March 23, 2017
JAMA Launches Its 2017 Spring Road Safety Campaign
The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) is pleased to announce the conduct of its annual spring road safety campaign from April 6 through May 5 this year. Intentionally, the campaign’s duration parallels that of the Japanese government’s nationwide spring traffic safety campaign (April 6-15) carried out by the National Police Agency.
In 2016 there were 499,232 road accidents in Japan—37,667 fewer than in 2015—marking the twelfth consecutive annual decline in those accidents, while road fatalities dropped below 4,000 for the first time since 1949. Nevertheless, reducing the annual number of road accidents remains a pressing challenge, with accidents caused by elderly drivers and the loss of children to traffic fatalities being specific issues of concern.
The Japanese government’s 10th Basic Plan for Road Safety, in effect from April 2016, aims to lower the total annual number of road fatalities to 2,500 or fewer by 2020 in order to achieve its goal of making Japan’s roads the safest in the world.
In full support of those goals, JAMA will continue its push for safer motoring conditions nationwide by strengthening its promotion of expanded vehicle-based safety measures and by implementing road user-directed safety measures, including the conduct of its twice-yearly (in spring and autumn) road safety campaigns.
Priority Issues Addressed in JAMA’s 2017 Spring Road Safety Campaign■ Front and Rear Seatbelt Use (targeting passenger vehicle users)
Accident-related data for road fatalities shows that of all the passenger-vehicle occupant fatalities in 2016, 42% were not wearing their seatbelts at the time of accident occurrence. Of that 42%, more than half (57%) were rear-seat passengers. Because the fatality rate for passenger vehicle occupants who are not wearing seatbelts at the time of accident occurrence is 14.5 times higher than that of occupants who are wearing their seatbelts, JAMA will vigorously promote the use of seatbelts by all passenger vehicle occupants including rear-seat passengers.
■ Proper Helmet Wearing (targeting motorcycle riders)
Among all the motorcycle fatalities in Japan in 2016, the single largest cause of death was attributed to head injuries. JAMA’s 2017 Spring Road Safety Campaign will therefore include urgent appeals to motorcycle and moped riders to always fasten their helmet chinstraps securely before starting off.
Summary of JAMA’s 2017 Spring Road Safety Campaign
Campaign Duration, Content, and Messages
| Duration | April 6 (Thursday) through May 5 (Friday), 2017 |
Content |
To help prevent passenger-vehicle occupant road fatalities:
To help prevent motorcycle rider road fatalities:
|
Messages |
“Buckle up! Rear seats have seatbelts too.” (for passenger vehicle occupants) “Fasten your helmet chinstrap securely!” (for motorcycle riders) |
■ An animated video featuring Bonobono, the campaign’s friendly sea-otter mascot, will be aired on the following media to encourage the use of seatbelts in passenger vehicles and the proper wearing of motorcycle helmets.
| YouTube | The video will be accessible on YouTube. |
| Large outdoor display screens
|
The video will be shown on 39 large outdoor screens installed in 14 prefectures nationwide at locations with particularly heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic. |
Expressway service area information display screens |
The video will be shown on HDTV screens installed at around 100 service areas along the East, Central and West Japan Expressway routes. |
| Campaign Website
(accessible only for the duration of the campaign, in Japanese only) |
A dedicated website (http://campaign.jama.or.jp/) will be launched to conduct a road safety quiz and award prizes to persons correctly answering the quiz questions after viewing the animated video. |
| Taxi in-vehicle display screens
|
The video will be shown on the in-vehicle display screens in some 5,000 taxis operating in Tokyo and Osaka. |
■ A logo mark linking visitors to this road safety campaign’s website will be featured on JAMA member manufacturers’ website homepages and social media.
