Originally Posted by
50PlusCycling
Japan has a coupe of policies which help keep roads safer.
I was looking at an old movie of Tokyo which was shot in 1960 or so, and the movie showed one of the many police boxes which you see around Tokyo. Next to the box was as sign showing the number of people in the district hurt and killed in accidents. The sign showed 50 injured, and 6 killed for the month. Nowadays such a district would not see 6 deaths a decade, and the number of fatalities around Japan is remarkably low when you consider how many people commute on foot or by bicycle, and how many cars and trucks share the roads with them.
Also worth noting that Japan has zero tolerance for DUI. I lived there for years and never saw anybody drive after taking even a single drink. Not saying it never happens, but obviously a lot less common than in the US. Many people told me that if you get caught, you lose your license, period - no wrist slaps.
As for higher accident rates circa 1960, this was probably due at least in part to having a lot of new, inexperienced drivers on the road. It seems to be a common phenomenon in societies as they become more prosperous. Then the rates go down gradually with more experience, enforcement, safer road design etc.