Skip to main content

Japan & NZ reveal road death statistics

Both countries are pledging to do more to reduce fatalities on their road network
By Mike Woof January 24, 2023 Read time: 1 min
In 2022, Japan saw lowest road death rate since these figures began to be compiled in 1948 (© Wisconsinart | Dreamstime.com)

The Japanese Government is pledging to improve the country’s road safety record. Official police data shows that 2,610 people were killed in road crashes in Japan during 2022.

This is a drop of just 26 from 2021 but is the lowest road death rate for Japan since these figures began to be compiled in 1948.

However, the Japanese Government intends to lower the country’s road crash fatalities further and is aiming to reduce the casualty rate to less than 2,000 per year by 2025.

The official figures for road crashes are compiled by Japan’s National Police Agency. 

Meanwhile, New Zealand saw road deaths climb to 378 for 2022, an increase of 60 from the figures for 2021.

New Zealand performs poorly in terms of road safety, with the country’s government aiming to improve this and reduce annual casualty rates.

This article was first published on World Highways

Related Content

  • The downside of driverless vehicles
    October 27, 2016
    Driverless cars will have a detrimental effect on congestion and security while the road safety benefits can be achieved sooner and cheaper using ADAS, argues Colin Sowman. Many Governments are consulting about the introduction of driverless vehicles and even running trials. As 70% or 80% of crashes are caused by human error, the promise of a crash-free future of driverless, self-driving or autonomous vehicles (call them what you will) is alluring, as are the claims of reduced congestion and lower emissions
  • Tokyo tops 'future-ready' city list
    November 16, 2022
    Thinktank ThoughtLab released research during Smart City Expo World Congress 2022
  • The art of road safety
    June 10, 2022
    Saving lives on the road surely can’t be as easy as painting the town red – and pink, green and yellow? Or purple and blue? Can it? Adam Hill has a brush with Bloomberg Philanthropies
  • St. Louis to expand EV infrastructure
    February 19, 2021
    Legislation will make chargers for new-builds mandatory to help city reduce GHG emissions