TOKYO: The number of fatal traffic accidents caused by drivers aged 75 or over in Japan in 2021 rose by 13 from the previous year to 346, National Police Agency data showed Thursday.

Of last year’s total fatal traffic accidents in the country, the elderly driver cases accounted for 15.1 percent, a record high.

Starting in May this year, drivers aged 75 or older who have violated certain traffic regulations will be obliged to take practical driving skill tests.

The number of fatal traffic accidents caused by elderly drivers per 100,000 people with driver’s licenses stood at 5.7, against 2.6 among drivers aged under 75.

Of the total 346 fatal cases caused by elderly drivers, 308 were car accidents. Of them, the largest group at 102 cases, or 33.1 percent, was caused by driving errors, including erroneous operations of steering wheels and mix-ups between the brake and the accelerator.

In 2020, Japan enacted a revision to the road traffic law following a series of accidents caused by elderly people.

From May 13 this year, the revised law will make skill tests mandatory for drivers aged 75 or older with a history of traffic offenses like ignoring a red light. A new type of license whose holders can only drive vehicles equipped with safety support systems will be introduced the same day.

The total number of elementary school children killed or injured in traffic accidents last year increased by 72 to 709.

In June last year, a truck plowed into a line of elementary school kids in Yachimata, Chiba Prefecture, eastern Japan, injuring five of them.

The government will get the safety of school zones checked and guardrails set up at dangerous places.

The NPA also conducted its first survey on the impact of the spread of the novel coronavirus on traffic accidents.

The survey found that the number of people killed or injured in traffic accidents during travel for leisure and sightseeing or eating and drinking in 2020 dropped 20-30 percent from 2019.

Meanwhile, the number of people killed or injured while driving or taking a walk increased.

The agency will raise public awareness of precautions against traffic accidents, suspecting an increase in people who meet with accidents while going out to avoid the 3Cs of closed, crowded and close-contact settings amid the COVID-19 crisis.

JIJI Press