950, the Bureau of Public Roads under the Department of Commerce was the agency responsible
for overseeing highway transportation [8]. In the mid-1960s (possibly due to the rise in fatalities weobserved in the last section) concern about improving highway safety rose significantly in the USA. It
was around the same time that the National Academy of Sciences published Accidental Death andDisability—The Neglected Disease of Modern Society [9]. In 1966, the US Congress held a series ofhearings regarding highway safety and passed legislation to create the US Department ofTransportation as a cabinet department of the executive branch of government. It began operation on

175

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

April 1, 1967. The mission of USDOT [10] is to “serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe,
efficient, accessible, and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests andenhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future.”
The same act created the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which took over the functions of
the Bureau of Public Roads [8]. Several other agencies were also established around the same time,
including the National Traffic Safety Agency, the National Highway Safety Agency, and the National
Highway Safety Bureau. These agencies later became the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA), which is a coordinated national highway safety program aimed at reducing
death on nation's roads. The legislation passed in that era also allowed and provided incentives to use
federal funds to develop and strengthen state-level highway traffic safety programs [11].

3.2 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA): Role in Traffic Safety
FHWA supports state and local jurisdictions in the design, construction, and maintenance of the
highway system (Federal Aid Highway Program). In terms of traffic safety, FHWA performs researchin the areas of automobile safety, congestion, highway materials and construction methods. FHWA
also publishes the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which is used by mosthighway agencies in the United States. The MUTCD specifies standards for traffic control devices,such as traffic signals, and defines conditions that may justify putting a signal at an intersection [12].

3.3 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)NHTSA was officially established in 1970. As we observed in the preceding section, highway
fatalities (normalized by VMT) have been on a decreasing trend since then. The decline is partially
due to the following factors: automobile enhancements that provide better protection to vehicle
occupants in collisions, improved highway signage standards, and increased use of restraints bydrivers.
The agency is a division of USDOT and was created to carry out safety programs formerly governedby the National Highway Safety Bureau (one of its predecessor agencies). Specifically, the agency
directs the highway safety and consumer programs established by the legislation passed since the mid1960s [11]. It is safe to say that consumers today have a far greater access to vehicle safety
information through NHTSA than they would in its absence.

3.4 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
IIHS is a non-profit organization aimed at reducing deaths, injuries, and property damage that result
from crashes on the nation's roads. It was founded in 1959 by the three major insurance associations of
the time, and initially focused on supporting the highway safety efforts of state and federal agencies.

176

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

In 1968, however, it became an independent research and communications organization. IIHS
produces ratings for popular passenger vehicles and certain consumer products associated with roadsafety (e.g., child seats) [13].
The next section examines the various state and federal regulations that may have contributed to thedownward trends in fatalities and injuries presented this section.

4. Traffic Safety Regulations
Since 1950 several policies and regulations have been implemented to improve traffic safety in theUSA. Some of them have been in response to events while some have been pre-emptive responses toresearch showing the risk to drivers, passengers, and/or pedestrians. In general, these policies can bedivided into: i) mandated improvements to vehicular technology; ii) regulations aimed atdriver/passengers, including licensing and equipment requirements (seat belts, helmets, etc.) andefforts to curb driving under the influence; and iii) changes in the national speed limit. All three sets ofregulations have led to consequences, including potentially some unintended ones.
The next section focuses on mandates on vehicular technology and their possible relationships withtraffic fatality/injury trends, followed by regulations aimed at drivers and the national speed limit.

4.1 Vehicular Technology
In terms of vehicular improvement mandates, air bags are the most significant for saving lives.
Airbags were introduced into automobiles in the USA in the 1960s with the aim of reducing injury
associated with frontal impacts. Since 1991, airbags have been required on the driver's side and as aresult, air bags are widely credited with saving lives. In a study [14], it was found that the odds of apassenger dying in an automobile collision were reduced by approximately two-thirds when the airbag
was deployed. The same study found that the combination of seat belt use and air bag deployment
reduced the driver’s risk of dying in a head-on collision by over 80 percent, representing a verysignificant improvement. In addition to airbags, the NHTSA has mandated that all 2012 model
passenger automobiles weighing less than 10,000 lbs. be equipped with ESC (Electronic Stability
Control) [15].

4.2 Driver/passenger-related Regulations
There have been several regulations that require the drivers to behave in a certain way. Some of theseregulations attempt to protect the drivers themselves while some others protect other road users. Seat
belt regulations are an example of the former while the DUI (driving under the influence) laws
exemplify the later.

177

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

4.3 Seatbelt Laws
When driving on the road, there is always a possibility of ending up in a crash. Even when a driver iscareful enough not to cause a crash, he or she may become involved in a crash caused by someone else.
Use of seatbelts is one of the ways in which one can decrease the impact of a crash. Seat belts hold theriders in place so that they will not be thrown out of the vehicle in a crash, and thus lower the level ofpotential injury. In the USA, a federal law requiring seat belts to be installed on all automobiles wasenacted in 1968, and from 1984 onward states gradually began requiring passengers to wear seat belts.
After these laws were enacted, seat belt use rose from 50 to 70 percent in the first month alone. The
US Department of Transportation estimated a 16 to 20 percent reduction in front seat occupantfatalities due to these regulations [16].
As of right now, 32 states, the District of Columbia, and territories including American Samoa, Guam,
the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have primary seat belt enforcement,
while 17 states have secondary enforcement. Primary enforcement means that a police officer can fine
individuals who do not wear seat belts, even when another traffic offense has not been committed.
Secondary enforcement means that police cannot ticket a driver solely for lack of seat belt use [17].
State laws also vary depending on whether the passenger is seated in the front seat or in the rear seat.
New Hampshire is the only state that has no seat belt law for adults. It is expected that the stricter theenforcement of seat belt use, the higher the number of people who use them. A study by Calkins andZlatoper [18] compared the fatality rates of crashes in states with primary enforcement against those ofstates with secondary enforcement. Information on the fatality count from a year prior to the
mandatory seat belt laws and a year after the enforcement of the law was examined in the research.
This study showed that on average the primary states observed a 17% reduction in traffic fatalities,
while in the secondary enforcement states the reduction was only 3%. It was argued that in thesecondary enforcement states only the “safe” drivers followed the law and put on the seat belts while“unsafe” drivers, such as the younger drivers, did not [18]. In fact, subsequent research has shown thatthe drivers/passengers most likely not to obey seat belt laws are teenagers [19].

4.4 Helmet Laws
The laws requiring use of protective headgear while riding a motorcycle or bicycle vary state by state.
The current disposition of laws is documented by IIHS [20]. In some states there are no specific lawsthat require individuals to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle. In several others, there are no laws
requiring individuals over the age of 18 to wear helmet while riding a bicycle. It is obvious thatwearing a helmet while riding a bicycle or motorcycle is much safer than not wearing one. In fact, as
noted by Macleod et al. [21], in 1975 all but three states in the USA had mandatory helmet use laws.
However, it is interesting to note that some states that required the use of helmet in the past haverescinded those laws. The reason for the change was the cause of individual rights prevailing in some178

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pandecases over public safety. In this regard, the trends in traffic safety have been clear, with increased
incidence of head injuries and related fatalities. For example, Muller [22] examined the monthly timeseries of motorcycle occupant deaths from 1/1994 to 12/2001 in Florida, a state that on July 2000
exempted adult motorcyclists from wearing helmets provided they had medical insurance of $10,000
or more. It was estimated that this exemption led to a 48.6% increase in motorcycle occupant deaths.
The results showed a lower increase at 38.2% and 21.3% respectively, when trends in miles traveled
and motorcycle registrations were controlled [22]. Similar results were obtained from Pennsylvania by
Mertz and Weiss [23] following the relaxation of helmet use laws in that state.

4.5 DUI Laws
Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol/drugs is a significant problem in the USA, especially due
to the dependence on automobiles and lack of public transportation options in large swathes of thecountry. As a result, according to FARS more than 1/3 of all traffic fatalities are associated withalcohol consumption [24]. This statistic remained fairly consistent from 1994 through 2009. The
citizen action groups that have contributed significantly towards the campaign against drunk driving
include Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD), Students against Drunk Drivers (SADD) andRemove Intoxicated Drivers (RID). Most of these groups emerged in 1980s in response to fatalities
and injuries of minors and then prevalent light sentencing for drunk drivers [25].
Following the repeal of Prohibition in the 1930s, some states lowered their drinking age to 18-20 and
until the late 1960s, individual states had the right to make their own DUI laws ([25], [26]). During the1970s, research emerged which suggested that a lower drinking age correlated to increased alcohol
related traffic fatalities in youth. As a result, a few states reinstated the age of 21 as the minimum legal
drinking age (MLDA) either incrementally or immediately during the 1970s ([25], [26]). McCartt et al.
[26] also noted that states with a MLDA of 21 began seeing lower crash rates in the under-21
demographic group. In 1984, the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act was passed to encourage states to
set their MLDA to 21. [25]. Since MLDA establishment remained within states’ jurisdiction,individual states were not obligated to comply. However, the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act
stipulated that any state wishing to receive federal highway funding needed to enact a zero tolerance
law for those under 21 by the year 1999 [27]. Recently, it has been argued that MLDA-21 results inincreases in binge drinking [26].
The literature clearly shows that from 1966 through 1975 (when many states lowered their minimum
drinking age) the rates of alcohol-related crashes among the under-21 group increased (e.g., [26]).
However, the study did point to the possibility that the lower rates of underage alcohol-related crashes
during select time periods could be due to the lower numbers of people in that age group. In addition
to a reduction in crashes, there was a decline in the prevalence of drinking and driving from 1973179

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pandethrough 1996. For example, the estimated percentage of weekend nighttime drivers with a positive
BAC (blood alcohol content) fell from 36% in 1973 to 26% in 1986 and to 17% in 1996 [28].
In terms of most effective policies, the literature has suggested that dram shop liability laws (holding
alcohol selling establishments liable for crashes involving their patrons) strongly correlates with adecrease in alcohol-related crashes [27]. Another successful strategy was lowering the BAC limit
from .10 to .08, which reduced alcohol-related crashes anywhere from 3 to 40% [29]. However,studies of individual states do not consistently reflect this reduction rate due to the wide variability
among different states [30]. On the other hand, McCartt et al. [26] found little to no evidence tosupport that zero tolerance MLDA-21 was effective in lowering prevalence of drunk driving or crashes.
Although the crash rates among minors did show a decrease, it may have been attributable to othercauses such as increased prevalence of seat belt use, stricter DUI laws and improved vehicle safety[26].

