道路交通安全関連国連総会ハイレベル会合における内閣府（交通安全対策担当）山崎参事官ステートメント

Madam President, Excellencies, and Distinguished Delegates,
  
Japan welcomes the adoption of the Progress Declaration, which emphasizes stronger governance and evidence-based action, with accountability through follow-up and monitoring.
 
Road safety is a matter of the utmost importance to Japan — as a dimension of human well-being and sustainable development.
 
Over the past decades, Japan has achieved a substantial reduction in road traffic fatalities by comprehensively addressing road safety — focusing on human, vehicles and mobility systems, and the road environment.
This progress has been achieved through a sustained whole-of-government approach grounded in clear legal mandates, institutionalized coordination across ministries and levels of government, supported by the active engagement of the private sector and civil society. As a result, Japan now records the lowest level of road traffic fatalities in its history.
 
Japan's approach rests on three mutually reinforcing pillars.
 
The first is a robust governance framework.
Japan's road safety system is anchored in the Basic Act on Traffic Safety Measures, which defines responsibilities across all levels of government and provides the legal basis for successive five-year national plans.
 
The National Council for Traffic Safety Measures, chaired by the Prime Minister, ensures high-level political leadership and cross-ministerial coordination, fostering shared responsibility to translate national policy into concrete measures at both national and sub-national levels.
 
Japan’s 12th Traffic Safety Basic Plan, launched in April 2026, is grounded in this framework and sets forth targets and measures through 2030, adapted to new societal challenges including emerging demographic and technological changes.
 
The second is Evidence-Based Policy Making.
Structured data collection and analysis enable the identification of risk, targeted intervention, and the measurement of outcomes. This disciplined use of evidence has been central to Japan's progress and will continue to guide our future framework.
 
The third is a Human-Centered approach to Traffic Safety, supported by lifelong traffic safety education and public awareness-raising.
 
As society and the mobility environment become increasingly diverse and complex, Japan is placing greater emphasis on tailored measures that reflect the different needs, behaviors, and risks of road users, - including older persons, children, pedestrians, cyclists, users of new forms of mobility, and foreign visitors and residents.
 
Reflecting this approach, in partnership with subnational governments, civil society, and a wide range of stakeholders, the Government of Japan has promoted nationwide road safety campaigns on a semiannual basis for decades, focusing on timely and emerging issues.
 
In closing, Japan remains fully committed to advancing global road safety through the utmost collective efforts of the government and the private sector.