Citation

Inomata H. J. Australas. Coll. Road Saf. 2014; 25(2): 55-57.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Australasian College of Road Safety)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

The number of casualties reported to police caused by road traffic accidents is tending to decline in Japan; in 2013, 4373 were killed. However the rate of decrease is getting lower whilst the number of deaths in the elderly is increasing and the number of seriously injured (Severe disability) is staying at the same level. On the other hand, the Japanese government has proposed outcomes that make the number of deaths less than 3,000 in 2015 and 2,500 by 2018: aiming to be the safest country of road traffic in the world as represented in the OECD statistics. In Japan, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) is working on the safety of the vehicle technology and road safety policy, by linking three measures. One is JNCAP, and there is collaboration with the National Agency for Automotive Safety and Victims' Aid (NASVA). NASVA is a specialised agency in Japan for the victims, supporting those who have been seriously injured by road traffic crashes and also their families financially and mentally. NASVA's service includes an aptitude test for professional drivers and promoting training sessions for operational management personnel. NASVA also provide JNCAP with a fair and neutral point of view, and performance evaluation results are reviewed with technical WG and finalised by experts and academics in the JNCAP steering committee which is held by MLIT and then published. This will expedite the technological development of vehicle high safety performance by the manufacturers. And the published results enable consumers to choose safer cars by emphasising public interest in these safety aspects. As for the effect of JNCAP, if it were not for safer vehicles on the market today, about 5,000 more deaths would have been reported on our analysis of past 80,000 cases of road traffic accident data in 13 years from the benchmark when JNCAP launched.

Language: en