Newsfrom Japan
Sep 11, 2025 13:21 (JST)
Tokyo, Sept. 11 (Jiji Press)–Some 21 pct of cyclists in Japan were wearing helmets, a survey by the National Policy Agency showed Thursday.
The helmet-wearing rate came to 21.2 pct, up 4.2 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the survey conducted in June on weekdays by police across the country.
The revised road traffic law, which took effect in April 2023, requires all bicycle riders to make an effort to wear helmets. The NPA and prefectural police departments will work to further promote the use of helmets during the autumn nationwide traffic safety campaign from Sept. 21 to the end of this month.
The survey covered some 53,400 cyclists near train stations with bicycle parking lots and commercial facilities.
By prefecture, Ehime had the highest wearing rate, at 70.3 pct, followed by Oita, at 53.7 pct. The lowest rate was recorded in Osaka, at 7.2 pct, still up by 1.7 points.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]