4.6 Graduated Licensing Programs
Before the 1990s, most states had a single-stage driver licensing system in which 16 or 17 year olds
could obtain full driving privileges in one step. In the past 15 years, however, almost all states have
implemented the graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs for teenagers trying to obtain a license.
The goal of such programs is to lower traffic fatalities caused, and suffered in most cases, by young
drivers by making them better prepared for the task of driving. Research in the mid-1990s showed thatthe fatality rate for drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 was almost three times that of middle-aged,
experienced drivers [31]. While individual details may vary, the overall structure of the GDL
programs is as follows [31]: First stage: The student driver learns how to drive for 6 months with a supervisor over the ageof 21 always present.
 Second stage: After passing the driving test, the new driver receives a limited license thatallows them to drive alone under certain restrictions. For example, they cannot drive duringhigh-risk times, such as at night, or with more than two passengers.
 Third stage: The probationary restrictions on the license are removed.
Research evaluating GDL programs [32] found that they were quite effective in reducing traffic
fatalities among 15 to 17 year olds. Their analysis indicated that the average GDL program led to atleast a 5.6% reduction in fatalities. GDL programs with more restrictive policies (characterized as“good” by the IIHS) were noted to have reduced fatalities among 15 to 17 year olds by as much as19%. It is clear that this kind of program is seen as a step in the direction of saving lives, and hence
has been adopted by almost all states.

180

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

4.7 Speed-limit Laws
Higher speed increases the distance it takes to safely stop a vehicle, which can make it harder to avoid
crashes. The reaction time necessary to prevent collision is decreased significantly as speed goes up.
Hence, it is critical from a safety standpoint that vehicles be driven at an appropriate speed. Speed
limit regulations can play a critical role in that regard.
Up until the mid-1970s, there was a wide variance in highway speed limits from state to state. The
national maximum speed limit (NMSL) of 55 miles per hour (mph) was instituted as an energy
conservation measure in response to the 1973 oil embargo [33]. Vernon et al. [33] noted that the
number of traffic fatalities decreased nationwide, from 54,000 in 1973 to 45,000 in 1974 following theimplementation of NMSL. This was widely attributed to the decrease in speed limits, leading the US
Congress to pass Public Law 93–643 to make the change in speed limits permanent, with highway
safety being cited as the main purpose [33]. In 1987, however, states were allowed to raise the speed
limit to as high as 65 mph on certain rural interstates, and in 1995 the national speed limit waseliminated completely, with the responsibility of setting speeds on highways once again going back toindividual states. The state-by-state information on existing highest speed limits on freeways can befound in [34]. Most of the studies that attempted to assess the impact of this change on traffic safetyconcluded that the number and/or rate of severe crashes went up after the removal of the NMSL, but
the impact on overall crash rate and frequency was somewhat mixed ([33]; [35]; [36]; [37]).
More recently, in 2006 the daytime speed limit for passenger vehicles on segments of I-10 and I-20 in
the state of Texas was increased from 75 to 80 mph [38]. The study examining these changes foundthat the increase in speed limits led to higher travel speeds and that to reduce the risk of speed-related
crashes highly visible police traffic enforcement and speed cameras should be implemented,
accompanied with publicity [38].

5. Conclusions
Highway traffic deaths have long been a concern for public health officials. Legislators and regulators
have implemented several changes over the years to make highways safer for motorists, pedestrians
and bicyclists. To make a philosophical case that highway crashes and related fatalities can beeliminated; NHTSA carried out a campaign titled “crashes aren’t accidents” to change the prevalentterminology in the traffic safety community [39]. The term “accident” gives the impression thathighway crashes and the resulting injuries/fatalities are a matter of chance. Therefore, “crash” is amore appropriate term since one can take steps to avoid crashes. The efforts of policymakers towards
eliminating crashes include legislation specifying maximum speed limits, seat belt usage, etc. While
the mere existence of such laws may influence motorists’ behavior, enforcement of these laws may
also significantly affect highway safety. This study tried to determine the trends in highway fatalities

181

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pandeand several regulations and their effect on highway safety. Recent trends suggest that USA is moving
in the right direction in terms of improving highway safety. However, it cannot be ruled out that this ismerely the reflection of a slow economy and this safety improvement trend will reverse with an
improving economy. In this regard, the USA should be vigilant about continuing to implement policies
that have been identified as successful in the literature (documented in this report) as well as attempt
to learn from efforts abroad toward achieving zero fatalities.

182

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

References:[1] “Demographics of the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” [Online]. Available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States. [Accessed: 17-Jan-2012].
[2] “List of motor vehicle deaths in U.S. by year - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” [Online].
Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year.
[Accessed: 17-Jan-2012].
[3] “RITA | BTS | Table 1-4: Public Road and Street Mileage in the United States by Type of Surface(a).” [Online]. Available:
http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_04.html.
[Accessed: 17-Jan-2012].
[4] “Motor vehicle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” [Online]. Available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle#United_States. [Accessed: 17-Jan-2012].
[5] “RITA | BTS | Table 1-11: Number of U.S. Aircraft, Vehicles, Vessels, and Other Conveyances.”[Online]. Available:
http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_11.html.
[Accessed: 17-Jan-2012].
[6] B. J. Campbell, A review of pedestrian safety research in the United States and abroad. Federal
Highway Administration, Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, 2004.
[7] “FARS Encyclopedia.” [Online]. Available: http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx.
[Accessed: 17-Jan-2012].
[8] “Federal Highway Administration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” [Online]. Available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Highway_Administration. [Accessed: 08-Nov-2011].
[9] Accidental death and disability: the neglected disease of modern society. National Academies
Press, 1966.
[10] “About U.S. Department of Transportation.” [Online]. Available: http://www.dot.gov/about.html.
[Accessed: 08-Nov-2011].
[11] “About NHTSA | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).” [Online].
Available: http://www.nhtsa.gov/About. [Accessed: 08-Nov-2011].
[12] “About FHWA | Federal Highway Administration.” [Online]. Available:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/about/. [Accessed: 08-Nov-2011].
[13] “About the Institutes | Milestones.” [Online]. Available: http://www.iihs.org/about_timeline.html.
[Accessed: 08-Nov-2011].
[14] C. S. Crandall, L. M. Olson, and D. P. Sklar, “Mortality reduction with air bag and seat belt use
in head-on passenger car collisions,” American journal of epidemiology, vol. 153, no. 3, p. 219,
2001.
[15] “Electronic Stability Control (ESC) | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).”[Online]. Available:
http://www.nhtsa.gov/Laws+&+Regulations/Electronic+Stability+Control+%28ESC%29.
[Accessed: 17-Jan-2012].

183

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande[16] A. Cohen and L. Einav, “The effects of mandatory seat belt laws on driving behavior and traffic
fatalities,” Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 85, no. 4, pp. 828-843, 2003.
[17] “State Seat Belt Laws.” [Online]. Available:
http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/seatbelt_laws.html. [Accessed: 16-Jan-2012].
[18] L. N. Calkins and T. J. Zlatoper, “The effects of mandatory seat belt laws on motor vehicle
fatalities in the United States,” Social Science Quarterly, vol. 82, no. 4, pp. 716-732, 2001.
[19] C. S. Carpenter and M. Stehr, “The effects of mandatory seatbelt laws on seatbelt use, motor
vehicle fatalities, and crash-related injuries among youths,” Journal of Health Economics, vol. 27,
no. 3, pp. 642-662, 2008.
[20] “Motorcycle and bicycle helmet use laws.” [Online]. Available:
http://www.iihs.org/laws/HelmetUseCurrent.aspx. [Accessed: 17-Jan-2012].
[21] J. MacLeod, J. C. DiGiacomo, and G. Tinkoff, “An Evidence-Based Review: Helmet Efficacy to
Reduce Head Injury and Mortality in Motorcycle Crashes: EAST Practice Management
Guidelines,” The Journal of Trauma, vol. 69, no. 5, p. 1101, 2010.
[22] A. Muller, “Florida’s motorcycle helmet law repeal and fatality rates,” American journal of
public health, vol. 94, no. 4, p. 556, 2004.
[23] K. J. Mertz and H. B. Weiss, “Changes in motorcycle-related head injury deaths, hospitalizations,mmand hospital charges following repeal of Pennsylvania’s mandatory motorcycle helmet law,”
American journal of public health, vol. 98, no. 8, p. 1464, 2008.
[24] “FARS Encyclopedia: Trends - Alcohol.” [Online]. Available: http://wwwfars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Trends/TrendsAlcohol.aspx. [Accessed: 17-Jan-2012].
[25] R. B. Voas, A. S. Tippetts, and J. C. Fell, “Assessing the effectiveness of minimum legal drinking
age and zero tolerance laws in the United States,” Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 35, no. 4,
pp. 579-587, 2003.
[26] A. T. McCartt, L. A. Hellinga, and B. B. Kirley, “The effects of minimum legal drinking age 21
laws on alcohol-related driving in the United States,” Journal of Safety Research, vol. 41, no. 2,
pp. 173-181, 2010.
[27] K. Whetten-Goldstein, F. A. Sloan, E. Stout, and L. Liang, “Civil liability, criminal law, andother policies and alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities in the United States: 1984–1995,”
Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 723-733, 2000.
[28] A. F. Williams, “Alcohol-impaired driving and its consequences in the United States: the past 25
years,” Journal of safety research, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 123-138, 2006.
[29] D. Johnson and J. Fell, “The impact of lowering the illegal BAC limit to. 08 in five states in theUS,” National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1995.
[30] A. C. Wagenaar, M. M. Maldonado-Molina, L. Ma, A. L. Tobler, and K. A. Komro, “Effects oflegal BAC limits on fatal crash involvement: analyses of 28 states from 1976 through 2002,”
Journal of Safety Research, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 493-499, 2007.

