Figure 4 Changes in the Fatality Rates among Motor Vehicle Occupants Involved in Traffic Accidents by Seat Belt Use; and Changes in the Proportion of Motor Vehicle Occupants Using Seat Belts When Killed or Injured in Accidents

### 4. Traffic accident fatalities by seat belt use

The proportion of motor vehicle occupants killed or injured in road traffic accidents with their seat belts fastened (ratio of seat belt-wearing casualties to total traffic accident casualties for motor vehicle occupants) has been increasing steadily since 1993, reaching 81.8% in 1999.

The fatality rate of seat belt users (ratio of their fatalities to total traffic accident casualties) was approximately one-eighth of that of people not wearing belts. (See Fig. 4)

### Chapter 2. Traffic Safety Measures Considered from the Standpoints of High-Risk Groups and Accident Victims, and Future Directions in this Area

As of the end of March 1999, total vehicle ownership in Japan stood at 73,688,000 (corresponding to 1.06 private passenger vehicles per household). The number of driving license holders was 73,793,000 as of the end of December 1999 (corresponding to approximately 69% of all people 16 and over). As these figures show, the entire society, not only motorists, are enjoying the convenience of motor vehicles.

Since the 1980s, the number of traffic accidents and the number of traffic accident casualties in Japan have been increasing almost in line with increases in motor vehicle ownership and the number of driving license holders. If the numbers continue to grow at this rate, approximately one person from every 47 households will be injured in a traffic accident each year. In other words, everyone in Japan is now at significant risk of being involved in a traffic accident.

The widespread use of motor vehicles in our modern society means that every person is at risk of becoming party to a traffic accident. For this reason, the “traffic safety measures considered from the standpoints of high-risk groups and accident victims” can essentially be applied to everyone. It follows then that all road users must approach the risk of traffic accidents by trying to avoid causing any harm to others while protecting themselves from possible harm. This principle aside, however, our society must work as a whole to minimize the suffering and damage caused by traffic accidents—the inevitable social cost of the benefits our society as a whole enjoy from motorized transportation. We also need to take steps to relieve the burden of this suffering from individuals as much as possible, by sharing it as equitably as possible over the whole of society.

## Features of traffic accidents focusing on high-risk groups

### 1. Analysis according to victim types

(1) Features of traffic accidents involving the elderly

Elderly people (65 and over) are accounting for a growing proportion of traffic accident fatalities in Japan. Furthermore, the number of fatalities per 100,000 population is higher for the elderly than any other age group. The fatality rate for those 75 years and older is 2.7 times the fatality rate for all age groups. (See Fig. 5)

## (2) Features of traffic accidents involving infants and children

Fatality statistics show that infants and children (age groups 0-5 and 6-12) are more likely to die on the roads as pedestrians than in any other way (58.1% and 49.1% respectively). Furthermore, a large proportion (53.7%) of children in the 0-5 age group who are killed or injured in traffic accidents (casualties) are motor vehicle occupants. (Note that 80.8% of children in the 0-5 age group who were killed or injured as motor vehicle-occupants were not in child safety seats.) (See Fig. 6)

Figure 5 Casualties and Fatalities for the 65-and-over Age Group per 100,000 Persons by Road User Type (1999)

Notes: 1. Source: Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis

2. Population figures are estimates as of October 1, 1999 (Statistics Bureau, Management and Coordination Agency)