Skip to main content

Japan increases expressway limit to 120kph

Trials revealed driving at higher speeds had little effect on the number of accidents
By Ben Spencer August 5, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Moving up: Japan reassesses the speed limit on expressways (© Fukamiyoga | Dreamstime.com)

Japan's National Police Agency (NPA) intends to raise the speed limit on some sections of the country's expressway network to 120kph.

Japan Times says the speed limit will be increased from 100kph on sections of expressways that are designed to be safe and have low accident rates. Large trucks will continue driving below 80kph. 

The changes could apply to the Tohoku expressway between the Hanamaki-Minami and Morioka-Minami interchanges, the Joban expressway between the Kashiwa and Mito interchanges and the Shin-Tomei expressway between the Gotenba and Hamamatsu-Inasa junctions.

The public safety commission in each area will approve the speed limit increase following discussions with local police and expressway operators.

The portion of the Shin-Tomei expressway may receive approval this fiscal year. 

New signs will be used to highlight the sections of expressways where the speed limit will be increased to 120kph. 
 

UTC

Related Content

  • June 22, 2016
    Enforcement comes in many guises
    Colin Sowman looks at some enforcement case studies from around the world. It is a sad fact of life that unenforced laws are not adhered to by a sometimes sizable proportion of the public and once enforcement is seen to be lacking, some drivers can take this to extremes and authorities must decide how to regain control.
  • March 1, 2013
    Traffic monitoring and hard shoulder running
    Hard shoulder running is on the increase – and the detection and monitoring of incidents on affected roads is occupying the minds of experts across Europe and the US
  • July 16, 2021
    Bringing the Internet of Mobility to life
    As we chart our route to the ITS World Congress in Hamburg, a recent Ertico-ITS Europe webinar explored the future of connectivity including policy, infrastructure and security
  • January 7, 2014
    Bronx benefits from mesoscopic-microscopic modelling
    Michael Marsico, Andrew Weeks, Keir Opie and Murat Ayçin explain the application of hybrid traffic simulation to a planning study in New York City. Traffic modelling, particularly mesoscopic-microscopic hybrid simulation, has played a key role in planning for the future of one of America's shortest interstates, the 1.3-mile Sheridan Expressway. New York City has just completed a two-year, interagency study federally funded by a TIGER II grant on how to improve the Sheridan Expressway and its surroundi