184

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande[31] D. C. Grabowski and M. A. Morrisey, “The effect of state regulations on motor vehicle fatalities
for younger and older drivers: a review and analysis,” Milbank Quarterly, vol. 79, no. 4, pp. 517545, 2001.
[32] T. S. Dee, D. C. Grabowski, and M. A. Morrisey, “Graduated driver licensing and teen traffic
fatalities,” Journal of Health Economics, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 571-589, 2005.
[33] D. D. Vernon, L. J. Cook, K. J. Peterson, and J. Michael Dean, “Effect of repeal of the national
maximum speed limit law on occurrence of crashes, injury crashes, and fatal crashes on Utah
highways,” Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 223-229, 2004.
[34] D. Albalate and G. Bel, “Speed limit laws in America: The role of geography, mobility andideology,” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 337-347,
2012.
[35] H. Son, M. D. Fontaine, and B. Park, “Long-Term Speed Compliance and Safety Impacts ofRational Speed Limits,” Journal of Transportation Engineering, vol. 135, no. 8, pp. 536-544,
2009.
[36] C. M. Farmer, R. A. Retting, and A. K. Lund, “Changes in motor vehicle occupant fatalities after
repeal of the national maximum speed limit,” Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 31, no. 5, pp.
537-543, 1999.
[37] D. C. Grabowski and M. A. Morrisey, “Systemwide implications of the repeal of the national
maximum speed limit,” Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 180-189, 2007.
[38] R. Retting and I. Cheung, “Traffic speeds associated with implementation of 80 mph speed limits
on West Texas rural interstates,” Journal of Safety Research, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 529-534, 2008.
[39] “Presidential Initiative for Increasing Seat Belt Use Nationwide -- Crash Aren’t Accidents.”[Online]. Available: http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/airbags/Archive04/PresBelt/crash_accident.html. [Accessed: 17-Jan-2012].

185

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in USA (1950-2010)

Anurag Pande

Author:Dr. Anurag Pande
Assistant Professor
College of Civil and Environmental Engineering
California Polytechnic State University, USA

Dr. Pande has significant experience in the collection and analysis of traffic data related to safetymeasurement. His research interests also include driver behavior, traffic simulation, emergency
evacuation, and the scholarship of teaching. He received the “Young Researcher Award” from theTransportation Research Board’s Committee on Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation in 2007. He has
co-authored close to 30 papers that have been either published or are forthcoming in peer reviewed
journals such as AAP, TRR, and IEEE Transactions on ITS. He is currently working on several
sponsored projects including a study of driver behavior funded by the National Science Foundation.

186

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies andRegulations in Japan(1950–2010)

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950-2010)
Copyright(C) 2012 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences, All rights reserved.

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

1. Introduction
Japan’s economic recovery in the aftermath of the Second World War and its rapid economic
development thereafter have been called “an Asian miracle,” placing Japan in a position of leadershipin the world economy and bringing unprecedented prosperity, both materially and spiritually, to theJapanese people. Road transportation has undergone extensive motorization and played a major role inJapan’s economic growth by enabling movement of both people and goods.
Improvements to Japan’s roadway infrastructure, however, have not always kept pace with rapid
increases in traffic volume. In 1956, a report submitted to the Japanese government by a group of
experts headed by Ralph J. Watkins characterized Japan’s roadways with the frank statement: “Theroads of Japan are incredibly bad. No other industrial nation has so completely neglected its roadsystem. ”
With economic growth comes increased traffic volume, which in turn leads to increased traffic
accidents. This is a pattern that has been observed in all countries worldwide. Any country thatexperiences rapid economic growth as Japan did will be hard pressed not to repeat this experience. Yet,
within this process are elements unique to Japan’s situation. Despite the rapid pace at which Japan’s
traffic volume increased, not only were the existing roadway infrastructure and traffic safety facilities
woefully inadequate, a lack of financial resources meant that only a limited number ofslowly-proceeding improvements could be made. Tax revenues earmarked for roadway construction
was first established in 1954, and in 1957 financing from the World Bank enabled the start ofconstruction for a series of expressways that were intended to open in time for the Tokyo Olympics in
1964. Despite all this, however, there was little funding available for improvements to traffic safety
facilities. The result was rapid increases in both injuries and fatalities due to traffic accidents.
This trend was finally reversed around 1970, at which point injuries and fatalities due to traffic
accidents in Japan began to decrease. With the allocation of funding specifically for the enhancementof traffic safety, programs to improve traffic safety facilities nationwide were at last implemented.
Additionally, law enforcement throughout Japan also continued its efforts, which had begun during the
1960s or even earlier, to stem the sharp increase in traffic accidents. In these efforts can also be seen aresourceful approach by postwar municipal police departments toward the adoption of policies thatwould contravene the draconian image created by the Peace Preservation Police and the Security
Police during the prewar era. In fact, it is difficult to overstate the extent to which traffic safety policy
is associated with postwar democratic law enforcement. This particular point, which municipal police
departments nationwide struggled incessantly with at a time when the image of prewar police
remained ingrained in much of the general public, is something that many developing countries would
do well to consider in the formulation of traffic safety policy.
Throughout the rest of this paper, I will use a variety of statistics to illustrate historical trends in traffic
accidents and the effect they had on the development of Japan’s traffic safety policies up to the present time.

187

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

2. Basic Traffic Safety Statistics
2.1 Japan’s Population
According to the National Census, Japan’s population in 2010 was 128 million, including
non-Japanese residents, which is a slight increase over the previous census taken in 2005. Looking
only at Japanese nationals, we see a slight decrease during this same time frame of approximately
37,000 people. This is the first time since the National Census began that the native population has
shown a decrease, and as many have noted, Japan’s population has peaked and is about to enter an eraof negative growth.
Figure 1 shows Japan’s population and growth rate during the postwar era. Although Japan’s
population during the prewar era did not reach the 80 million mark, the influx of postwar returnees
helped boost it over that figure in 1948, after which it continued to grow rapidly, reaching 90 million
in 1956, 100 million in 1967, and 1.2 million in 1984.
In contrast, even as the population continued to grow, the population growth rate showed a tendency todecline, and although it averaged approximately 1.1% throughout the 1970s, it fell to 0.5% in the
1980s, 0.2% in the 1990s, and to 0% during the first decade of the 21st century.
Looking at demographic age distribution, we see that Japan’s population is aging faster than any othercountry in the world. The graying of Japan’s population, as measured by the percentage of the
population that is 65 years of age or older, had reached 23.1% in the 2010 National Census, andstatistics issued by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research indicate that thisis expected to reach nearly 40% by 2050, as shown in Figure 2. In fact, protection of the elderly is amajor topic of concern in the planning of traffic safety policies in Japan, and in the not too distantfuture, Japan’s initiatives in this area could serve as models for similar policies in other countries thatmust deal with declining populations.

188

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Figure 1

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Population growth and growth rate in Japan from 1950 to 2010

Source: Japan Statistical Yearbook 2011 published by the Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications pp.
34–35

Figure 2

Historical population age distribution in Japan from 1950 to 2010 with predictions to 2055

Source: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research Website(http://www.ipss.go.jp) Population Statistics II,

Population by Age, Table 2-9 Actual and Projected Population by Age: 1920–2055(in Japanese)

2.2 Road and Highway Lengths
Figure 3 shows the total length of public roads and highways in Japan, which comprises
nationally-maintained highways, prefecturally-maintained roadways, and municipally-maintainedroads. In the 1950s, the total length of all public roads and highways had exceeded 900,000 km andhad been extended to over 1.2 million km by the end of FY2009. Since 1954, maintenance andimprovement of these roads has been provided for by tax revenues earmarked for roadway
construction, which is a major factor in this growth.

189

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Figure 3

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Public road and highway construction from FY1952 to FY2009

Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Website, Road and Traffic Yearbook 2011,(http://www.mlit.go.jp/road/ir/ir-data/tokei-nen/index.html) (in Japanese)
Note: The figures used do not reflect lengths of overlapping routes, routes not in service, or ferry routes.

Figure 4 shows the total length of expressways in service. Starting with the 1963 opening of the
Meishin (Nagoya–Kōbe) Expressway, construction of new expressways in Japan has continued
steadily year by year and reached a total length of 7,642 km by the end of FY2009.

190

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Figure 4

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Expressway construction from FY1963 to FY2009

Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Website, Road and Traffic Yearbook 2011,(http://www.mlit.go.jp/road/ir/ir-data/tokei-nen/index.html) (in Japanese)

2.3 Number of Motor Vehicle Ownership
Figure 5 shows changes in ownership of motor vehicles during the period from 1956 to 2009, andTable 1 shows the rate of change over most of that period expressed in five-year increments. In
consumer theory, motor vehicles are generally considered to be superior goods, which means thatdemand increases as income rises, but increased income from Japan’s sharp economic growth meant
that, irrespective of slight disruptions such as the 1974 oil shock, ownership of motor vehicles
increased rapidly during this period.1
Ownership of automobiles saw double-digit growth annually until 1970, as did motorcycles until 1965.
1966, in particular, became known as the First Year of the Family Car, with Japanese automakers
launching new-model mass-market cars one after the other, vastly expanding car ownership in Japan.
Entering the 1970s, however, car ownership began to grow more slowly, and growth from 1990
onward has declined steadily, with annual averages of 2.11%, 1.09%, and 0.57% for the three five-year
periods from 1991 to 2005.
Although mopeds were extremely popular as an inexpensive mode of transportation during the late1970s and early 1980s, motorcycle ownership in general has declined steadily over the course of thefour five-year periods since 1986. Rapid increases in the number of accidents involving mopeds led to
mandatory use of helmets starting in 1986.
1

In 1956, the Annual Economic Report contained a passage that has become famous as an example of the rhetoric of era:
We have left the “postwar” behind and are now about to face an entirely new situation. Our economic recovery is now
complete. Future growth will be supported by modernization. The advances of modernization will in turn be achieved throughrapid and stable economic growth. From this time on, the Japanese economy has undergone multiple cycles of expansion andcontraction but has continued to grow rapidly

191

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Figure 5

Motor vehicle ownership from 1956 to 2009

Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Motor Vehicle Ownership Monthly

Table 1

Rate of change of motor vehicle ownership (%)

Year

Total Motor

Automobiles

Motorcycles

1956–60

15.72

18.11

17.09

1961–65

23.16

13.21

17.72

1966–70

14.72

1.65

9.53

1971–75

6.54

-0.13

4.79

1976–80

4.69

6.20

5.03

1981–85

2.98

6.81

3.95

1986–90

3.59

-1.04

2.41

1991–95

2.11

-2.09

1.25

1996–2000

1.09

-1.71

0.62

2001–05

0.57

-0.77

0.37

Vehicles

Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Motor Vehicle Ownership Monthly

2.4 Number of Individuals Holding a Driver’s License
According to the National Police Agency, 81 million people held a driver’s license in Japan during
2010, which is 3.3 times the number of license holders there were when the driver’s license
management system began collecting statistical data in 1969. Except for a brief rise in the late 1970s,
however, the growth rate has been declining steadily, and it has fallen to nearly 0% in recent years.
Figure 6 shows the number of individuals holding a driver’s license and the growth rate of that number
from 1969 to 2010.

