2010 Volume 1 Issue 2 Pages 122-136
This study aims to evaluate the comprehensive safety programs that were launched around 1990 in Japan in terms of their effectiveness in reducing traffic fatalities. Traffic fatalities (hereinafter called “fatalities”) in Japan recorded by the National Police Agency (NPA) declined from 11,415 in 1992 to 5,744 in 2007. For this period, comprehensive traffic safety programs were carried out by police agencies, road authorities, automobile manufacturers and other organizations in Japan. Penalties for drunk-driving, vehicle speed, rate of seatbelt use, road infrastructure improvements and so on are adopted as performance indicators to evaluate effects of the countermeasures. The effects of each fatality-reduction countermeasure on the corresponding number of fatalities were estimated. The comprehensive nationwide traffic safety program was shown to be highly effective in reducing traffic fatalities. In particular, it could be inferred that increasing the rate of seatbelt use and vehicle speed reduction are the most effective.
