Bicycle accidents on the rise in Japan

Bicycle accidents are on the rise in Japan, with most incidents attributed to the carelessness of cyclists, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Wednesday.

Last year 187,980 traffic accidents involving bicycles were reported, an increase of 6,135 over the previous year. Injuries amounted to 189,392 in 2004, an increase of 6,159. Deaths from bicycle accidents, which had remained at around 900 since 2000, declined to 859 last year.

From January to March this year, 185 people were killed in bicycle accidents, almost equal to the figure in the corresponding period last year.

Law enforcers attribute the increase largely to the bad manners and carelessness of cyclists. Cyclists were at fault in about 68 percent of bicycle accidents last year.

The National Police Agency instructed local police departments across the country in 2004 to issue "yellow cards" to violators, and even traffic violation tickets in serious cases.

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