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Tokyo Police Launch Street Campaign to Curb Rising Motorcycle Deaths

Police attribute the rise to frequent right‑turn–versus–straight crashes at intersections.

Overview

  • On November 18, the Metropolitan Police Department conducted on-the-ground outreach in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward, stopping road users and handing out flyers that urged slower speeds.
  • The campaign targets so-called right-straight collisions, in which a motorcycle proceeding through an intersection is struck by an oncoming vehicle turning right.
  • Flyers advised motorcyclists to stop on yellow signals and urged drivers to wait before turning right when they recognize a motorcycle.
  • Authorities warned that motorcycles’ smaller profile can cause drivers to misjudge distance, making bikes seem farther away than they are.
  • Separately in Osaka, two people on a motorcycle died after a collision with a right-turning car at a signalized intersection, and police arrested the driver on suspicion tied to negligent driving resulting in injury, later to be treated as a fatal case.