Japan boasts lowest road deaths in over 50 years

The number of fatalities from traffic accidents last year totaled 5,743, marking a decline of seven consecutive years and falling below 6,000 for the first time in 54 years, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.

The NPA attributes the decline in the fatalities to the toughening of DUI penalties under the revised Road Traffic Law, and campaigns to promote the wearing of seatbelts.

On the other hand, the number of injuries from traffic accidents topped 1 million for the ninth consecutive year, reaching 1,034,515 last year, the NPA said. The figure, however, decreased from the previous year by 63,684.

According to the NPA, the number of overall traffic accidents in 2007 stood at 833,019, 53,845 fewer than the figure reported in the previous year and about one-third of the record high reported in 1970.

For fatalities by prefecture, Aichi had the worst record at 288, followed by Hokkaido at 286 and Tokyo at 269. The safest prefectures were Tottori at 34, Shimane at 42 and Okinawa at 43.

There were 6,880 accidents caused by drunk drivers between January and November last year, a decline by 3,902 from the same period the year before, while fatal accidents involving drunk drivers numbered 395 -- also a decrease by 183 from the corresponding period of the previous year.

交通事故死：５４年ぶり５０００人台　７年連続減

昨年の全国での交通事故死者は５７４３人で、７年連続で減少し５４年ぶりに５０００人台になった。警察庁は、改正道交法施行による飲酒運転取り締まり強化やシートベルトの着用促進などが背景とみている。ただ、負傷者は９年連続で１００万人を超え、死者が１万６７６５人で最も多かった７０年の負傷者（９８万１０９６人）を上回っている。

　警察庁によると、０７年中の事故は８３万３０１９件（前年比５万３８４５件減）、負傷者数は１０３万４５１５人（同６万３６８４人減）。死者数は、過去最悪だった７０年の約３分の１で、最近では００年の９０６６人をピークに減り続けている。都道府県別では、（１）愛知２８８人（２）北海道２８６人（３）東京２６９人の順に多く、少なかったのは（１）鳥取３４人（２）島根４２人（３）沖縄４３人。

　飲酒運転での事故は１１月末時点で、６８８０件（前年同期比３９０２件減）、死亡事故は３９５件（同１８３件減）。死亡事故は記録の残る９０年以降最も少なかった。

　警察庁の吉村博人長官は「いまだに６０００人近くの方々が亡くなっている現状を重く受けとめ、総合的な交通事故防止対策を一層進めてまいりたい」とのコメントを出した。【遠山和彦】

January 2, 2008