Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Tag - traffic-accidents

 
 

TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

Traffic in Tokyo in April 2026. Prior to a fatal accident in Tokyo in April, the driver was involved in two other accidents this year.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2026
Man with sleep apnea diagnosis involved in fatal Tokyo accident
Tokyo MPD revealed that the driver had stopped using a prescribed medical device to treat his condition and felt sleepy from the time he started driving on the day of the accident.
Among Japan's police forces, Osaka Prefectural Police had the largest number of members slapped with disciplinary action between January and June, at 27.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 23, 2026
155 police officers and personnel disciplined in Japan over six months
The most common reason for discipline was acts related to relationships with the opposite sex.
Kaoru Mitoma¡¯s agency said he is taking the incident very seriously and has expressed concern and apologies toward the injured cyclist.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 9, 2026
Kaoru Mitoma involved in minor traffic accident in Tokyo
Prominent Japanese soccer player Kaoru Mitoma hit a cyclist in Tokyo while driving at around 8.45 a.m. on Wednesday, according to a statement from his agency.
Mukdahan provincial governor Worayan Bunnarat said the case of eight monks being killed by a truck should serve as a wider warning on road safety in Thailand.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 2, 2026
Eight Thai monks killed after boy drives truck into procession, police say
Police said the boy had taken his parents¡¯ pickup truck without permission before losing control of the vehicle and crashing into the monks.
A bill to revise the law on punishment of acts causing death or injury by automobile driving is enacted at a plenary session of the Lower House on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 25, 2026
Japan enacts bill that sets numerical standards for dangerous driving
The bill stipulates the charge of dangerous driving be uniformly applied to accidents causing death or injury by drivers exceeding the speed limit by over 50 kph on ordinary roads.
The driving skills test for older drivers was introduced in 2022 with the aim of preventing accidents by assessing the decline in their physical functions.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2026
Japan to review elderly driving test after higher accident rate
The rate of accidents caused by drivers who took the test was 2.8 times the level recorded for those who were not subject to it, according to a study released Thursday.
Yudai Togitani speaks to reporters in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, on Thursday after a ruling was handed down on a woman who killed his wife and left his child disabled in a car accident.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2026
Driver jailed for killing pregnant woman, leaving unborn child with disability
Prosecutors had difficulty interpreting the existing law to regard a fetus as a victim independent from the mother.
The share of drunken-driving accidents involving specified small motorized two-wheel vehicles, including electric kick scooters, is "extremely high," Japan's annual white paper on traffic safety noted.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2026
10% of e-scooter accidents in Japan resulted from drunken driving in 2025
Of the 386 accidents involving specified small motorized two-wheel vehicles, including electric kick scooters, drunken driving was blamed for 43 of them.
According to Japan's transport ministry, around 70,000 cases of roadkill occurred on state-managed roads in fiscal 2022.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2026
Japan to boost efforts to prevent roadkill
According to the ministry, around 70,000 cases of roadkill occurred on state-managed roads in fiscal 2022.
A building housing the Tokyo High Court in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2026
Bus operators found guilty again over 2016 crash in Karuizawa
The ski tour bus crash in the Nagano Prefecture town killed 15 people, mainly university students, and injured 26 others.
A father carries a child on a <i>mamachari</i> bicycle in September 2018. Parents say the new ¡°blue ticket¡± system has made them more mindful of the rules, but has also heightened concerns about child-seat use and children starting to cycle on their own.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
May 22, 2026
How Âé¶¹´«Ã½ new ¡®blue tickets¡¯ are putting cycling parents on edge
Parents say the new system has made them more mindful of the rules, but has also heightened concerns about child-seat use and children starting to cycle on their own.
A vehicle modified to look like an unmarked police car before being driven by a man suspected of drunken driving is seized by Tokyo police on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2026
Saitama man arrested over alleged drunken driving of fake police car
Ren Nakamura, 23, is suspected of driving the vehicle, which had been modified to look like an unmarked police car, and crashing it into a utility pole.
Japan implemented a new system in April that penalizes minor bicycle traffic rule violators with a "blue ticket" that carries a fine of up to ?12,000.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 14, 2026
Cyclists issued ¡®blue tickets¡¯ in over 2,000 cases since April 1 rollout
The new tickets incur fines of up to ?12,000 for traffic rule violations, with the aim of improving cycling safety and preventing accidents.
Koji Terao, the Hokuetsu High School teacher in charge of supervising the school&#039;s soft tennis team, speaks at a news conference in Niigata on Sunday.
JAPAN
May 11, 2026
High school in Niigata had arranged buses through local firm before fatal crash
A microbus carrying 20 students of the soft tennis club of Hokuetsu High School in the city of Niigata crashed into a guardrail on Wednesday, leaving one student dead.
Transport ministry officials enter Kanbara Tetsudo in Gosen, Niigata Prefecture, on Thursday to conduct an on-site inspection.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 8, 2026
Microbus driver arrested after crash kills student in northeastern Japan
The vehicle was carrying 20 members of a school soft tennis club from Niigata Prefecture.
Under the new blue ticket system, cyclists will have one week in which to pay fines for minor traffic violations.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 24, 2026
The language around Âé¶¹´«Ã½ new bike rules leaves no room for ¡®maybe¡¯
Blue tickets are now being issued for minor traffic offenses, but you have to watch you don¡¯t get scammed.
The Japan Transport Safety Board has proposed setting up multi-language warnings and pictograms at railroad crossings as foreign visitor numbers surge.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2026
Multilingual alerts, pictograms proposed for railroad crossings after tourist accident
The accident occurred at a railroad crossing near Saga Prefecture¡¯s Sueyama Shrine, a popular tourist spot.
Family members Takuya Matsunaga (right) and Yoshinori Uehara offer flowers during a memorial service on Sunday for Mana and Riko Matsunaga who were killed in a car crash in Tokyo&#039;s Ikebukuro district seven years ago.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 20, 2026
Investigator urges people not to forget deadly 2019 Ikebukuro crash
The incident attracted significant attention and prompted many older drivers to voluntarily give up their drivers¡¯ licenses.
The government adopted legislation at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday to revise auto laws by setting numerical standards for speeding and alcohol levels to clarify the application of dangerous driving offenses, aiming for enactment during the ongoing parliamentary session.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2026
Legislation adopted to set numerical thresholds for dangerous driving
Application requirements for the crime of dangerous driving are vague under current rules, and many cases have ended with convictions for negligent driving instead.
Starting April 1, cyclists in Japan will be subject to new traffic rules.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / EXPLAINER
Mar 25, 2026
What to know about Âé¶¹´«Ã½ new traffic rules for cyclists
Starting April 1, the ¡°blue ticket¡± system aims to reduce violations by issuing fines for minor offenses such as using a phone while cycling or ignoring stoplights.

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Âé¶¹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN