Rational observers of the chaotic traffic conditions on Japan's crowded highways and busy urban areas long ago concluded that improvements were overdue. So the surprise yearend announcement by the National Police Agency that it is proposing stricter penalties for drunken driving, hit-and-run accidents, driving without a license and other serious traffic offenses is welcome. At the same time, a question arises: Why did it take the NPA so long? The accident total for 2000 had already reached 837,480 by the end of November, an increase of 8.5 percent over the same period in the previous year.

The figure of 850,363 accidents in 1999 set a record for the seventh consecutive year. The police agency predicted a repetition for 2000, citing the increasing number of vehicles on the roads and the growing number of aging drivers. Many of the vehicles, however, are trucks that inflict death, injury or major damage when the intoxicated or exhausted driver causes a rear-end collision. The NPA's draft revisions to the current Road Traffic Law call for increases in both prison sentences and fines, with some fines rising by up to six times.

Notably, prison sentences of from one to five years could be imposed not only on drivers guilty of the most serious violations, but on anyone who permits such behavior as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, driving for extended periods without sleep or driving without a license. Surely that includes the operators of transport firms or other businesses who require their drivers to work unreasonable schedules. The NPA proposals will be included in a bill to be submitted to the next regular Diet session in late February, for the first overall review of penalties since the present law was enacted in 1960. If implemented, the increase in the upper limits of the fines will be the first in 15 years.