Chapter 8 Promotion of Safety Measures for Transport
8. 1 Guarantee of Traffic Safety
To ensure traffic safety which is the foundation of transport administration,
the Ministry of Transport has carried out various traffic safety measures for
land, sea and air transport in accordance with the Traffic Safety Plan.
1988 saw a sharp increase in the number of casualties caused by road traffic
accidents. (Table 9) Other major
disasters include a collision and fire accident on the Chugoku traversing motorway
and the collision between the Daiichi Fuji-maru, a fishing and pleasure boat,
and the submarine Nadashio. Taking these disasters into consideration, the Ministry
of Transport has taken various measures for accident prevention.
The Traffic Safety and Nuisance Research Institute has just published an interim
report on hazards caused by sudden start or sudden acceleration of a vehicle with
automatic transmission. While studying the possibility of structural defects of
such cars, the Ministry has instructed the Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association
to study specific measures concerning the interim report's suggestion about electronic
devices attached to such cars.
As for air traffic safety, the Ministry has started to build an "Air Traffic
Services System Center" (provisional name) to cope with the increasing volume
of air transport.
8. 2 Guarantee of Safe Navigation in the Persian Gulf
The Iran-Iraq dispute developed into a full-scale armed conflict in 1980, and
19 ships related to Japan were involved in firing incidents during the period
from January, 1984 through August, 1988 when such incidents took place frequently.
In addition to the safe navigation measures that had been taken till then,
Japanese shipping operators in October, 1987 decided to start navigation in group
to avoid being involved in such incidents.
Since Iran and Iraq agreed to a cease-fire on August 20, 1988, remarkable progress
has been made in the safe navigation of ships in the Persian Gulf.
8. 3 Conservation of Environment
As for traffic-related public nuisances, such as air pollution by nitrogen
oxides (NOx) and noise, the government has taken various steps to minimize such
nuisances, including restrictions on the sources of noxious fumes and noise prevention
measures in areas close to motorways, railways and airports, and will strengthen
such measures in the future.
As for the prevention of water pollution, restricitions on the discharge of
oil and harmful liquids from ships have been strengthened. The government responded
adequately to an international trend through such measures as tightening up rules
of the discharge of wastes on December 31, 1988.
8. 4 Promotion of Disaster Prevention Measures
As administrative organizations designated under the Basic Law for Disaster
Prevention Measures, the Ministry of Transport, the Maritime Safety Agency and
the Meteorological Agency each year formulate disaster prevention plans and
undertake comprehensive and systematical such as projects as strengthening observation,
prediction and forecasting systems for weather, earthquakes and volcanic activity;
disaster prevention measures for transport facilities and traffic systems; Iand
conservation measures, including the protection of coasts; and the reconstruction
of disaster-stricken ports and harbors.
