道路交通安全関連国連総会ハイレベル会合における中川公使ステートメント

Madame Chair,
 
Thank you for convening the High-Level Meeting on Improving Global Road Safety.
 
The world is witnessing catastrophic road crashes as described by previous speakers. Traffic accidents are the main cause of death among children and young people. This is not something we can remain silent about or fail to take action on if we hope to achieve sustainable development and provide all people with an equal opportunity to enjoy all their rights and human potential. To this end, Japan welcomes the goal of reducing the number of road fatalities and injuries by at least 50% by 2030 in the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety, in addition to the Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting.
 
Japan remains steadfast in its contribution to the achievement of the goals set forth in the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety through international cooperation based on Japan's knowledge and experience. For countries in Asia and Africa, for example, Japan has broadly provided both “hard” and “soft” assistance. As for the hard assistance, Japan supports efforts to improve the functioning of intersections and road safety equipment. And as for soft assistance, we support capacity-building for relevant officials on road safety, including providing road safety education and conducting awareness-raising initiatives.
 
Japan has taken measures on road and traffic safety from three standpoints: 1) human-centered initiatives, such as capacity-building and awareness-raising, 2) advancement of safety measures for vehicles, and 3) people-friendly traffic environments. Since 1971, Japan has formulated traffic safety basic plans resulting in a drastic decrease of road fatalities, down to 16% by 2021 compared to 1970. It is vital that each citizen has a mind to build a society based on safe and reliable transportation by enhancing awareness-raising and educational activities on traffic safety. In addition, while strengthening preventive measures against road accidents utilizing state-of-the-art safety technologies, including automated driving, Japan has promoted road safety efforts that put people at the center, such as by building pedestrian-friendly sidewalks around schools and residential communities.
 
Japan will be an active partner in realizing a society free of road traffic accidents ultimately, reducing to close to zero the number of fatalities and serious injuries. We hope that the High-Level Meeting held yesterday and today will raise the momentum to galvanize all stakeholders to take action to improve road safety.
 
I thank you.