イタルダ インフォメーション

ITARDA INFORMATION
交通事故分析レポート No.132lSpeciafeatureRental car accidents causedby foreign visitors to Japan~ Particular attention is needed for right turn-straighton collision accidents and crossing collision accidents! ~Trip purposes of primary-party car drivers

Foreign visitors（n=937）1

Foreign residents（n=34,218）

11

88

10

Personal use(eating and drinking) 3.0

Car

Personal use(shopping)

11.5

Commuting towork or school, etc.

89

11.2

Japanese（n=2,432,227）

7

92

0
PedestrianTourism/recreational
trip, etc.

47.9

Personal use (other)

50
Motorcycle / bicycle

Other 0.2

100Car

Composition rate (%)

26.2(Unit: %)Fig. 1. Composition rate of accidents in which a foreign visitor was the primary party
by parties and composition rate of accidents by trip purposes of car drivers(Total from 2014 - 2018; The trip purposes shown are those of foreign visitors.)

Oh my heavens!

1 Introduction ・
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of rental car accidents caused by foreign visitors
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nationwide

3 Characteristics of rental car accidents caused by foreign visitors ・
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in Okinawa and Hokkaido

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l
SpeciafeatureRental car accidents caused by foreign visitors to Japan~ Particular attention is needed for right turn-straighton collision accidents and crossing collision accidents! ~1 Introduction■ Increase in foreign tourists
In recent years, due to factors such as government policies to expand the receiving of foreign tourists, there has
been a remarkable increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan. According to the Japan National
Tourism Organization (JNTO), the number of foreign visitors to Japan (estimate) surpassed 31.19 million in 2018,
and among these visitors, the number of foreign tourists whose purpose of visiting Japan was “sightseeing”
amounted to 27 million. Also, since the Olympic and Paralympic Games is set to be held in Tokyo in 2020, thenumber of foreign tourists visiting Tokyo and other parts of Japan is expected to increase even more going forward.
■ Characteristics of traffic accidents involving foreigners visiting Japan
In order to understand the characteristics of traffic accidents involving foreigners visiting Japan, the accidents ofthree groups also including “Japanese” and “foreign residents,” which were targeted for comparison as shown in
Table 1, were analyzed using the Road Traffic Accident Statistics. For the analysis, the data regarding the five
years of 2014 to 2018 were used, and accidents in which the persons of these groups were the primary party(accident party that was the most at fault) were targeted.

Table 1. Classifications of analysis targets (1)Analysis target

Deﬁnition of analysis target(based on items in the Road Traﬃc Accident Statistics)

Japanese

Persons of Japanese nationality

Foreign visitors

Persons of foreign nationality (excluding persons associated with theUnited States military), not a resident of Japan.

(In rental car accidents referred
to from Fig. 3 onward)
Foreign residents

Foreign visitors whose driving qualiﬁcation is “international driverʼs
license, etc.” and whose trip purpose is “tourism/recreational trip, etc.”
Persons of foreign nationality (excluding persons associated with theUnited States military), a resident of Japan.

* “Persons associated with the United States military” refers to United States military personnel, civilian employees of the United States military,
and family members of such. “International driver’s license, etc.” includes the foreign driver’s licenses stipulated in the Road Traffic Act.

Fig. 1 on the cover page shows nationwide traffic accidents by type of primary party and analysis target. In traffic
accidents caused by foreign visitors, as was the case with Japanese, the primary party was “car” about 90%, and thetrip purpose of primary-party foreign visitors driving a car was “tourism/recreational trip” about 50% (note 1). In the caseof primary-party Japanese and foreign residents driving a car, the trip purpose during the accident was“tourism/recreational trip” less than 10%, so it appears that getting into an accident when driving a car for the purposeof “tourism/recreational trip” is more common among foreign visitors.
Rental car (other)
Note 1) The trip purpose “tourism/recreational trip” refers to“tourism/recreational trip, etc.” including driving and walking (andincluding riding a bicycle).

