Silviase/jgov_v1.4_full_ann huggingface dataset:
## Casualties: By mode of transportation

(1) Fatalities occurred most frequently among those riding in automobiles. Deaths in this category numbered 2,359 and accounted for 37.1% of all traffic fatalities. However, this was a marked decline compared to the previous year.

(2) Most injuries from traffic accidents were suffered by those riding in automobiles. These numbered 692,302 and accounted for 63.0% of all persons injured in traffic accidents.

(3) Nearly 20% of all traffic accidents involved persons riding on bicycles. These cases totaled 174,262, representing an approximately 1.25-fold increase over the level ten years prior. Pedestrian accidents rose from ten years prior by a factor of roughly 4.75, climbing to 2,767.

Changes in Traffic Accident Fatalities, by Mode of Transportation

Notes: 1. Source: National Police Agency (figures for "Other" omitted)

2. Figures in parentheses show percentage (\%) of fatalities by mode of transportation.
Changes in Traffic Accident Injuries, by Mode of Transportation

Notes: 1. Source: National Police Agency (figures for “Other” omitted) 2. Figures in parentheses show percentage (%) of injuries by mode of transportation.

Changes in Bicycle Collisions with Pedestrians

Note: Source: National Police Agency
## Fatalities: By seat belt usage

(1) Deaths among automobile occupants who were not using seatbelts numbered 1,210, a decline of 200 persons (14.2%) compared to the previous year.

(2) The fatality rate (ratio of fatalities to total casualties) for seatbelt wearers was approximately one-tenth that of non-wearers.

Changes in Automobile Occupant Fatalities, by Seat Belt Usage

Notes: 1. Source: National Policy Agency

2. Figures in parentheses show percentage (%) of fatalities by seat belt usage.

Changes in Automobile Occupant Fatality Rates, by Seat Belt Usage; Usage of Seat Belts by Automobile Occupant Casualties

Notes: 1. Source: National Police Agency

2. Ratio of seatbelt usage: Number of persons injured or killed (in cars) while wearing seatbelts ÷ number of persons injured or killed (in cars) × 100.

Fatality rate for seatbelt users: Number of persons killed (in cars) while wearing seatbelts ÷ number of persons injured or killed (in cars) while wearing seatbelts X 100.

Fatality rate for non-seatbelt users: Number of persons killed (in cars) while not wearing seatbelts ÷ number of persons injured or killed (in cars) while not wearing seatbelts X 100.
## Child fatalities and child safety seat usage

A total of 21 children under age six were killed, and 162 seriously injured, while riding in automobiles. The fatality rate among children who were not restrained in child safety seats was approximately 9.8 times higher than that of those who were restrained. The rate of fatalities and serious injury among children who were not restrained in child safety seats was approximately 2.0 times higher than those who were restrained.

## Fatal accidents caused by primary party

The number of fatal accidents in which automobile drivers aged 65 and older were the primary party continued to increase. In 2006, this number was approximately 3 times higher than the level in 1989.

Changes in Fatal Accidents Caused by Primary-party Automobile Drivers (Young and Elderly)

Notes: 1. Source: National Police Agency

2. Index figures are based on 1989 (= 1).
## Focus

## A New Approach to Regulating On-street Parking

### 1. Overview of new system

Greater burden of responsibility placed on the vehicle user

- In cases where the driver cannot be held responsible, the vehicle user can be ordered to pay the parking fine.

- Users delinquent in fine payments can be subjected to compulsory collection procedures and denial to provide motor vehicle inspection certificates.

• Repeat offenders can be subjected to restriction of vehicle use.

Privatization of enforcement-related duties

- Duties pertaining to identification and ticketing of illegally parked vehicles (parking patrol duties) can be outsourced to corporations registered with the relevant public safety commission.

• A system has been established for certifying private parking patrollers.

- Duties related to parking fines can also be contracted to private operators.

### 2. Review of existing regulations

In order to facilitate the transition to the new parking regulations, traffic authorities systematically conducted a concentrated review of existing regulations in terms of time and location. As a result, parking regulations were lifted or eased in nearly 26,700 road sections nationwide (totaling roughly 21,700 km) during the period from January 2004 to November 2006.

Private patrollers in action

### 3. Parking patroller guidelines

Police departments that commission parking patrol duties to private agencies are seeking to promote zealous but fair enforcement of parking regulations by formulating and disseminating patroller guidelines that define the locations and times of focused patrolling. When developing these guidelines, the police take into consideration the local parking situation and the opinions and needs of community members.

