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

  • Car-share 'needs government support'
    March 3, 2021
    Session at Shared Mobility Rocks online event outlines 'sticks and carrots' required
  • Deriving data to tackle tribal road crashes
    June 14, 2017
    David Crawford looks at a new initiative to deal with high crash and fatality rates on America’s tribal roads. According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, on average two members of the country’s indigenous communities - American Indians or Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) - die every day in motor vehicle crashes. This represents a far higher percentage than that of the country’s general population. Historically, the US states with the worst records are Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakot
  • CRASH Predicts ‘unpredictable’ in traffic incidents
    November 11, 2015
    Road crashes are not as random as they may appear and analysing data can reveal patterns that can help various authorities target their resources more accurately. David Crawford reports. Figures from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that in 2013 there were 32,719 people killed on American roads and 2.31 million injured. While these form part of an overall 25% drop over the decade from 2004, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx continues to stress that reaching the procl
  • Traffic Group: ‘Daily commute may never be the same’
    May 22, 2020
    The pandemic has taught us that our ideas about travel might need a rethink - Wes Guckert suggests a few ways in which change is coming