Furthermore, looking at the composition rate of accidents
involving primary-party foreign visitors driving for
tourism/recreational trip by “application of car” in order toinvestigate the types of cars being used during theaccidents, as is shown in Fig. 2, a rental car (medium or
kei-passenger car) was being used 86%.

Private car (other)

122

Rental car(medium or kei-passenger car)86

（n＝397）(Unit: %)Fig. 2. Composition rate of accidents involving primary-party foreign visitors driving
for tourism/recreational trip by “application of car”
(Total from 2014 - 2018)

ITARDA INFORMATION no.132

ITARDA INFORMATION no.132
Looking at the trend in the number of casualty accidents caused by foreign visitors driving a rental car as is shownin Fig. 3, this has increased approximately four-fold during the period from 2014 to 2018, and it is expected thatgoing forward the number of accidents caused by rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip by foreign visitors
will continue to increase as the number of foreign tourists further rises.
Foreign tourists

Rental car accidents

Number of casualty
accidents (cases)

2,544
2,105

100

1,697
1,088

50

50

97

2,777

3,000
2,500

92

2,000
1,500

66

1,000

25

500
0

0
2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Number of foreign tourists(10,000 people)

150

Fig. 3. Trends in number of rental car accidents involving foreign visitors
and the number of foreign tourists*(2014 - 2018; primary-party rental car (medium or kei-passenger car); trip purpose: tourism/recreational trip, etc.;
driving qualification: international driver’s license, etc.)* The “number of foreign tourists” is the figure for the number of visitors whose purpose for visiting Japan was “tourism”
according to the “Japan Tourism Statistics” website of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

In this installment of ITARDA Information, the characteristics of accidents nationwide will be introduced with a focus
on rental car accidents involving foreign visitors, and then the results of analysis of Road Traffic Accident Statistics
will be introduced incorporating comparisons with Japanese, etc. regarding the effects of regional differencestargeting Okinawa and Hokkaido where rental car accidents involving foreign visitors are concentrated.

Characteristics of rental car accidents caused

2 by foreign visitors nationwide■ Accident risk during rental car driving among foreign visitors
Fig. 4 shows the “relative accident rates” in order to quantitatively discuss the accident risk during rental car drivingby “foreign visitors,” “foreign residents,” and “Japanese.” While the relative accident rate for Japanese is 2.5, it isnotably higher for foreign visitors at 13.8, and as such, the primary-party accident risk regarding rental-car driving
accidents appears to be relatively higher for foreign visitors than for Japanese.
“Relative accident rate” is an indicator for discussing accident risk that takes into consideration road usage
frequency, and it corresponds to the rate of accidents in light of the volume of traffic exposure. The relative accident
rate of a given group of drivers (or vehicles; hereinafter the same) during a set period of time is calculated with thefollowing formula.
Relative accident rate = number of primary parties in traffic accidents / number of no-fault secondary parties
The rate of a given group of drivers becoming a no-fault secondary party, which is not influenced by driving
method, is proportional to that group’s road usage frequency. Thus, if the ratio of the numbers of no-fault secondary
parties of Group A and Group B is 2 to 3, it can be supposed that the ratio of their road usage frequencies is also 2
to 3, and this makes it possible to discuss the accident risk of multiple groups in relative terms.
Generally, when discussing accident risk, accident rate in light of a parameter indicating “the level of risk of roadtraffic accidents” per vehicle-traveler kilometer, etc. is used. Nevertheless, as is the case with the analysis on thisoccasion, it is sometimes difficult to acquire the road traffic exposure volumes of driver groups regarding which
detailed conditions have been set. As such, here the number of “secondary parties that have not violated laws andregulations in accidents between vehicles (no-fault secondary parties)” has been used as the parameter for
accident rate, as an alternative indicator.

ITARDA INFORMATION no.132

lSpeciafeatureRental car accidents caused by foreign visitors to Japan~ Particular attention is needed for right turn-straighton collision accidents and crossing collision accidents! ~Foreign visitors

13.8（n＝330）Foreign residents

9.7（n＝341）

Japanese

2.5（n＝4,520）

0

5
10
15
Relative accident rate (number of primary parties / number of no-fault secondary parties)

Fig. 4. Relative accident rates for rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip
(Total from 2014 - 2018; primary-party rental car (medium or kei-passenger car))■ Particularly frequent occurrences of “right turn-straight on collision accidents” and “crossing

collision accidents”

The composition rates of the types of accidents that occurred during rental car driving by foreign visitors, etc. fortourism/recreational trip are shown in Fig. 5 in order to understand the types of accidents that are common among
rental car accidents caused by foreign visitors. Among foreign visitors, the composition rate of “crossing collisions (note 2)”
was 25% and that of “right turn-straight on collisions (note 3)” was 22%, and these were higher compared with thosefor foreign residents and Japanese. Meanwhile, although the composition rate of “rear-end collision with astopped/parked vehicle (note 4)” among foreign visitors was about the same as that for the aforementioned types ofaccidents at 24%, this was lower compared with the rates of this type of accident for foreign residents (26%) andJapanese (40%).
Thus, it appears that accidents during rental car driving involving foreign visitors not only have the quantitative
characteristic of a high relative accident rate, but also the qualitative characteristic of higher rates of right turn-straighton collision accidents and crossing collision accidents compared to those for foreign residents and Japanese.

Composition rate (%)

Note 2) “Crossing collisions” are types of accidents in which vehicles progressing in a crossing direction collide when they cross each other.
Note 3) “Right turn-straight on collisions” are types of accidents in which the vehicle of a party turning right collides with the vehicle of anotherparty moving straight on.
Note 4) “Rear-end collisions with a stopped/parked vehicle” are types of accidents in which a vehicle that has stopped in order to wait at asignal or pick someone up, etc. is hit in the rear by a vehicle approaching from the rear.
50
40

40
30

25

20

19

22
16

10

24

Foreign visitors

Foreign residents

Japanese（n＝330）（n＝341）（n＝4,520）

26

18
6

0

Crossing
collision

Right turnRear-end
straight on collision withcollisiona stopped/parkedvehicleRear-end
Head-oncollision collision witha moving
vehicleCollision
Collision
while
while turning
turning leftright, etc.

Other

Single- Pedestrianvehicle
vehicleaccident
accident

Vehicle-vehicle accident

Fig. 5. Composition rates of types of accidents involving rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip
(Total from 2014 - 2018; primary-party rental car (medium or kei-passenger car))■ Right turn-straight on collision accidents involving a rental car among foreign visitors
Fig. 6 shows the composition rates of the places of occurrence of right turn-straight on collision accidents causedby rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip accidents by foreign visitors, etc. Among all the drivers, theaccidents occurred at a “signalized intersection” more than 80%.
Foreign visitors

84（n＝73）

Signalized intersection

Foreign residents

87（n＝60）

Japanese82（n＝279）020Signalized intersection40

Non-signalized intersection

10
60
Near intersection80
Non-intersection

14

3

7

2 5
2

6
100

Composition rate (%)

Fig. 6. Composition rates of places of occurrence of right turn-straight on collision accidents
involving rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip
(Total from 2014 - 2018; primary-party rental car (medium or kei-passenger car))

ITARDA INFORMATION no.132

ITARDA INFORMATION no.132
In order to investigate the types of vehicles being collided with in right turn-straight on collision accidents at
signalized intersections caused by rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip, the composition rates of the otherparties in right turn-straight on collision accidents are shown in Fig. 7. In the case of foreign visitors, the other party
was a four-wheel vehicle about 70%, and was a motorcycle about 30%, and this was not significantly different fromthe situation regarding Japanese.
Foreign visitors

70 Versus four-wheel vehicle（n＝61）

Foreign residents

28

58（n＝52）

Japanese

4269（n＝230）

0

2

25

20

40

Versus four-wheel vehicle

60

Versus motorcycle

6

80

100
Composition rate (%)

Versus bicycle

Fig. 7. Composition rates of other parties in right turn-straight on collision accidents
at signalized intersections caused by rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip
(Total from 2014 - 2018; primary-party rental car (medium or kei-passenger car))Fig. 8 shows the composition rates of human factors for right turn-straight on collision accidents at signalizedintersections caused by rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip. Among all the drivers, “failure to confirm
safety factors (no confirmation or insufficient confirmation)” was the human factor 70% to 80%. Nevertheless, in thecase of foreign visitors, while the results were not statistically significant, “no confirmation” in which no action was
performed, had a rate of 30%, which was higher than that for Japanese (23%).

Failure to conﬁrm safety factors
Foreign visitors（n＝61）

Foreign residents（n＝52）

Japanese

830 No conﬁrmation

10

27

13

（n＝230）0
Failure to pay
attention forward

49 Insuﬃcient conﬁrmation

13

44

23

19
51

20

40

No conﬁrmation (failure to
conﬁrm safety factors)

12

60

Insuﬃcient conﬁrmation(failure to conﬁrm safety factors)

1

80

100
Operating Composition
rate (%)
error

Judgment
error, etc.

Fig. 8. Composition rates of human factors for right turn-straight on collision accidents at signalizedintersections caused by rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip
(Total from 2014 - 2018; primary-party rental car (medium or kei-passenger car))Many foreign visitors are visiting from countries with right-hand traffic and are accustomed to traffic rules that are
fundamentally different from those of Japan. Thus, there seems to be a possibility that the safety-confirmation
awareness and methods of foreign visitors, including what direction to pay attention to when making a right turn,are different from those of drivers who are Japanese. As such, even though foreign visitors may have a low
probability of encountering accidents when making right turns without paying attention to opposing traffic in theirown countries, it appears that in Japan they need to be encouraged to unfailingly perform safety confirmations
regarding opposing traffic traveling straight on when executing right turns.
■ Crossing collision accidents involving a rental car among foreign visitors
Fig. 9 shows the composition rates of places of occurrence of crossing collision accidents caused by rental cars
used for tourism/recreational trip by foreign visitors, etc. The rate of “non-signalized intersections” was 77% forforeign visitors, and was higher than that for Japanese (61%).
Foreign visitors

77 Non-signalized intersection（n＝82）

Foreign residents

1372（n＝65）

Japanese

9

22

61

（n＝704）

1

25

0

20

40

Non-signalizedintersection

Signalizedintersection

Nearintersection60
Non-intersection

3 3
2

11

1

80

100

General traﬃclocation

Composition
rate (%)

Fig. 9. Composition rates of places of occurrence of crossing collision accidents causedby rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip
(Total from 2014 - 2018; primary-party rental car (medium or kei-passenger car))

ITARDA INFORMATION no.132

lSpeciafeatureRental car accidents caused by foreign visitors to Japan~ Particular attention is needed for right turn-straighton collision accidents and crossing collision accidents! ~Fig. 10 shows the composition rates of human factors for crossing collision accidents at non-signalizedintersections caused by rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip. The rate of “failure to pay attention forward,”
which is shown on the left side and consists of absent-minded driving (failure to pay attention forward) anddistracted driving (failure to pay attention forward), was 16% among foreign visitors and lower than that forJapanese (27%). Since the rate of “failure to pay attention forward” is low among foreign visitors, it seems thatthese drivers are being especially careful since they are driving in an area that is unfamiliar to them. Nevertheless,the rate of accidents due to “failure to confirm safety factors” is high among foreign visitors, so there appears to bea tendency to fail to perform safety confirmation on the crossing road side among these drivers.
At non-signalized intersections, there are no traffic regulations based on traffic signals, so when passing throughnon-signalized intersections, carefully performing safety confirmation is even more important than usual. In suchcases, drivers need to not only raise their level of attention, but also have an order of priority regarding what to pay
attention to and how, in line with differences in traffic behavior and safety consciousness and differences in traffic
culture in countries, such as whether to look at pedestrians or bicycles, whether to first look right and then left, andso on. As is the case with right turn-straight on collision accidents, it is essential for safety confirmation to be
sufficiently carried out in order to prevent crossing collision accidents.
Failure to pay attention forward
Foreign visitors

8（n＝63）

Foreign residents

84（n＝47）

Japanese

25 No conﬁrmation

13

44

13

10

（n＝428）

Failure to conﬁrm safety factors

60 Insuﬃcient conﬁrmation

18

0

11

21

20

11

41
40

3

10

60

80

100

Absent-minded driving (failure to pay attention forward)

Distracted driving (failure to pay attention forward)

No conﬁrmation (failure to conﬁrm safety factors)

Insuﬃcient conﬁrmation (failure to conﬁrm safety factors)

Decision error, etc.

1

Composition
rate (%)

Driving operation error<The percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, so do not necessarily add up to 100.>

Fig. 10. Composition rates of human factors for crossing collision accidents at non-signalizedintersections caused by rental cars used for tourism/recreational trip
(Total from 2014 - 2018; primary-party rental car (medium or kei-passenger car))Characteristics of rental car accidents caused

3 by foreign visitors in Okinawa and Hokkaido

Table 2 shows composition rates, etc. regarding the prefectures in Japan where rental car accidents caused byforeign visitors most frequently occurred. The prefecture with the highest percentage of such accidents was Okinawa
with 57.3% and this was followed by Hokkaido with 21.8%. Thus, many such accidents occurred in regions highly
popular as tourist spots among sightseeing foreign visitors, and the two aforementioned regions accounted for about
80% of all such accidents. It seems that the numbers of rental car accidents caused by foreign visitors are high inthese two regions largely due to the level of public transportation service used in the regions.
Thus, in light of Table 2, it appears that the characteristics of rental car accidents caused by foreign visitors inJapan shown in Fig. 5 were largely based on the accidents that occurred in the regions of Okinawa and Hokkaido.
Meanwhile, it seems that the characteristics of accidents caused by Japanese were largely based on accidents that
occurred in regions other than Okinawa and Hokkaido as well. As such, the results of analysis on rental car
accidents targeting Okinawa and Hokkaido will be introduced, in order to make a comparison of foreign visitors andJapanese taking into consideration the influence of regions.

Table 2. Numbers of rental car accidents caused by foreign visitors
in the Top 5 prefectures(Total from 2014 - 2018; primary-party rental car (medium or kei-passenger car))Ranking Prefecture

Foreign visitors

Japanese

Ranking Prefecture

Number ofaccidents％

Number ofaccidents

％

189

57.3

435

9.6

4

Osaka

5

1

Okinawa2

Hokkaido

72

21.8

709

15.7

3

Kyoto

11

3.3

119

2.6

ITARDA INFORMATION no.132

Foreign visitors

Number ofaccidents

Japanese％

Number ofaccidents

％

6

1.8

173

3.8

Nagano

5

1.5

86

1.9

Nationwide

330

100.0

4,520

100.0

ITARDA INFORMATION no.132■ Influence of level of understanding regarding local traffic environment
It seems that occurrences of traffic accidents are influenced by the levels of understanding of road traffic environments
and driving methods of drivers in a given region. As such, foreign visitors and Japanese were compared, focusing onwhether or not the driver was a resident of the accident region, and as shown in Table 3, the drivers were divided into“area-resident private-car drivers,” who are very familiar with the local road traffic environment, and “non-area-resident
rental-car drivers” who are most likely not familiar with the local road traffic environment.

Table 3. Categories of analysis targets in specified regions (2)(based on items in the Road Traffic Accident Statistics)

Nationality, etc.

Analysis target

Trip purpose

Analysis target

Foreign-visitor
rental-car drivers

Persons of foreign nationality (excluding persons associated Tourism/recreation Rental car(medium or kei-passenger car)with the United States military), not a resident of Japan.
al trip, etc.

Area-resident
Japanese private-car
drivers
Non-area-resident
Japanese rental-car
drivers

Japanese whose place of residence is in the prefecture or
district targeted for analysis

Tourism/recreation Private car other than a rental car
al trip, etc.
(medium or kei-passenger car)Japanese whose place of residence is outside the prefecture Tourism/recreation Rental car
al trip, etc.
(medium or kei-passenger car)or district targeted for analysis

Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 show the composition rates of types of accidents that occurred during car driving for
tourism/recreational trip in Okinawa and Hokkaido, respectively, by analysis targets.
In both Okinawa and Hokkaido, the rates of “crossing collisions” and “right turn-straight on collisions” were higher
among foreign-visitor rental-car drivers than among area-resident private-car drivers, and this is similar to what was
shown to be a characteristic of foreign visitors in Fig. 5. Nevertheless, while the rate of “right turn-straight on collision
accidents” appears to be especially high among foreign-visitor rental-car drivers in Okinawa, at 27% (Fig. 11), the rateof “crossing collision accidents” is higher than that of “right turn-straight on collision accidents” among foreign-visitor
rental-car drivers in Hokkaido (Fig. 12). Furthermore, in Hokkaido, the rate of “rear-end collision with astopped/parked vehicle” accidents caused by foreign-visitor rental-car drivers is particularly high, at 33%.

Vehicle-vehicle accident

Fig. 11. Composition rates of types of accidents
during driving for tourism/recreational trip
purpose in Okinawa(Total from 2014 - 2018; primary-party private car (medium or
kei-passenger car))

38
33

30

13
6

4

Pedestrian-vehicle
accident

10
0

31
25

23

Single-vehicle
accident20（n＝317）

Other vehicle-vehicle
accident

Pedestrian-vehicle
accidentSingle-vehicle
accident

Other vehicle-vehicle
accident

Collision while turning
right or left

Head-oncollision

Rear-end collision witha moving vehicle

Rear-end collision with astopped/parked vehicle

99

38

Hokkaido-non-resident
Japanese
rental-car drivers

Collision while turning
right or left

21

18

40

Head-oncollision

22

10
0

30

27

Right turn-straighton collision20

27（n＝2,885）

50

Rear-end collision witha moving vehicle30（n＝72）（n＝409）35

Hokkaido-resident
Japanese
private-car drivers

Rear-end collision with astopped/parked vehicle

40

Foreign-visitor
rental-car drivers

Right turn-straighton collision

50

Okinawa-non-resident
Japanese
rental-car drivers

Crossing collision（n＝844）

Crossing collision

Composition rate (%)（n＝189）Okinawa-resident
Japanese
private-car drivers

Composition rate (%)

Foreign-visitor
rental-car drivers

Vehicle-vehicle accident

Fig. 12. Composition rates of types of accidents
during driving for tourism/recreational trip
purpose in Hokkaido(Total from 2014 - 2018; primary-party private car (medium or
kei-passenger car))

Meanwhile, looking at Japanese drivers, who were targeted for comparison with foreign-visitor rental-car drivers, inboth Okinawa (Fig. 11) and Hokkaido (Fig. 12), non-area-resident Japanese rental-car drivers had a higher rate of“crossing collision accidents” than area-resident Japanese private-car drivers, and this trend was similar to thatamong foreign-visitor rental-car drivers. Thus, it appears that even in the case of Japanese, non-area-resident
rental-car drivers are more prone to becoming primary parties in crossing collision accidents because, like foreign
visitors, they are usually unfamiliar with local traffic conditions and so on.
There is a possibility that as foreign visitors increase going forward, rental car accidents may rise not only in Okinawa
and Hokkaido, but other regions as well. In light of this situation, it may be possible to prevent rental car accidents among
both Japanese and foreign visitors by using car navigation systems and so on to provide both with detailed information
on rental car accident prevention for the specific region (Okinawa, Hokkaido, and other regions), based on referring toanalysis regarding rental car accidents among out-of-prefecture Japanese.
ITARDA INFORMATION no.132

■ Analysis of rental car accidents caused by foreign visitors nationwide○ Accident risk during rental car driving taking into consideration the volume of traffic exposure isnotably higher for foreign visitors than for Japanese. (Fig. 4)○ As for the types of rental car accidents, the composition rates of “right turn-straight on collision
accidents” and “crossing collision accidents” are higher among foreign visitors than among
Japanese and foreign residents. (Fig. 5)○ Among foreign visitors, “right turn-straight on collision accidents” frequently occur at signalizedintersections, and it is possible that the cause of such accidents is “no safety confirmation”
regarding opposing traffic. (Fig. 8)○ Among foreign visitors, “crossing collision accidents” frequently occur at non-signalizedintersections, and it is possible that the cause of such accidents is “no safety confirmation” on
the intersecting road. (Fig. 10)■ Analysis of rental car accidents caused by foreign visitors in Okinawa and Hokkaido○ Accidents caused by foreign visitor car drivers are concentrated in Okinawa and Hokkaido, andthese two regions account for about 80% of such accidents. (Table 2)○ Okinawa and Hokkaido have notably different composition rates of types of accidents caused byforeign visitor rental car drivers. While “right turn-straight on collision accidents” are common in
Okinawa, “crossing collision accidents” and “rear-end collision” accidents are common in
Hokkaido. (Fig. 11 and Fig. 12) While accident risk is lower for out-of-prefecture Japanese rental
car drivers than for foreign visitors, there appears to be a similar trend regarding the distributionof types of accidents caused by these drivers.

Additional note: The content introduced here is a summary of part of the “Research on traffic accidents
during leisure activities” that the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis implemented
together with the Japan Research Center for Transport Policy as joint research in FY2018.
(Saki Oba and Yasushi Nishida)
参考文献
１）日本政府観光局（JNTO）：訪日外客統計（報道発表資料）
・「日本の観光統計データ」サイト
２）交通事故分析に基づく交通行動特性の把握手法に関する研究、日交研シリーズA-538、2012年３月

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ITARDA INFORMATION no.132

つくば 交通事故調査事務所

10

住 友 水 道 橋 ビル８ 階

イタルダインフォメーションに関するお問い合せ先

No.132

公益財団法人 交通事故総合分析センター
令和元年 月 〒101 0064 東 京 都 千 代 田 区 神 田 猿 楽 町 ２ ７ ８■ Concept for measures against rental car accidents caused by foreign visitors
It is possible that accidents among drivers who are foreign visitors are being caused not only by
attributes of being a foreigner (inability to read Japanese, and differences regarding traffic behavior
and safety consciousness, traffic culture) but also factors related to being unfamiliar with the local
road traffic environment, road traffic conditions, and so on. Therefore, accident prevention in thisregard needs to be examined and implemented taking into consideration such characteristics.
○ Comparing foreign visitors with Japanese, there is a quantitative characteristic that accident risk
is notably higher, and a qualitative characteristic that the rates of “right turn-straight on collision
accidents” and “crossing collision accidents” are higher. As such, public information andawareness-raising activities for the prevention of accidents should be implemented taking into
consideration these characteristics.
○ Detailed measures based on the status of accidents in regions should be examined. For
example, when loaning out rental cars, it may be possible to prevent rental car accidents causedby foreign visitors by using car navigation systems and so on to provide drivers with detailed
information on rental car accident prevention for the specific region in multiple languages.

ITARDA INFORMATIONThe results of two types of analysis targeting rental car accidents caused by foreign visitors haverevealed following characteristics of such accidents. A simple summary of the analysis results andconcepts for measures against such accidents based on these results is shown below.

交通事故分析レポート

4 Conclusion