192

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Looking at age distribution, in 2010, 16% of all individuals holding a driver’s license were 65 years ofage or older, and this number is expected to increase. It will become increasingly important to takemeasures to reduce the opportunity for the elderly to drive, such as a program to encourage voluntary
relinquishment of driver’s licenses, as part of traffic safety policies specifically for elderly drivers.
Moreover, there are currently two programs for the elderly: markers for elderly drivers and courses forthe elderly. The former program has been proven to contribute to traffic safety, but the effectiveness of
the latter remains unclear (Sugimoto, 2012)

Figure 6

Number of individuals holding a driver’s license and growth rate from 1969 to 2010

Source: Page 1 of Driver’s License Statistics 2010, published in 2011 by Driver’s License Dept., National Police Agency

2.5 Number of Fatalities and Injuries due to Traffic Accidents
Figure 7 shows fatalities due to traffic accidents in Japan from 1950 to 2010. The rapid increase inmotor vehicle ownership that began in the 1950s was accompanied by a rapid increase in fatalities due
to traffic accidents. For example, there were 8,200 traffic fatalities in 1958, more than 10,000 in 1959,
and more than 12,000 in 1960. Despite a brief respite immediately thereafter, the number of traffic
fatalities generally continued to escalate rapidly, reaching a record high of 16,765 in 1970, which still
stands as the worst year ever in Japan. The latter half of the 1960s in particular, which became known
as the “First Traffic War” witnessed dramatic increases in the number of both traffic accidents, as seenin Figure 11, and fatalities.
This led to a public call for policies to reduce traffic accidents, which resulted in the Traffic Safety
Policies Basic Act being passed into law in 1970.2 This Act also served as the basis on which the2

The objective of this Act, as given in its first article, is to contribute to the enhancement of public welfare throughcomprehensive and systematic promotion of traffic safety policies, by clarifying the responsibilities of national and local
public service organizations as well as of both passengers and operators of motor vehicles, marine vessels, and aircraft withregard to traffic safety, establishing basic structures needed for traffic safety through national and local public service

193Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Central Traffic Safety Policy Council issued the First Traffic Safety Basic Action Plan in 1971. Since
that time, new plans have been drafted every five years, and 2011 saw issuance of the Ninth Traffic
Safety Basic Action Plan.
With the issuance of Traffic Safety Basic Action Plans and the joint cooperation of the public andprivate sectors in implementing traffic safety measures, the targets specified in each five-year plan had
helped reduce traffic fatalities to just over 8,000 by 1979, or roughly half of the figure for 1970. The
effect was temporary, however, and traffic fatalities began to rise yet again, reaching the 10,000 markfor a second time in 1988 and continuing to rise until 1992. But the trend has been downward sincethat time, reaching 4,863 in 2010 and 4,611 in 2011, which marked the 11th consecutive year in which
traffic fatalities had declined.

Figure 7

Fatalities (within 24 hours) due to traffic accidents from 1950 to 2010

Source: Traffic Accident Statistics published annually by the Traffic Bureau of the National Police Agency

The 9th Traffic Safety Basic Action Plan, drafted in 2011, identified the following characteristics oftraffic fatalities in recent years:(1) As shown in Table 2, traffic fatalities in which the victim was 65 years of age or older continue
at a high rate, comprising half of all fatalities. In more than 60% of these, the elderly victim
was a pedestrian or was riding a bicycle. Also, the number of fatal accidents involving elderly
drivers has increased in recent years.
(2) Fatalities of youths between the ages of 16 and 24 have dropped significantly, especially interms of deaths of passengers.
(3) Compared with North America and Europe, the percentage of traffic fatality victims who werepedestrians or riding bicycles is high.
organizations, and providing for the establishment of traffic safety planning and other measures to be implemented bynational and local public service organizations .

194

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)(4) The number of fatal accidents involving speeding violations or driving under the influence ofalcohol is declining.
Other reasons given for recent declines in traffic fatalities include the effects of improvements toroadway and traffic control facilities, diffusion and thoroughness of traffic safety education, greaterawareness and implementation of defensive driving techniques, enhanced safety features on motor
vehicles, continued enforcement of and compliance with traffic safety laws, and improvements toemergency response. Major factors that can be defined quantitatively include the following:(1) Reduced incidence of malicious or irresponsible behavior such as driving under the influenceof alcohol(2) Reduced incidence of fatalities among automobile passengers, attributed to increased use ofseat belts(3) Enhanced hazard perception at lower speeds (vehicle speeds immediately prior to accidents)(4) Reduced incident of jaywalking and other violations by pedestrians(5) Enhanced safety features on motor vehicles
Table 2 Traffic fatalities by age for 2010
15 yrs. or

65 yrs. or
16–24 yrs.

25–29 yrs.

30–39 yrs.

40–49 yrs.

50–59 yrs.

60–64

yrs.

younger

Total
older

111

469

198

378

395

489

373

2,450

4,863

2.3%

9.6%

4.1%

7.8%

8.1%

10.1%

7.7%

50.4%

100%

Source: Page 10 of the Traffic Safety Report, published by the Cabinet Office in 2011

In 1993, the National Police Agency, recognizing a need both to track fatalities caused by traffic
accidents for more than just 24 hours and to make accurate comparisons with statistics from othercountries, began to compile statistics on fatalities after the first 24 hours but within 30 days of theaccident. Total fatalities from 1993 to 2010 are shown in Table 3 and classified as being within 24
hours (A) and within 30 day (B). Although B is naturally larger than A, the ratio B/A has been
relatively steady at a value of between 1.15 and 1.20.

195

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Table 3 Traffic fatalities within 24 hour and within 30 days from 1993 to 2010
Fatalities within 24 hours (A)Fatalities within 30 days (B)

B/A

1993

10,942

13,2691.21

1994

10,64912,768

1.20

1995

10,67912,670

1.19

1996

9,942

11,674

1.17

1997

9,640

11,254

1.17

1998

9,211

10,805

1.17

1999

9,006

10,372

1.15

2000

9,066

10,403

1.15

2001

8,747

10,060

1.15

2002

8,326

9,575

1.15

2003

7,702

8,877

1.15

2004

7,358

8,492

1.15

2005

6,871

7,931

1.15

2006

6,352

7,272

1.14

2007

5,744

6,639

1.16

2008

5,155

6,023

1.17

2009

4,914

5,772

1.17

2010

4,863

5,745

1.18

Source: Traffic Safety Report, published annually by the Cabinet Office

Figure 8 shows injuries from traffic accidents. As with traffic fatalities, the number of injuries due totraffic accidents reached a peak in 1970, declined until 1977, but peaked again during the early 2000s.3

3

With traffic deaths once again passing the 10,000 mark, the years from 1988 onward, during which numerous traffic safety
policies were implemented, became known as the “Second Traffic War,” just as the 1970s had been known as the “First
Traffic War.” For example, both stronger penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol enacted in 2001 as well as theestablishment of mandatory imprisonment for dangerous driving resulting in vehicular manslaughter in 2007 have clearly had
a major effect.

196

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Figure 8

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Injuries due to traffic accidents from 1950 to 2010

Source: Traffic Accident Statistics published annually by the Traffic Bureau of the National Police Agency
Note: Data other than Total was unavailable for 1982

Looking at changes in the number of fatalities and injuries due to traffic accidents, we see that, fromthe 1990s on, major reductions in the number of fatalities have been accompanied by increases in thenumber of injuries, and that although the percentage of passengers who become fatalities in traffic
accidents has decreased, the percentage of pedestrians who become fatalities has increased, as shownin Figure 9. Also, the percentage of passengers as well as the percentage of people riding bicycles who
suffer injuries due to traffic accidents has increased, as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 9

Breakdown of fatalities due to traffic accidents from 1975 to 2010

Source: Traffic Accident Statistics published annually by the Traffic Bureau of the National Police Agency

197

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Figure 10

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Breakdown of injuries due to traffic accidents from 1975 to 2010

Source: Traffic Accident Statistics published annually by the Traffic Bureau of the National Police Agency
Note: Data for1982 unavailable

2.6 Number of Traffic Accidents
Figure 11 shows the number of accidents as well as fatalities and injuries per 10,000 vehicles from1950 to 2010. The number of traffic accidents peaked in 1969 at slightly more than 720,000. Although
this number initially dropped in the following years, from the 1980s on, Japan witnessed a slow andsteady climb that eventually exceeded 950,000 in 2004, which was the worst year on record. Since thattime, there has been a downward trend that dropped to 725,000 in 2010.
Fatalities and injuries per 10,000 vehicles have remained stable at a relatively low level since the1970s, and figures of 0.6 and 113.3, respectively, were recorded in 2010.

198

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Figure 11 Number of accidents as well as fatalities and injuries per 10,000 vehicles from 1950 to 2010
Source: Page 1 of the Traffic Accident Statistical Yearbook 2010, published by the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data
Analysis in 2011

3. Governments Agencies and Research Institutions
Involved in Traffic Safety
3.1 National Programs for Promoting Traffic Safety(1) Central Traffic Safety Policy Council
Under the provisions of the Traffic Safety Policies Basic Act, which passed into law in 1970, thePrime Minister’s Office established a Central Traffic Safety Policy Council, which was later moved tothe jurisdiction of the Cabinet Office in 2001. This Council, which is chaired by the prime minister,comprises the chief cabinet secretary, the heads of specified government agencies, and other ministers
of state for special missions as named by the prime minister and is responsible for promoting thedrafting and implementation of Traffic Safety Basic Action Plans.

(2) Traffic Policy Institute
In 1960, the Traffic Accident Prevention Policy Institute, which had been a part of the cabinet since its
inception in 1955, was dissolved and reorganized under its present name as part of the Prime
Minister’s Office. Later, in 1984, it was transferred to the Management and Coordination Agency. The
Institute is responsible for promoting policies specified in Traffic Safety Basic Action Plans as well as
for the planning and promoting of other important comprehensive policies related to traffic safety.

