Overview
- A multidisciplinary committee convened its first meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday to study the safety of children riding in bicycle child seats and to advise the National Police Agency.
- The panel includes experts in traffic engineering and ergonomics, industry representatives, and officials from the National Police Agency and Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
- Members will carry out on-road experiments in December to test stability and the effect of child weight on handling, and they plan to compile results within the current fiscal year.
- Japan currently allows co-riding only until a child enters elementary school, and the police agency will use the committee’s findings to consider concrete new criteria such as child weight, age, and body size.
- The move responds to growing demand from more dual-income households and wider use of electric-assist bicycles while enforcement since April set a ¥3,000 fine for two-up riding under the blue-ticket system, and any change would alter daily commutes for many families.