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Kanagawa prefectural police this week held a public awareness event to reduce the number of traffic accident fatalities.
According to the National Police Agency, the number of people killed in traffic accidents in Kanagawa Prefecture so far this year is 125 -- the second highest number in Japan after Aichi Prefecture, TV Asahi reported.
At the event, held on Tuesday, police bikes and patrol cars assembled at Yokohama's Red Brick Warehouse for a safety parade.
The annual autumn traffic safety campaign begins nationwide on Sept 21. Police said they are planning to strengthen the monitoring of intersections in order to ensure the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
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Harry_Gatto
Getting off their backsides and doing the job they are paid to do would be a good start. Like all traffic campaigns this one will last a week and then it's back to tea and buns in the koban. If they want to reduce accidents then simply enforce the traffic laws properly.
UK9393
Enforce the rules of the road! I see kids in footwells standing up, peeping out. Kids roaming the front and back seats, no seat belts. Countless idiots driving with one hand --so cool! Drivers speeding, always gong through red lights, rule after rule after rule ignored, Japan could get rid of its national debt IF the rules were applied and the subsequent fines collected. DO YOUR JOB and make the roads safer, and get Japan in the black.
onagagamo
Let me guess, a cuddly mascot? A poster?
CrazyJoe
I've been driving over 40 years but I'm fed up with scofflaws.
Amidalism
I don't think I've seen a single speed trap or breathalyzer stop in my 5 years of living here. If they had a bigger presence on the roads instead of giving directions and sleeping at their kobans, perhaps people would think twice before breaking the rules while driving.
What could they possibly think to accomplish by holding a public awareness event? Do they think that all of the people smoking kiken drugs and driving are going to come to it and have an epiphany?
ifd66
Easy answer - less traffic - higher road and petrol taxes, people friendly city centres etc etc.
Jeff Ogrisseg
I'm guessing I'm not the only one feeling a tinge of disappointment that this story didn't come with a photo of a mascot character.
But seriously, take a cue from the anti-smoking lobby: every car should come equipped with a graphic, bloody traffic accident photo (or two) permanently affixed to the dashboard.
wtfjapan
how about more spending on public education, graphic tv commercials have proven to effective in making people think twice while driving, unfortunalety the shock factor would be too much for most Japanese. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsp-nrf_8KQ
turbotsat
Laying out swathes of herbivores in faints ... whose ancestors used to test their swords on criminals, or to laugh while so tested upon ...
kurisupisu
Stop bicycles riding down one-way streets....
KnowBetter
As most have stated, them getting off their collective arses and out of the 'box' to do REAL enforcement would be a great start. They're already getting paid, would be nice to see returns on those payments.
wanderlust
On patrol at intersections between 7 and 9 in the morning, and occasionally in the evening, unseen the rest of the day. Lots of waving of light sabres and whistling, but totally ignoring the gyaku-so cyclists riding on the wrong side of the road; speeding trucks; parking at intersections, restaurants and other places with hazards lights on; kids bouncing on the front seat; puppies on the steering wheel; curtains drawn across all of the side windows; the usual campaign....