Self-inflicted accidents are on the rise.
Earlier this week, another young life was lost in a motorcycle accident.
A male university student, 21, was killed when his motorcycle crashed into a retaining wall along the roadside on a national highway in Kochi Prefecture on June 8. According to police, the accident happened just after 10 p.m. The scene is a curve near the entrance and exit of the north side of the Otoyo Tunnel on Route 32, where he and his friend were apparently touring together. The prefectural police are investigating the possibility that the college student did not make it around the curve and crashed into a retaining wall.
In Kochi prefecture, the number of an accident resulting in personal injury this year has been decreasing, but the number of victims has been increasing and the prefectural police are urging caution. The number of personal injury accidents in Kochi prefecture this year was 528 up to the day of the accident, about 20% less than the previous year. On the other hand, the number of deaths in traffic accidents was 16, with six more fatalities, including 7 in self-inflicted accidents such as crashing into a retaining wall, the report said.
Corona is behind the increase in traffic fatalities
Recently, there has been a spate of fatal motorcycle accidents across the country.
A series of fatal accidents occurred in Yamagata Prefecture at the end of May in the towns of Yamabe and Tendo. One case was a collision with a mini-car at a crossroads and the other case was a motorcyclist accidentally crashed into a block wall when going around a curve. In the past, the fatality rate has been high when motorcycles have collided with structures, which is why the prefectural government is calling for caution. The monthly death and injury figures for motorcycle accidents in the prefecture over the past 5 years appear to have increased from April, after the snow melts, with the number of casualties increasing between June and August.
Moreover, a 53-year-old man died when his motorcycle toppled over in the morning of April 7 on a national highway in Toba, Mie Prefecture. According to the police, the scene was a sharp right-hand curve on Route 167 and the man was not able to make the curve and was likely overturned, and the cause is being investigated. The man was apparently on his way to mass touring. As a result of the rash of fatal motorcycle accidents in Hokkaido, the police have been conducting experiments to recreate accidents, such as the one in Asahikawa on August 6, in which a motorcyclist turning right and a motorcyclist proceeding straight ahead collided in a typical "right-straight" crash, to warn people to be careful.
As of June 11, the number of fatalities by prefecture due to traffic accidents (including those other than motorcycles) since the beginning of this year has increased in 7 out of 10 worst prefectures (Aichi +16, Kanagawa +9, Osaka +7, Tokyo +8, Saitama -4, Chiba -10, Shizuoka +8, Hokkaido +3, Hyogo -1, Mie +12), for a total increase of 48 on a national basis.
This increase in traffic fatalities, which can be described as an unusual situation, cannot be attributed in part to the changes in lifestyle and people's mindset caused by the corona disaster.
Venting out of self-restraint fatigue is dangerous
As reported in the news the other day, the amount of traffic has been decreasing due to the new corona since March, and accidents have decreased significantly across the country, but the number of fatal accidents in urban areas has been increasing due to the ease of driving at high speeds. Also, the requests for voluntary curfews were lifted in Japan since June 19, which should lead to an increase in the number of vehicles coming and going across Japan.
As part of my job, I often have the opportunity to ride my motorcycle, but even so, if I don't ride for a week, I can feel my driving senses getting dull, and if there's a month's gap between rides, my judgment will surely deteriorate and my physical reactions will become fuzzy. It's going to be hot and humid down the road, and it's easy to get distracted.
For motorcyclists, the aftermath of the Corona is just around the corner. We hope that the riders will be able to get their pace back up and get used to it, not just to "vent out" themselves after a long period of restraint.