199

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

(3) General coordination of traffic safety measures and administration
With the passing into law of the Traffic Safety Policies Basic Act in 1970, the Overland Traffic Safety
Survey Office, which had been established as part of the Prime Minister’s Office in 1965, wasreorganized as the Traffic Safety Policy Office. Later, in 1984, it was transferred to the Management
and Coordination Agency. During reorganization of the central ministries in 2001, most of the duties
performed by the Traffic Safety Policy Office as part of the Management and Coordination Agency
were transferred to the office of the Director-General for Policies on Cohesive Society Planning in the
Cabinet Office. Accordingly, the director-general is now responsible for administration of planningand proposals necessary to promote unification of government measures for ensuring traffic safety as
well as general coordination and administration of the drafting and promoting of Traffic Safety Basic
Action Plans.

3.2 Prefectural and Municipal Programs for Promoting Traffic Safety(1) Prefectural Traffic Safety Policy Councils
The Traffic Safety Policies Basic Act provides for the establishment of Prefectural Traffic Safety
Policy Councils in each prefecture as well as for the voluntary establishment of Municipal Traffic
Safety Policy Councils in municipalities that wish to establish them. These Councils are responsible
for promoting deliberation and implementation of comprehensive measures related to overland traffic
safety as well as the drafting and implementation of traffic safety plans.

(2) Prefectural Traffic Policy Institutes
Prefectural Traffic Policy Institutes are established in each prefecture to function in a mannercorresponding to the national Traffic Policy Institute.

(3) General coordination of traffic safety measures and administration
These prefectural and municipal organizations are to establish traffic policy departments, traffic safety
policy offices, and other agencies as necessary to coordinate administration and comprehensive
promotion of traffic safety policies on their behalf.

200

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Figure 12

Kojima, Goto, Kato

National, prefectural, and municipal programs for promoting traffic safety

Source: Cabinet Office Website (http://www8.cao.go.jp/koutu/taisaku/suishin.html) (in Japanese)

3.3 Major Research Institutions Involved in Traffic Safety(1) Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA)
Established in 1992 under the auspices of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, ITARDA
performs comprehensive survey research on topics related to traffic accidents and their relationship tohumans, road traffic conditions, and motor vehicles. URL: http://www.itarda. or.jp/english/(2) National Agency for Automotive Safety and Victim’s Aid (NASVA)
Established in 2003 under the auspices of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, NASVA
provides services related to the prevention of motor vehicle accidents and the promotion of aid tovictims of traffic accidents. URL: http://www.nasva.go.jp/mamoru/en/201

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

(3) National Research Institute of Police Science (NRIPS)
Established in 1959 as an affiliated organization of the National Police Agency, NRIPS provides awide ranges of services related to forensic sciences, crime prevention, and the prevention of traffic
accidents. URL: http://www.npa.go.jp/nrips/en/index.html

4. Changes in Traffic Safety Policies
Traffic safety policies in Japan can be generally classified into one of four categories: investment in traffic
safety facilities, improvement of the driver’s license system, traffic safety education, and enforcement oftraffic rules. Of these, full-fledged investment in traffic safety facilities began in the late 1960s, whileearlier policies focused on the remaining three categories. The one requiring the most effort, however, wasenforcement of traffic rules. Given that it is the role of the police department to enforce traffic rules, greatcare was taken to contravene any perception of draconian authority.
For example, the Road Traffic Enforcement Act was passed into law in 1947, but when this act wasrevised in 1960, the word enforcement was removed from the name, so that it became the Road Traffic
Act. The reasoning behind this decision had to do with the fact that traffic regulations are not a part ofcriminal law as well as the desire to distinguish postwar law enforcement from its prewar predecessors
and to create legislation that would foster trust between the law enforcement and the general public.
This has become an enduring theme of postwar traffic regulation, and one characteristic of traffic
safety education in this period is cooperation between the public and the private sector, with only
indirect contributions from law enforcement. The following is a roughly chronological all review ofthe history of traffic safety policy in Japan.

4.1 Driver’s License System
The basic laws affecting the driver’s license system in Japan are the prewar Regulations for Motor
Vehicle Enforcement of 1919 and the postwar Road Traffic Enforcement Act and Regulations forRoad Traffic Enforcement, both of 1947. In addition, driver’s licenses were originally handled at theprefectural level. A distinction is made between licenses for automobiles and those for motorcycles,with the exception of small-displacement motorcycles that may also be operated by holders of otherlicenses. Since 1965, all two-wheeled vehicles with displacements of 50 cc or higher may be operated
by holders of a motorcycle license. Figure 6 above shows the number of individuals holding a driver’s
license in Japan from 1969 to 2010.
A characteristic of Japan’s driver license system is that 95% of all holders of driver’s licenses receive
driver education at an authorized driving school. Although similar driving schools exist in Europe andNorth America, there is no obligation to undergo class work and training at an authorized institution,
as there is in Japan. Although driving schools existed during the prewar era, there were no unified

202

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

standards. Just as with driver’s licenses, the Road Traffic Enforcement Act and Regulations for Road
Traffic Enforcement of 1947 are the basic laws affecting driving schools, and the Road Traffic Act of1960 provided for the current system of authorized driving schools. The schools must be authorized by
the National Public Safety Commission, and the requirements for receiving authorization include
certified instructors; the construction of a course with a specific area, geometry, and structure; and theuse of educational programs and facilities that conform to criteria given in the Road Traffic Act.
Students are required to pass a driving proficiency test prior to graduation, and a unique characteristicof this system is that those who do graduate are exempted from having to retake the proficiency testwhen they apply for a driver’s license.
Another characteristic is that holders may renew their license at a minimal cost and after only a brief
refresher course even without any actual experience behind the wheel. In fact, since even people who
do not actually drive are able to renew their driver’s license just as long as they are not guilty of any
violation or accident, a driver’s license is automatically “good for life,” and as a result is often
renewed merely for its convenience as a means of identification. Many have pointed out, of course, thedisadvantages of a system that permits so-called “paper drivers” to continue to renew their license
indefinitely in spite of the fact that their proficiency is never retested and thus the level of their driving
skills or their ability to drive safely remains unknown.

4.2 No Honking, Please—Public and Private Sector Cooperationin Traffic Safety Education4
The present day issue of noise pollution due to overuse of car horns that is prevalent throughout Asia
was an issue in postwar Japan, as well. The following case study of the No Honking, Please movementin Japan is presented as an example of how law enforcement can contribute to public awareness of
traffic safety.
The No Honking, Please movement was part of grassroots efforts to reduce traffic noise in the 1950s
that were also known under names like Stop Traffic Noise or Refrain from Honking. Noise came fromthings like trolleys, construction sites, and advertising attractions, but the single largest source was thehorns of motor vehicles. Noise levels in 1953 were 70 to 75 phons.
The use of horns as necessary to ensure safety when passing or when driving slowly had beenrecognized legally. Article 13 of the Road Traffic Enforcement Act that came into effect in 1948
stated that “actions necessary when following or passing vehicles or horses are hereby stipulated.” In
addition, Article 24, Paragraph 2 of the same Act further stipulated that “when overtaking anothervehicle, the following vehicle must whistle, shout, or otherwise signal its presence to the leading
vehicle as a warning to ensure traffic safety when passing.” Moreover, Article 20 of the Road Traffic
Enforcement Act stated that “actions necessary when a vehicle or horse, or railway vehicle must move
4

This section is based on Kato’s contribution to International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences,
Research Project Report H2296 (2011).

203

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

slowly are hereby stipulated,” and Article 29 of that same law states that “a vehicle or horse, or
railway vehicle must whistle, shout, or otherwise signal its presence when passing intersections wherevisibility is poor or the top of slopes, curves, crosswalks or crowded areas.”
Thus, the sounding of a horn was a legal obligation in instances such as these. As reported byTominaga (1993), when movements to mitigate noise began, traffic officers requested clarification as
to whether or not they should enforce laws requiring the sounding of horns, and were told that once
movements to mitigate noise began, there would be no need for enforcement.
In Tokyo, an anti-noise ordinance was enacted in November, 1953, and the Refrain from Honking
movement began on January 1, 1954. The effect, however, was less than hoped for, because theaffected areas included only the area bounded by Hibiya, Otemachi, Nihonbashi, Edobashi,
Shinbashi-ichome, Toranomon, and Keishicho [the Metropolitan Police Department].
The first area to achieve results was Osaka. In the postwar period, rampant use of loudspeakers on city
streets led to numerous complaints to Osaka City Hall. After consultations involving the Osaka
Prefectural Police Department, other related organizations, and citizen’s groups, a Quiet City
movement began on March 1, 1958. The original objective was to reduce noise from car horns andimprove the manners of pedestrians. An early slogan was Go Slow and Pay Attention without Honking,and a Thank You, Drivers campaign as well as an essay and a poster contest were held to publicize theevent to elementary-school students and small children. With the success of these activities in Osaka,
similar programs were seen throughout Japan.
The No Honking, Please movement emphasized the importance of quality of life over the letter of thelaw, and showed that cooperation between the public and private sectors as well as grassroots
movements could achieve change without the participation of law enforcement, and a review of thisera is certain to provide plenty of useful ideas to other countries where there is concern over noisefrom car horns.

4.3 Improvements to Traffic Safety Facilities
4.3.1 Improvements and financing
Article 2, Paragraph 3 of the 1966 Act for Promotion of Improvements to Traffic Safety Facilities
specifies two types of improvements for special consideration. The first is projects for the installation
either of (1) traffic signals, roadway signage, and roadway markers or for (2) traffic control centers,
both of which are undertaken by Prefectural Public Safety Commissions.
The second is projects for the installation either of (1) overhead or underground pedestrian crossings aswell as other emergency measures necessary for ensuring traffic safety within sidewalks, bicycle paths,
and other segments of roadways or other enhancements of roadways as specified by government
ordinance and (2) roadway signage (route number markers and maps for pedestrians), guardrails, street
lamps or other appurtenant devices specified by government ordinance as necessary to ensure traffic

204Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

safety, and lane markers, both of which are undertaken by the roadway administrator. The funding forthese improvements was also divided into two major classifications, which are explained below.

4.3.2 Road improvement special accounting and improvements to traffic safety facilities(1) Road improvement special accounting and road finances
Article 13 of the Public Finance Act specifies that accounting procedures for the Japanese government
be divided into general accounting and special accounting, but both the Japanese constitution and the
Public Finance Act treat special accounting procedures in the same manner as general accounting
procedures. Moreover, there are transfers from general accounting to special accounting that preventthese two from being completely independent. The difference between special accounting and generalaccounting lies in provisions for itemized reporting of annual revenues and expenditures. Based on
this, a budget specifically for roadway construction must allocate specific annual revenues to specificannual expenditures—in other words, road improvement projects—which are reported under road
improvement special accounting procedures (and later as a road improvement account under social
capital improvement project special accounting procedures).
7,000,000,000

In units of 1,000 yen
5,893,281,719

6,000,000,000

5,000,000,000

4,000,000,000

3,000,000,000

2,000,000,000

1,000,000,000

FiscalYear

65,224,974
0

Figure 13

Road improvement special accounting annual expenditures from FY1958 to FY2009

Source: Table No. 8—Special accounting annual revenue and expenditure since FY1890, published by the Ministry of Finance in 2011 Note:
Using data for road improvement accounts under social capital improvement project special accounting from FY2008 settlements

Figure 13 shows road improvement special accounting annual expenditures from FY1958 to FY2009.
This figure shows that what was originally a 65 billion yen budget eventually grew in scale to a record

205

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)5.89 trillion yen in FY1995. Naturally, these figures would need to be adjusted for inflation in aserious comparative study, but even the raw data shows us the extent that road improvements in Japangrew in a short period of time.
Table 4 Road finances and administrative authority
National(Road special
accounting)National
taxes

Gasoline tax

100%

LPG tax

50%

Motor vehicle tax

Approx. 13%100%

Motor vehicle acquisition tax
taxes

Municipal

50%

Approx. 53%

Diesel oil delivery tax

Local

Prefectural

Local road tax

Approx. 30%

Approx. 70%

58%

42%

Local motor vehicle tax

100%

Local LPG tax

100%

Source: Excerpted from budget deletions given on page 36 of Goto (2009)
Note: All LPG tax (prefectural rate of 50%) goes to local LPG taxes, and all motor vehicle tax (municipal rate of 13%) goes to local
motor vehicle taxes. Two-thirds of all revenues from motor vehicle taxes go to national taxes, 77.5% of which are used for road finance.

Figure 14

Flowchart for road improvement special accounting annual revenue andexpenditure until FY2008
Source: Excerpted from page 36 of Goto (2009)

Note: The fractions in the chart indicate portions of tax revenue distributed. Also, road improvement special accounting includes
funds from other industrial investment special accounting and NTT finances.

206

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Road users pay a variety of taxes related to that use, as shown in Table 4. This system is based on theconcept that those who extract benefit from roadway improvement should also bear the cost, and ismodeled on the Highway Trust Fund in the United States. Funds earmarked for roadway construction
include national taxes such as gasoline taxes, LPG taxes, and motor vehicle taxes, which are subject toroad improvement special accounting procedures. As shown in Figure 14, funds from road
improvement special accounting are distributed to local public agencies through prefectural road
improvement interim revenue projects, ordinary supplemental projects, and other projects. The
framework for financing of road improvement in Japan has not changed significantly since 1958, but
the system shown above was discontinued in March of 2009 and road finances were reclassified to fallunder the general budget the following April.
One advantage of specifically allocated budgets is the underlying logic of expecting those who extract
benefit to bear the cost—a relationship that is not always clear when financing comes from the generalbudget. Another benefit lies in the fact that road improvement is an investment with a long period ofgestation, and a specifically allocated budget helps ensure stable financing. Disadvantages include alack of flexibility and the potential for wastefulness or surpluses when revenues are high. Yet many
feel the same disadvantages still exist even under a general budget, and cite difficulties in comparing
systems on a qualitative basis.

(2) Financing for traffic safety facilities
The law that provides the basis for expenditure of road financing on traffic safety facilities is theEmergency Measures for Improvements to Traffic Safety Facilities Act, which passed into law in 1966.
After a number of revisions, this law was revised and renamed Promotion of Improvements to Traffic
Safety Facilities Act in March, 2003. Later, the Traffic Safety Facilities Improvement Five-Year Plan
was integrated together with other long-term social capital improvement plans into the Social Capital
Improvement Priority Plan.
Under this same law, based on the incidence of traffic accidents and other criteria such as traffic
volume, the Japanese government designated “roads recognized as being particularly important toensuring traffic safety” as eligible for “complete or partial funding, or provision of supplemental
funding, from the national government for improvements to traffic safety facilities.” These were called“special traffic safety facility improvement projects.” In addition, the Prefectural Public Safety
Commissions and roadway administrators who were to be responsible for implementing these projects
were required to create traffic safety facility improvement plans based on a national Traffic Safety
Facilities Improvement Three-Year Plan (which was later revised into a Traffic Safety Facilities
Improvement Five-Year Plan and integrated into the Social Capital Improvement Priority Plan Act).
Under this law, the Japanese government would bear one-half the cost of special traffic safety facility
improvement projects undertaken by the roadway administrator of national highways, prefectural
roadways, and municipal roads as well as provide supplemental funding amounting to 55% of the cost207

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Katoof traffic safety projects undertaken on municipal roads designated as school routes by government
ordinance.

(3) Traffic safety policy special funding accounts
A system for traffic fines was instituted as part of the 1968 revision of the Road Traffic Act, andserved as the basis for the collection of fines.5 Accounting procedures for these monies specified thatthey should be used to defray the cost of improvements to road traffic safety facilities. Specifically,
these monies were to defray the cost of the installation and maintenance for road traffic safety facility
projects undertaken independently by local public agencies that were designated by government
ordnance, and were used for traffic signals, roadway signage, pedestrian crossings, and other facilities,
under the terms of special accounting, as described above.
Since FY1983, financing that had previously been handled with general accounting procedures has
been performed as special accounting procedures for distribution of tax revenues. Special accounting
procedures for distribution of tax revenues is a special accounting procedure that was instituted
together with the establishment of a system for distribution of local tax revenues in 1954, and ishandled by the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and the Ministryof Finance.

5

After the Road Traffic Act passed into law, the number of traffic violation tickets issued continued to increase, and in orderto provide prompt processing, a common format for traffic violation tickets was used after January, 1963. The number oftickets issued, however, continued to increase, and to further expedite prompt processing, payment of a fine to a local
government agency in lieu of criminal prosecution was instituted for violations that did not involve criminal negligence. Thus,a system for traffic fines was introduced. Drivers stopped for traffic violations were now given traffic violation tickets rather
than a summons to appear. Summons to appear were thereafter used only for [more serious] infractions that were not subject
to fines. Traffic violation tickets included traffic violation notifications, license storage receipt, traffic accident form, traffic
violation notification, enforcement form, notification form, traffic law violation ledger, and other documentation.

208

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

120,000,000

In units of 1,000 yen
100,863,666
100,000,000

80,000,000

60,000,000

40,000,000

20,000,000

FiscalYear

0

Figure 15 Expenditures from traffic safety policy special funding accounts per special accounting
procedures for distribution of tax revenue from FY1983 to FY2009
Source: Table No. 8—Special accounting annual income and expenditure since FY1890, published by the Ministry of Finance in 2011

Figure 15 shows expenditures from traffic safety policy special funding accounts per special
accounting procedures for distribution of tax revenue from FY1983 to FY2009. As can be seen,
expenditures from traffic safety policy special funding accounts peaked in FY1987 at just over 100
billion yen, but expenditures continue at a rate of approximately 80 billion yen annually. Also, annual
revenue for FY2009 was 79,876,220,000 yen, the majority of which (73,864,300,000 yen, in fact),came from fines paid against traffic violation tickets. A comparison of these figures reveals a shortfall
of approximately 5,191,830,000 yen, which was attributed to “less revenue than anticipated frompayment of fines” in the Ministry of Finance’s Settlement of Special Accounts for FY2009.
A review of traffic safety policies will show the benefits of allocating monies from payment of fines tospecific uses and of having a budget specifically for roadway construction. In Japan, the conversion of
specific budgets to general finance has brought about a reduction in public works projects. In the
United States, as well, even at the state level, allocation of fuel taxes to general finance usually leads
to reduced expenditure on roads. History shows us the necessity for having those who extract benefit
bear the cost and for handling improvements to roadways and safety facilities as a single entity.

209

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

4.3.3 Traffic safety facility improvement plans and social capital improvement plans6
Since 1955, motor vehicle traffic volumes in Japan have continued to increase rapidly, as has theincidence of traffic accidents. In response to this, the government established a Traffic Accident
Prevention Policy Institute in 1955. This organization was dissolved and reorganized under the
auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office as the Traffic Policy Institute in 1960. Another measure for
implementing traffic accident policy was the establishment of a Special Traffic Ministers Conferencein 1961, which was dissolved and reorganized as the Traffic Ministers Council in 1965.
Despite these measures, traffic accidents continued to rise, and in order to implement further policies
against traffic accidents, the aforementioned Emergency Measures for Improvements to Traffic Safety
Facilities Act was passed into law and served as the basis for establishment of the First Three-Year
Plan and implementation of traffic safety facility improvement projects in 1966.
Prior to this, improvements to roadway signage and other traffic safety facilities were considered the
responsibility of prefectural Public Safety Commissions, which were authorized to enact traffic
regulations, and because of this, the cost of such improvement projects was borne by the prefectures,with few subsidies from the Japanese government. With the dramatic rise in traffic casualties that
accompanied increased motorization, however, the need for all traffic safety facilities throughout
Japan to conform to a given standard was recognized. Thus, in 1965, with the publication of
Emergency Measures to Effect Thorough Traffic Accident Prevention, the Traffic Policy Institutecalled for prioritizing the upgrading and expansion of traffic safety facilities, thereby paving the way
for the Emergency Measures for Improvements to Traffic Safety Facilities Act.
The purpose of this Act was “to provide for improvements to traffic conditions, thereby preventing
traffic accidents and promoting the smooth flow of traffic, through implementation of traffic safety
facility improvement projects based on comprehensive planning for roadways that are sites of frequent
accidents or that are considered to be necessary to ensuring traffic safety in emergencies,” and it
contained specific provisions for planning, roadway designation, and financing.
With these measures began a system under which the government systematically supplemented
prefectural efforts to raise traffic safety facilities to a specific level. The Emergency Measures for
Improvements to Traffic Safety Facilities Act continued to serve as a basis for government subsidy of
traffic safety facility improvement projects until 2002. Under the provisions of this Act, projects whichwere subsidized partially or in whole were referred to as “Designated traffic safety facility
improvement projects” and all other projects were referred to as “local independent traffic safety
facility improvement projects,” and authorization of subsidies was reviewed each time a new plan was
implemented.
As shown in Table 5, improvement plans based on the Act were three-year plans until 1971, and withthe passing into law of the Traffic Safety Policies Basic Act, all new plans after 1970 were expanded
6

Much of this chapter is based on material from Sumitomo (2008) and pages 551–562 of the Japan Highway Users
Conference (2009).

210

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

to five-year plans. In 1996, the need for structural reform of public finance led to a further expansionof two years, resulting in the sixth plan becoming a seven-year plan but without any change in volume(budget) of projects.
Table 5 Traffic safety facility improvement project plans
Designated projects
Description

Plan

Actual99(10 yen)(10 yen)Local independent projects

Achieved

Plan

ActualAchieved

(%)

9

9

(%)

(10 yen)(10 yen)First Three-Year Plan

Roadway administrator

72.19

72.21

100.0

13.40

25.32

–

(1966 to 1968)

Public Safety Commission

6.03

6.03

100.0

3.80

11.20

–

Second Three-Year Plan

Roadway administrator

75.00

50.74

67.7

62.30

45.62

73.2

(1969 to 1971)

Public Safety Commission

4.63

2.85

61.6

23.07

15.11

65.5

First Five-Year Plan

Roadway administrator

229.28238.09103.8

230.41

232.4

100.9

(1971 to 1975)

Public Safety Commission

68.55

72.09

105.2

105.27100.01

95.0

Second Five-Year Plan

Roadway administrator

570.00592.21103.9

411.53452.55110.0(1976 to 1980)

Public Safety Commission

150.00142.4194.9

230.00163.64

71.1

Third Five-Year Plan

Roadway administrator

910.00815.3889.6

687.69614.4089.3(1981 to 1985)

Public Safety Commission

190.00131.2069.0

304.96236.54

77.6

Fourth Five-Year Plan

Roadway administrator

1,350.0

1,159.60

100.8

1,023.50

773.91

75.6(1986 to 1990)

Public Safety Commission

135.00116.50101.3

368.01350.91

95.4

Fifth Five-Year Plan

Roadway administrator

1,850.00

1,763.50

110.9

1,440.00

1,309.10

90.9(1991 to 1995)

Public Safety Commission

165.00167.80108.3

497.00514.90103.6

Seven-Year Plan

Roadway administrator

2,130.00

2,560.60

120.2

1,950.00

1,584.40

81.3(1996 to 2002)

Public Safety Commission

190.00279.70147.2

630.00614.4097.5

Source: Page 552 of the Japan Highway Users Conference (2009)
Note 1: Local independent projects in the First Three-Year Plan include school routes for the FY1967 and FY1968 only.
Note 2: Due to interim restructuring, achieved figures for the Second Three-Year Plan include the FY1969 and FY1970 only.
Note 3: Designated projects in the Fourth, Fifth, and Seven-Year Plans reflect total values that include adjustment costs.

In contrast, based on the Social Capital Improvement Priority Plan Act (2003 Law No. 20), traffic
safety facility improvement projects were incorporated together with projects from eight other fields(roadways, airports, ports, urban parks, sewage systems, flood control, steep slopes, and shorelines)
into a five-year social capital improvement priority plan for the period from FY2003. Table 6 showsmajor changes that came about with the passing into law of the Social Capital Improvement Priority
Plan Act, as compared to roadway improvement five-year plans. These include (1) changeover fromthe conventional project volume base to one of outcome evaluation and (2) integration of plans from avariety of fields into a single, interdisciplinary plan.
Table 7 describes specific traffic safety facility improvement projects implemented as part of theSecond Social Capital Improvement Plan for the period from FY2008 to FY2012. Of these, the “safe211

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

walking area” was intended for implementation in areas with a relatively high percentage of traffic
fatalities among pedestrians and bicycle riders as a [multi‑]faceted approach to preventing accidents,
which was considered necessary for the 796 locations nationwide designated by the National Police
Agency or the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in areas where policies are
implemented primarily by municipalities. Also, the term “sites of multiple accidents” refers to one of
the 3,956 locations nationwide designated by the National Police Agency or the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism for priority implementation of countermeasures due to a highincidence of accidents.
Table 6 Comparison of conventional roadway improvement five-year plans with social capital
improvement priority plans (typical items)
Conventional roadway improvement five-year plans

Social capital improvement priority plan

Roadway extension, area, improvement rate, or other

Evaluation of resultant impact based on multiple

project volume basis

new indices (increased use of ETC, etc.)

Cost reduction targets

No particular targets

15% reduction compared with FY2002

Tie-ins with other plans

Independent roadway improvements (few tie-ins)

Integration of plans from nine different fields

Targets

Source: Excerpt from page 34 of Goto (2009)

Table 7 Specific traffic safety facility improvement projects implemented as part of the Second Social
Capital Improvement Plan for the period
PolicyMeasuresTo create a safe andImprovement of traffic

secure road traffic

safetyenvironment suitable
for a low birthrate,graying population.

Indices
Rate of casualties in traffic accidents
Approx. 1.09 accidents per million vehicle kilometer in 2007 reduced 10% to 1.0
accidents per million vehicle kilometer by 2012.

Promotion of policies for

Reduce casualty rates for pedestrians and bicycle riders in safe walking areas

pedestrians and bicycle

20% reduction by 2012 of casualty rates for pedestrians and bicycle riders in areas

riders as well as policies

where policies are implemented

for community roads

Universal access at traffic signals along major community thoroughfares
Increase from 83% in 2007 to 100% by 2012
Universal access along designated roadways
Increase from 51% in FY2007 to 75% by FY2012

Promotion of policies for

Reduce casualty rates at sites of multiple accidents

truck roads and arteries

30% reduction by 2012 of casualty rates at sites of multiple accidents
Reduce casualty rates at locations with advanced traffic signals
Reduce by 40,000 casualties per year by 2012

Policies for

Promotion of policies formaintaining smoothsmooth traffic flow

Reduce waiting times through advanced traffic signal control systems
Reduce waiting time by 220 million person-hours annually by 2012 in areas where

flow of traffic as wellpolicies are implemented

as countermeasures

Lost time at railway crossingsfor environmental

10% reduction from 1.32 million person-hours per day in FY2007 to 1.18 million

issuesperson-hours per day by FY2012
Reduce CO₂ emissions through advanced traffic signal control systems
Reduce by 460,000 tons annually by 2012

Source: Excerpted from pages 33–34 of Policy Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (2011)212

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

With the passing into law of the Social Capital Improvement Priority Plan Act, the Emergency
Measures for Improvements to Traffic Safety Facilities Act was revised and renamed the Act for
Promotion of Traffic Safety Facility Improvement Projects, thereby establishing a framework thatenabled the designation of roadways eligible for subsidies, the drafting of implementation planscompliant with social capital improvement priority plans, the implementation of priority projects suchas special subsidies requiring the coordination of both the National Police Agency and the Ministry ofLand, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Specifically, the following three points are worthy ofmention.
(1) Deletion of provisions related to comprehensive traffic safety facility improvement projectseven-year planning as well as proposals for plans related to traffic safety facility improvement
projects by municipalities(2) Designation of roadways considered to be particularly in need of improvements to traffic safety
conditions as “designated traffic safety facility improvement project roadways” by the National
Public Safety Commission and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
(3) Drafting of plans by Prefectural Public Safety Commissions and roadway administrators per
implementation of designated traffic safety facility improvement projects that are compliant aswell as by agreement concurrent with priority plans

4.4 The Japan Traffic Safety Movement and the Japan Traffic
Safety Association7
4.4.1 Objectives and organization of the Japan traffic safety movement
Japan’s traffic safety movement began with the objective of promoting and promulgating traffic safety.
Based on a general outline for implementation of a national traffic safety week by national and local
law enforcement, it coordinated nationwide traffic safety programs. The original national traffic safety
week began on December 10, 1948. In 1952, similar events were held in both the spring and the fall,
and in 1954 began to use the name “traffic safety movement” in place of “traffic safety week.” In 1961,
national traffic safety movement programs were held in the fall, but in spring of the following year,
the Traffic Policy Institute, which had been established by the Cabinet Office in 1960, took the reins in
the planning and implementation of the movement. Starting in 1976, the Traffic Policy Institute began
holding activities in both spring and fall, a pattern which continues to this day. Festivities include
parades and other promotional activities throughout Japan.
A general outline of the autumn 2010 Japan traffic safety movement is as follows.

7This section is based on Kato’s contribution to International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences,
Reseach Project Report H2296 (2011).

213

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)(1) Objective: To promote comprehensively the prevention of traffic accidents by promulgating
traffic safety principles extensively to the Japanese people, encouraging compliance withtraffic rules and proper traffic etiquettes, and fostering initiatives from the Japanese people for
improvements in the road traffic environment(2) Period: For 10 days from September 21st to 30th, 2010. September 30 has been designated a“Day of Zero Traffic Deaths” since 2008.
(3) Sponsoring government agencies include the Prime Minister’s Office and nine other ministries,
prefectural and municipal governments, and 14 private organizations. In addition, more than
150 private organizations participate as cosponsors.
(4) Nationwide priority points include 1. Prevention of traffic accidents involving pedestrians orbicycle riders at dusk or at night (in particular, promote the use of reflective materials), 2. The
proper use of seat belts or child seats by all passengers as well as the elimination of driving
while under the influence of alcohol. Previously, 5 to 8 priority points were featured, but
starting in 1969 were reduced to 2 or 3 at most.

35,000

Accidents,
people件，人

人
People300

30,000250

Fallfatalities (right)
秋・死者(人，左軸)
Springaccidents
春・発生件数(件)25,000200

20,000150

Spring injuries
春・負傷者数(人)Fall
accidents
秋・発生件数(件)
Fall injuries
秋・負傷者数(人)15,000100

10,000
5,000

50

0

0
2000 01

Figure 16

Springfatalities (right)
春・死者(人，左軸)

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

Traffic accidents during traffic safety movement activities for the past 10 years
Source: Traffic Safety Report

Figure 16 shows the number of traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities that have occurred during
traffic safety movement activities for the past ten years. As can be seen, all these have declined inrecent years. Although there are no significant differences between the figures for spring and fall, we
see that from 2001 to 2002, 2002 to 2003, and from 2008 to 2009, the trend in spring was the reverseof the trend in fall.

