RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PROSECUTING TRAFFIC OFFENSES IN JAPAN

From the end of World War II to the early 1960s, the number of motor vehicles in use increased considerably in Japan. Not surprisingly, the number of traffic accidents also increased at an even greater rate. Comparisons between 1951 and 1961 show that there was a 9-fold increase, in the decade, in the number of traffic violation cases that came to the attention of police. This article presents data revealing some details of these increasing numbers of traffic incidents in Japan, and discusses developments relating to the prosecution of traffic offenses.