### 4. Impact of new system

Since the new regulations went into effect, 270 police departments nationwide have contracted parking patrol duties to 74 corporations employing approximately 1,600 patrollers. During the months from June to December of 2006, 1,592,170 vehicles were ticketed for parking violations (including 703,717 by patrollers), representing a rate of
nearly 7,400 tickets issued per day. This rate was 30% higher than the preceding year’s level of roughly 5,700.

The new system has dramatically reduced the number of illegally parked vehicles across the country, most noticeably in large cities. This has not only relieved traffic congestion, but has also diminished the incidence of collisions with parked vehicles, and other road accidents.

## Examples of successes

• Decrease in illegally parked vehicles

A nationwide survey of 405 road sections (1,694 km) found a decrease of 14.4 vehicles/km (59.5%) between October 2005 and October 2006.

• Reduced congestion (travel time)

A nationwide survey of 105 road sections (564 km) found a reduction of 25 seconds/km (12.2%) between October 2005 and October 2006.

Impact of new system in Tokyo (Meiji-dori Avenue)

• Lower incidence of collisions with parked vehicles

Before

After

There were 776 collisions from June to October of 2006, representing an average decrease of 240 (approx. 24%) from the same period in each of the preceding five years.
## Effort to Eradicate Drunk Driving

The incidence of traffic accidents caused by drunk driving has been in decline as a result of the June 2002 implementation of the Law for Partial Amendment of the Road Traffic Law (Law No. 51 of 2001), which established heavier penalties for driving while intoxicated (DWI), and provided for anti-drunk driving efforts led by relevant agencies and groups. However, a number of recent high-profile incidents, including a DWI accident in Fukuoka Prefecture that took the lives of three children, have heightened public perception of drunk driving as a serious problem.

Against this backdrop, the Task Force on Transportation of the Central Committee on Traffic Safety Measures (Chaired by a minister of state; members include relevant vice ministers) adopted on Sept. 15, 2006 a resolution entitled “On Eradicating Drunk Driving” (see p.), declaring its intention to stamp out drunk driving by transforming the public’s attitudes.

The number of DWI-related fatalities had been on the rise in the first half of 2006, but entered a downward trend in September as the result of prevention campaigns conducted over a wide front, as well as crackdowns by the police. However, the problem of drunk driving cannot be eradicated without enhancing public awareness to the point that everyone adopts the norm of refraining from drunk driving, and from allowing others to drive while drunk.

Changes in DWI-related Accidents and Fatalities

Notes: 1. Source: National Police Agency

2. Data are for accidents in which the primary party was operating a motor vehicle of moped class or higher.
The following is a look at major efforts that were made in FY2006 toward the eradication of drunk driving.

### 1. Strengthening of eradication efforts

(1) Sending the message to businesses, and soliciting their cooperation

Working through various partners, governmental agencies distributed leaflets, posters, and other information resources to road transport operators, alcohol manufacturers and distributors, restaurants that serve alcohol, hotels, and other businesses to boost their awareness of the campaign to eliminate drunk driving, and request them to refrain from serving alcohol to drivers, and from allowing inebriated patrons or workers to drive. These efforts, coupled with heightened public concern about drunk driving, have led to the proliferation of diverse voluntary movements aimed at rooting out drunk driving.

One such movement is a designated driver campaign co-sponsored by the Japan Traffic Safety Association, the Japan Foodservice Association, and the Japan Automobile Federation to encourage restaurant and bar patrons to select a member of their group to abstain from drinking that day in order to provide the other members with a safe ride home. Police are lending their support to the campaign by calling on alcohol-serving establishments and customers to participate.

## (2) Awareness raising and traffic safety education

During FY 2006, prefectural police departments used their networks of local volunteers, driving safety coordinators, and other supporters to raise the awareness of communities and industries regarding the anti-drunk driving campaign.

The Cabinet Office hosted a traffic safety symposium in December 2006 in order to

encourage anti-drunk driving efforts in communities and industries, and to generate the momentum necessary for correcting tolerant public attitudes toward drunk driving. The event featured a keynote speech by a relative of a DWI accident victim, and a panel discussion between several experts. In March 2007, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport teamed up with the National Agency for Automotive Safety and Victims' Aid to hold a symposium focused on the role that public transport operators can play in combating drunk driving. The participants discussed various challenges and possible solutions in the light of case examples of groundbreaking initiatives in other countries, and of community-wide efforts based on collaboration between public transport services and the restaurant industry, etc.

Awareness-raising poster
Monthly Totals of DWI Accidents Resulting in Death

Note: Source: National Police Agency

Other FY2006 undertakings included a focused, sustained publicity campaign that sought to raise public awareness through the distribution of specially created leaflets and posters, and through broadcasting via such channels as television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet. The campaign will continue to be implemented in order to keep the public conscious of the need to work against drunk driving.

Police agencies disseminated information on the DWI accident situation and the dangers of drunk driving, and strove to enhance the public’s understanding of those dangers by conducting traffic safety workshops that allowed participants to drive on a test course or in a simulator while intoxicated, or to wear devices that simulated a drunken state.

### 2. Reinforcement of penalties and enforcement against drunk driving

Prefectural police departments proactively enforced laws against drunk driving through several campaigns during FY2006, including two drunk driving crackdown weeks (September and December), the fall Nationwide Traffic Safety Campaign, and a national

simultaneous drunk driving crackdown. In addition, police aggressively probed DWI cases where aiding or abetment of the driver was suspected, enlarging the scope of their investigations to include the site where alcohol was consumed, passengers in the suspect's vehicle, drinking companions, and other circumstances to identify secondary factors that contributed to the incident.

In terms of legislation, a bill submitted
to the Diet in FY2006 called for partial revision of the Road Traffic Law in order to reinforce measures against drunk driving, such as by toughening penalties against drunk drivers and abettors.

### 3. Traffic safety guidance at penal institutions

As a result of the implementation of the Act on Penal Institutions and the Treatment of Sentenced Inmates (Act No. 50 of 2005) in May 2006, rehabilitation programs have become compulsory for inmates in penal institutions (prisons, juvenile prisons and detention houses) in addition to existing correctional treatment, such as prison work.

Rehabilitation programs for inmates who committed drunk driving include traffic safety guidance, education from the victims' viewpoint, and education on the negative influences of alcohol, according to the inmates' individual needs and problems.

The traffic safety guidance is targeted at inmates who caused traffic accidents resulting in death or serious injury, and who repeatedly committed serious traffic violations, and it aims to cultivate a law-abiding spirit, a sense of responsibility, and respect for human life through reflection on the causes of their own traffic violations and accidents.

The standardized program of the traffic safety guidance is to be administered as a combination of lectures, discussion, and SST (social skills training), and it includes topics such as 1) drivers' responsibilities and obligations, 2) general offenses and traffic offenses, 3) alcohol and lifestyle, 4) impacts of their own offenses, 5) recognition of guilt, 6) compensation for victims and their family, 7) life after release.

Education from the victims’ viewpoint is provided to inmates who caused crimes

Public Opinion on Tougher Drunk Driving Penalties

(multiple responses)

Source: “Special Public Opinion Survey on Traffic Safety” (Oct. 2006), Cabinet Office
resulting in deaths or serious physical injuries to victims in order to make them consider how to apologize and compensate victims and their family. This education also incorporates lectures by crime victims or their family members, and group work.

Moreover, education on the negative influences of alcohol is provided to inmates in cooperation with private self-help groups in order to facilitate their understanding and to make them consider the impacts of problematic drinking and specific strategies for abstinence.

### 4. Study of vehicle technology-based solutions

Alcohol interlocks, devices that prevent a vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected on the driver’s breath, are seen as an effective solution for eradicating drunk driving. These systems are already being deployed in various other countries as a sanction against persons guilty of drunk driving.

In response to this trend, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has taken efforts to identify technical issues of alcohol interlock technology with the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, and launched the “Study Committee on Technical Issues of Alcohol Interlock Devices” on January 30 of this year.

The committee’s meetings have mainly focused on how to overcome such technical issues as the problem of ensuring that the breath sample analyzed is from the driver, the short lifespan of the devices, and the difficulty of preventing tampering. Building on the foundation of this discussion, the panel is working to plot the course for future technological development by formulating technical requirements proposals on the use of alcohol interlocks as a sanction against convicted drunk drivers, and by clarifying technological hurdles with respect to making the devices mandatory for general and/or commercial vehicles.

### 5. Strengthening of coordinated efforts against habitual offenders

The Task Force on Transportation strengthened its coordination with relevant governmental agencies and anti-drunk driving organizations with regard to various measures aimed at deterring drunk driving by alcoholics and others prone to habitual violation. The task force also established in April 2007 the Committee to Promote Measures Concerning Habitual Drunk Drivers in order to ensure effective implementation of those concerted efforts.
# Reference – ‘On Eradicating Drunk Driving’

Sept. 15, 2006

Central Committee on Traffic Safety Measures Resolution of the Task Force on Transportation Amended on April 26, 2007

The incidence of fatal drunk-driving accidents had been in decline in recent years as a result of deterrence efforts by relevant organizations, and amendment of the Road Traffic Act to toughen penalties against drunk driving. However, it has swung upward this year, as highlighted by the recent rash of drunk driving-related deaths and serious accidents. At the same time, there have been many incidents of drunk driving by public servants.

Therefore, we have decided to implement the following measures in order to reform public attitudes toward drunk driving and thereby eradicate this scourge.

### 1. Intensification of efforts to eradicate out drunk driving

(1) The national and local governments shall intensify their efforts to stamp out drunk driving, and encourage the public to abide by the following principles:

i. Do not operate a vehicle, etc. while intoxicated, and do not allow an intoxicated companion to operate a vehicle, etc.

ii. Do not provide alcohol to persons likely to engage in drunk driving, and do not encourage such people to drink alcohol.

Furthermore, governmental agencies shall step up their efforts to provide employees with instruction in safe driving practices so that the employees will serve as role models for the public, and shall strictly deal with any employees who drive drunk or ride in a vehicle operated by an intoxicated person.

(2) Road transportation service providers, etc. shall be thoroughly informed, via the relevant organizations, etc., concerning the campaign to eradicate drunk driving. Operators of restaurants, etc. that serve alcohol shall be requested, via the relevant organizations, etc., to refrain from providing alcohol to drivers, and to cooperate in efforts to prevent intoxicated persons from driving.

(3) Eradication of drunk driving shall be made a focus of the fall 2006 Nationwide Traffic Safety Campaign, and stronger publicity efforts shall be made to instill the public with the attitude of never driving drunk and never allowing others to drive drunk.

### 2. Reinforcement of penalties and enforcement against drunk driving

Authorities shall bolster their efforts in drunk driving-related guidance and enforcement, and thoroughly investigate the accountability of passengers and alcohol providers. They shall also study possibilities for toughening their sanctions against drunk driving.
### 3. Study of vehicle technology development for combating drunk driving

We shall investigate the current state of development of vehicle technologies for preventing drunk driving, and study strategies of development aimed at solving the technical challenges that stand in the way of practical deployment.

### 4. Strengthening of coordinated efforts regarding habitual drunk drivers

We shall strengthen coordination with relevant governmental agencies and anti-drunk driving organizations with regard to various measures aimed at deterring drunk driving by alcoholics, etc., and shall convene, as specified by the Chair of our task force, meetings of the Committee to Promote Measures Concerning Habitual Drunk Drivers in order to ensure effective implementation of those concerted efforts.
## 2 Overview of Current Policies on Road Traffic Safety

## 2 -1 Improvement of road traffic environment

Development of people-first walking spaces offering safety and peace of mind

The national and local governments pursued the following traffic safety projects in order to actively enhance the sidewalks of school routes, residential roads, urban thoroughfares, and other areas. Designed from a “people’s perspective,” these initiatives were implemented with the cooperation of local community members.

(1) Aggressive efforts were made to improve sidewalks in school zones, etc. in order to ensure the safety of children commuting to elementary schools, kindergartens, day care centers, and children's cultural facilities. Furthermore, safety was enhanced in school routes through the installation of push-button traffic signals and pedestrian signals, the construction of pedestrian overpasses, and the establishment of additional crosswalks.

(2) Sidewalk construction and other preventive measures against traffic accidents were comprehensively applied on an areawide basis to “Safe Pedestrian Areas” (designated zones in residential/commercial districts that have a high incidence of casualty-producing accidents and are bordered by thoroughfares) with the cooperation of prefectural public safety commissions and road management agencies. Sidewalks were also proactively built in residential areas not designated for the Safe Pedestrian Area program.

In addition, prefectural public safety commissions and road management agencies concertedly implemented accident prevention measures using the “Accident Prevention Manual for Residential Roads” $ ^{1} $ and other resources. Those measures included efforts to create safe, secure road spaces for both pedestrians and drivers through such improvements as control of vehicle speeds, clear identification of road shapes and intersections to drivers, and clear demarcation of pedestrian and vehicle pathways.

(3) Further endeavors were made to ensure the safety and comfort of pedestrians and bicycle riders through concentrated projects in areas with a high risk for accidents involving these road users. The projects included renovation and other improvements of roads, as well as construction of sidewalks and bicycle paths. Wide sidewalks were built where possible in order to provide a comfortable traveling space. In places where sidewalk construction was not feasible, such alternatives as pedestrian and bicycle lanes were created alongside the roads.

In order to help the elderly and disabled people to lead independent, socially active lives, wide, even sidewalks based on principles of universal design were actively constructed mainly in areas near train stations, public facilities, welfare centers, and hospitals.

Other improvements involved: installation of barrier-free traffic signals and signals that indicate waiting time; construction of elevator-equipped pedestrian overpasses, pedestrian rest areas, bicycle parking lots, and parking lots with spaces for the disabled;