4.4.2 The Japan Traffic Safety Association(1) History
The Japan Traffic Safety Association is the centralized coordinating agency for other regional,
prefectural, and local traffic safety associations throughout Japan. It is one of the organizations thathelps organize traffic safety movement activities nationwide and was established for the purpose of214

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

promoting safety policies for the promulgation of traffic safety awareness and the prevention of traffic
accidents.
As ownership of motor vehicles increased in Japan, so did awareness of traffic accidents, leading to
the establishment of traffic safety associations throughout the country. With economic growth camethe widening use of motor vehicles for transportation, and in recognition of a need to unify nationwide
policies for preventing traffic accidents, the Japan Traffic Safety Association was established in 1950.
Membership originally comprised prefectural traffic safety associations, traffic safety associations inmajor urban areas, the National Public Safety Commission, and law enforcement officials.
Reorganization of law enforcement on a prefectural level in 1955 also led local traffic safety
associations to a similar reorganization and to membership in the Japan Traffic Safety Association. As
traffic accidents continued their rapid increase, however, the Road Traffic Act was passed into law,and in 1961 the Japan Traffic Safety Association was incorporated as a foundation.
Within the articles of incorporation of the foundation, as a means to achieve the objectives of
preventing traffic accidents and furthering compliance with traffic safety laws, it was stated that, in
addition to improvements to traffic conditions and the implementation of suitable measures by thegovernment, heightened awareness of the need for traffic safety in each and every individual isparamount. The Japan Traffic Safety Association was established to serve as a central institution forthe organization of public sentiment into a grassroots movement capable of answering the need for
public action through understanding and cooperation at every level of society.

(2) Programs
The Association has undertaken a wide variety of programs since its establishment, including its roleas co-organizer of national traffic safety movement activities, and continues to operate major programs,some of which are given below.
1)

Organization of the Traffic Safety National Movement Central Conference: held annually inJanuary since 1961, this conference includes presentations by special-interest groups (regionaland family working group, traffic safety education working group, and corporate working group)
as well as a general assembly.

2)

Traffic Honor and Green Cross Awards (gold and silver awards)

3)

Contests for annual traffic safety slogans and family traffic safety essays

4)

Publication of “People and Vehicles,” and educational traffic safety magazine

These traffic safety programs were even influenced in some small way by student protests of the 1960s.
Hora (1978) points out that, despite a lack of conclusive documentation, the importance of community
relations in establishing close connections with individual citizens became evident in the association’s
activities at that time.
I’d also like to provide a brief explanation regarding the annual traffic safety slogan.
The first national contest for a safety slogan was held with the cooperation of the National Police

215

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Agency, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Mainichi Newspaper in 1965, and the winning slogans
were used in national traffic safety movement activities the following spring. The winning slogans
received an award from the prime minister, and that year’s choices were “Brake early, and go slow”(for drivers), “Look again and raise your hand before you cross the street” (for pedestrians), and “Theworld prays for traffic safety” (general audiences).
Since that time, these contests of been held annually and the Association’s Website claims that it hasreceived more than 10,000,000 entries all told. Particularity notable were 1967’s “Stay out of thestreet! Cars can’t stop that quickly” (for children) and 1973’s “Japan isn’t that big. Where are you
going is such a hurry?” (for drivers), which became buzzwords in their day. Starting in 1971, a poster
contest featuring the annual slogan was begun, and has garnered 300,000 entries in total.
Each of these slogans are a reflection of the times in which they were created, and popular topics
include speed, driving under the influence of alcohol, keeping proper distance with the lead car,seatbelts, helmets, and other major themes of traffic safety. Themes for FY2010 included the use ofcell phones by drivers, the wearing of reflective materials by pedestrians and bicycle riders, and theproper use of lights, brakes, and helmets by children on bicycles.
While it is true that national traffic safety movement activities are government operated, theireffectiveness can be seen by the decline in traffic accidents during the programs. Given that traffic
conditions and the causes of traffic accidents vary from region to region, it is worth noting that
prefectural law enforcement and local traffic safety associations work hard to develop programs thatare best suited for their localities.

5. Conclusion
At the end of the Second World War, Japan entered a phase of rapid economic growth and equally
rapid motorization. Despite this, there was a notable lack of capital investment in not just good roads
but traffic signals, roadway signage, and other traffic safety facilities. Since the passing into law of the
Traffic Safety Policies Basic Act in 1970, a total of eight traffic safety basic action plans have been
implemented. As a result, fatalities due to traffic accidents in 2001 reached the 4,611 mark after
declining steadily for a 11 years in a row. This is roughly one quarter of the 16,765 deaths recorded in
1975, which was Japan’s worst year ever for traffic fatalities. In the roughly 40 intervening years, wehave been blessed by the efforts of organizations concerned with traffic safety to reduce traffic
fatalities. And although injuries due to traffic accidents have been on the decline for the past several
years, both the number of injuries and the number of accidents continued to rise into first decade of the
21st century. Clearly, our efforts must now turn towards reducing traffic accidents overall.
Trends toward a low-growth, graying population in Japan continue to gather momentum. As thesetrends advance, holders of driver’s licenses, automobile ownership, and the population itself will a216

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Katoeither remain stable or begin to decline, but recent data clearly shows that these things in and ofthemselves will not necessarily lead to a decline in traffic accidents. This suggests an obvious urgency
to emphasize traffic safety to the elderly. The elderly are more likely not just to be victims of traffic
accidents but to be perpetrators, as well, and looking at recent trends in traffic accidents, we see that
traffic fatalities of the elderly remain high and traffic accidents caused by elderly drivers are on theincrease.
In this way, as social conditions change over time, so do public expectations concerning traffic safety
policy. Researchers must demonstrate the effectiveness of these policies. Those responsible for policy
must then apply the research results to improving policies to make them more effective. In other words,
a prompt response to changing times by government and related agencies with farsighted and effective
policies will lead to a reduction in future traffic accidents.

References:
Committee for the 45th Anniversary of the Watkins Report (Ed.) (2001). Report of the Watkins
Commission for the Study of the Kobe-Nagoya Expressway. Keisoshobo. (in Japanese)
Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (2011). 61st Japan Statistical
Yearbook 2012. (in Japanese)
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Automobile Ownership Monthly. (inJapanese)
Driver’s License Department, Traffic Bureau, National Police Agency (2011). Driver’s License
Statistics 2010. (in Japanese)
Cabinet Office (2011). White Paper on Traffic Safety in Japan 2011. (in Japanese)
Traffic Bureau, National Police Agency. Traffic Accident Statistics. (in Japanese)
Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (2011). Traffic Accident Statistical
Yearbook 2010. (in Japanese)
International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (2011). Tackling the “Traffic War”: What theJapanese Experience and Knowledge Can Contribute to Developing Countries. IATSS Research
Project Report H2296. (in Japanese)
Goto, Takao (2009). A Framework for Local Road Improvements: Improvement Planning and
Financing, in Research into Frameworks for Roadway Policies. Dokeiken Series, A-160, pp. 27-54. (inJapanese)
Sugimoto, Kazuya (2012). Observations on Traffic Safety Policies for Elderly Drivers: An Analysis of
the Influence on Elderly Driver Traffic Accident Numbers of Markers for Elderly Driver and Courses
for the Elderly.

(National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, master’s thesis). (in Japanese)217

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Kato

Sumitomo, Kazuhito (2008). Toward the Formulation of Next-Term Social Infrastructure Key
Improvement Plan Relating to Traffic Safety Facilities Maintained, Improved and Installed by Police.
IATSS Review Vol.33, No.1, pp. 78-82. (in Japanese)
Japan Highway Users Conference (2009). Roadway Administration 2008. (in Japanese)
Tominaga, Seimi (1993). The Road to Traffic Safety. Keisoshobo. (in Japanese)

Author:Katsumi Kojima
Associate Professor
School of Tourism
Kobe Shukugawa Gakuin University, Japan

Born in Tokyo in 1965, Kojima is a graduate of the Keio University Faculty of Business andCommerce. After working for an airline, in 2006 he withdrew from the Keio University Graduate
School of Business and Commerce doctoral program after completing all course requirements. Before
taking his current position in 2008, he also worked as a researcher at the Institute of Highway
Economics and a senior researcher at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s
Policy Research Institute for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. He is a member of the Japan
Society of Transportation Economics, the Japan Society of Public Utility Economics, and the Japan
Society of Logistics and Shipping Economics. Research interests include transportation economics andpublic utility economics.

He is the co-author of “Input-output Analysis in Transportation” (Nippon

Hyoronsha Publishing) and co-translator of the Japanese version (Seizando Shoten Publishing) of
Stephen Shaw’s Airline Marketing and Management.
Co-authors:
Takao Goto
Associate Professor
Department of Commerce, Faculty of Business Administration
Kinki University, Japan

Born in Kanagawa in 1975, Goto withdrew from the Keio University Graduate School of Business andCommerce in 2006 after completing all course requirements. Received his PhD in business andcommerce from Keio University. Before taking his current position in 2010, he worked as a lecturer

218

Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in Japan (1950-2010)

Kojima, Goto, Katoand associate professor at the Kyushu Sangyo University Department of Commerce. He is a memberof the Japan Society of Transportation Economics and the Japan Society of Public Utility Economics.
Research interests include transportation economics and public policy.

He is a recipient of the“Roads and Transportation Paper Award”, and the “Society of Public Utility Economics
Encouragement Award” for his journal publications.
Kazusei Kato
Professor
College of Economics
Nihon University, Japan

Born in Kyoto in 1964, Kato withdrew from the Doshisha University Graduate School Division of
Economics doctoral program in 1992 having completed all course requirements. Received his PhD in
economics from Doshisha University. Before assuming his current position, he worked as an associate
professor at Kansai Gaidai University. Other current positions include guest professor at the National
Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, board member of the Aviation Policy Research Association, andboard member of the Japan Economic Education Center Foundation. Research interests include
transportation economics and the US economy.

He is the recipient of the 2005 Japan Society ofTransportation Economics Award (Best Paper Award, Co-author).

219

220

７ ヶ 国 に お け る 交 通 安 全 政 策 と 規 制 の 変 遷︵ １ ９ ５ ０ 年 〜 ２ ０ １ ０ 年 ︶International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences

７ヶ国における交通安全政策と規制の変遷（1950 年〜 2010 年）

２０１２年３月

公益財団法人 国際交通安全学会

2012 年 3 月

International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences