IATSS Research 43 (2019) 84–89

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

IATSS Research

Overview

Trends of traffic fatalities and DNA analysis in traffic

accident investigation
Takashi Taki ⁎, Mitsuyo Machida, Ryo Shimada
Department of Legal Medicine, School of Medicine, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Although the number of traffic accidents in Japan decreases each year, little is known about the annual trends of
Received 18 February 2019 various types of traffic accidents. In this study, we used public domain to examine annual trends in the number of
Received in revised form 25 April 2019 fatalities caused by traffic accidents by age and type of transportation. We found that such trends differed by age
Accepted 9 May 2019
group and type, and that the number of deaths due to certain types of traffic accidents is increasing.
Available online 22 May 2019
Identification by DNA analysis is now widely used in traffic accident investigations, but the public is largely un-
Keywords:
aware of the components of DNA that are investigated and the way in which the analysis is conducted. For this
Fatal traffic accident reason, we introduced an outline of the DNA analysis that is conducted in the traffic accident investigations
DNA analysis and present several cases in which DNA analysis has been effectively utilized in such investigations.
STR © 2019 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. This is an
Traffic accident investigation open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction investigations. This paper briefly introduces trends in traffic accidents

The term traffic accident widely refers to an accident that occurs
during transportation–not only in cars but also in trains, aircrafts, and
ships [1]. A traffic road accident is defined in Article 2, paragraph 1,
item 1 of the Road Traffic Acts of the National Police Agency (NPA) [2]
as an accident that causes a fatality or injury that occurs while travelling
via cars or trains. The large number of casualties caused by car collisions
has become a serious social problem [1]. Traffic accidents occur when a
car collides with another car, pedestrian, animal, or other obstruction
such as a tree, pole, or building. To clarify the cause of a traffic accident,
it is important to identify the parties involved because the person re-
sponsible for the accident not only faces civil and criminal consequences
but may also be involved in indemnity or life insurance claims [1].
DNA identification has been widely used in criminal investigations
in Japan and in other industrialized countries since the beginning of
the 21st century when such technologies became relatively easy to
use. There are frequent reports of cases in which DNA identification
has led to the identification of traffic accident perpetrators such as hit-
and-run offenses. As a result, psychological effects such as prevention
of escape of perpetrators and reduction of deliberately caused traffic ac-
cidents can be expected. Although the prevalence of the word “DNA
testing” has increased in newspapers and other mass media, the public
is not widely aware of how DNA analysis is actually used in criminal
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: taki.takashi@twmu.ac.jp (T. Taki), machida.mitsuyo@twmu.ac.jp
(M. Machida), r_shimada@twmu.ac.jp (R. Shimada).
Peer review under responsibility of International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences.
in Japan, presents an outline of DNA analysis that is currently used for
individual identification in criminal investigations, and finally presents
cases in which DNA analysis was used effectively.
2. Annual trends in Japanese traffic accidents
Although the number of fatalities due to traffic accidents has de-
creased since the 1990s [3], traffic accidents involving cars and bicycles
are still major social problems in Japan. In attempting to reduce the
number of traffic fatalities, it is important to examine the types of fatal
traffic accidents that occur by age group, and the annual changes in ac-
cident trends. To this end, we extracted the number of fatalities related
to traffic accidents (V 01 - V 99) from the “Annual Mortality Data Based
on ICD Basic Classification (1999 - 2016)” published on the website of
the Health, Labor and Welfare Statistics Association [4] and visualized
the annual trends of the total number of fatal traffic accidents, the num-
ber of cases by age, and the number of cases by transportation type.
2.1. Total number of fatal traffic accidents and the number of fatal traffic ac-
cidents by age group
Fig. 1 shows the trends in fatal traffic accidents from 1999 to 2016.
This figure shows that the total number of traffic accidents tends to de-
crease each year. In 2016, the number of fatal traffic accidents was about
half of that in 1999. Fig. 2 shows the number of fatal traffic accidents by
age group. We observed a significant yearly decrease in the number of
fatal traffic accidents in the 15- to 29-year-old age group. The reason
for this may be the decrease of the car-related fatalities for young
people.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iatssr.2019.05.001
0386-1112/© 2019 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 T. Taki et al. / IATSS Research 43 (2019) 84–89 85

14000

12000

Number of fatalities
10000
Number or fatalities

8000

6000

4000

Year
2000

Year
Age at traffic accident fatality
Fig. 1. Annual trends of fatal traffic accidents in Japan.
Fig. 3. Annual trends of fatal traffic accidents for automobile occupants by age.

2.2. Fatal traffic accidents for automobile and motorcycle occupants

Fig. 3 shows the number of fatal traffic accidents of automobile occu-
pants. We found that in this category, there is a marked declining trend
for young people, while there is a moderate declining trend for other
age groups. The reason for this may be that the proportion of young peo-
ple who own cars has decreased, and opportunities for driving are de-
creasing. It is difficult for young people to purchase cars even if they
can acquire a driver's license due to the decrease in salaries for the
younger generation. Also, due to the spread of online shopping, oppor-
tunities to travel to shop have been reduced; even a large number of
purchases can be delivered to one's home.
Fig. 4 shows the number of fatal traffic accidents of motorcycle occu-
pants. The total number of motorcycle occupants who died in traffic ac-
cidents tended to decline each year, and the number of fatal traffic
accidents involving young people in particular decreased dramatically.
The reason for this decrease may be similar to that of cars. The motorcy-
cle ownership rate of the younger generation is one tenth of the peak
rate. Considering gender, the number of fatal traffic accidents involving
males was ten times higher than that of female. In addition, men tended
to decrease in cases with age, while females peaked in the data in their
50s (data not shown).
2.3. Fatal traffic accidents for cyclists
Fig. 5 shows the number of fatal traffic accidents for cyclists. The
number of deaths of the elderly in this category is large compared
with the young, despite the popularity of bicycle use in all age groups.
The cause of this disparity could be that when elderly people are in
the same traffic accidents as young people, the elderly suffer more se-
vere injuries. In addition, an examining of the subdivisions of the
original data showed that elderly people encountered fatal accidents
even in environments in which accidents are unlikely to occur, such as
low speed zones and straight roads, compared to other age groups.
This may be because elderly people are not aware of the extent to
which their physical strength, judgment, and operation abilities have
decreased. In addition, we found that the number of fatal accidents in
combinations of motorcycle vs. bicycle and bicycle vs. bicycle is decreas-
ing, but bicycle vs. pedestrian fatalities are increasing. The reason for
this may be that infrastructure development such as the improvement
of roads and traffic rules is insufficient. It is important to emphasize
drivers' attention to blind spots and to encourage cyclists to follow traf-
fic rules. In addition, regarding pedestrian accidents, new problems such
as the use of smartphones while walking or riding bicycles may lead to
an increase in the number of fatal accidents.
2.4. Fatal traffic accidents for pedestrians
Fig. 6 shows the number of fatal traffic accidents for pedestrians. We
found that the number of fatal accidents was larger for pedestrians over
50 years old. Also, an examination of the data on pedestrian behavior
showed that accidents while crossing the street made up 73% of fatal pe-
destrian accidents. Among them, the proportion of crossing at the pe-
destrian crossing was 22%, and the proportion of crossing at a location
other than the crosswalk was 51%; accidents most frequently occurred
outside of the pedestrian crossings. This is because some people try to
avoid traffic rules, suddenly jump out of into the road, or traverse the
road in locations without signals.
Number of fatalities

1500
Number of fatalities

1000

500
2011
Year

Year

0
2005

1999

Age at traffic accident fatality Age at traffic accident fatality

Fig. 2. Annual trends of fatal traffic accidents by age. Fig. 4. Annual trends of fatal traffic accidents for motorcycle occupants by age.
86
Number of fatalities
Age at traffic accident fatality
Fig. 5. Annual trends of fatal traffic accidents for cyclists by age.
2.5. Reducing fatal traffic accidents
There are many methods that may be employed to reduce traffic ac-
cidents, such as thoroughly publicizing and enforcing traffic rules. Al-
though the dangers of using smartphones while walking are
publicized in the news and on posters, there are still many people
who do not heed such directions [5]. In particular, walking while follow-
ing a map on a smartphone can cause accidents. It may be desirable to
introduce a mechanism in smartphones that makes them impossible
to operate while the user is walking, like the mechanisms used in car
navigation systems.
The government has undertaken various reforms in recent years to
reduce the accidents of the elderly, such as a reward system that en-
courages elderly people to return their licenses. Other methods involve
ensuring inspections are strict at the time of license renewal and short-
ening the period of renewal [6].
If the public develops a sense of crisis regarding traffic accidents, it
may be possible to reduce the number of traffic accidents to zero.
3. Forensic science in traffic accident investigations
When a traffic accident occurs, an investigation is launched to deter-
mine the party responsible for the accident and the manner in which
the accident occurred. During accident investigation, various forensic
analysis techniques are often useful to clarify where the responsibility
for the accident lies and how much damage has been caused by the ac-
cident. Such forensic analysis includes (i) an estimation of the assailant
vehicle and the damages suffered by the victim in hit-and-run accidents,
(ii) the vehicle that was most severely injured in multiple traffic
Number of fatalities
Age at traffic accident fatalitiy
Fig. 6. Annual trends of fatal traffic accidents for pedestrians by age.
T. Taki et al. / IATSS Research 43 (2019) 84–89
accidents, (iii) the driver of the vehicle in cases in which all occupants
have died, (iv) whether death was caused by the accident or an illness,
(v) the presence or absence of alcohol or drugs, and (vi) biological ob-
jects left at the scene of the accident, such as bloodstains. Suspected ve-
hicles can now be rapidly identified because the development of
forensic engineering products, such as dash cams or security camera de-
vices, has drastically advanced [1].
DNA analysis is a forensic analysis method carried out in the event of
a traffic accident and is a powerful tool for identifying the persons in-
Year
volved in an accident.
3.1. Individual identification using DNA
In certain traffic accidents, such as hit-and-runs, the perpetrator may
leave the site of the accident; in some cases, it may be difficult to identify
the victim. By comparing the DNA obtained from a human body sample
or fingerprint left on a vehicle at the accident site and the DNA obtained
from a suspected perpetrator/victim, it is possible to identify perpetra-
tors or the victims. When comparing DNA, we must only compare
parts that are different between individuals.
In the following section, we will introduce the information included
in human DNA and the parts of DNA that show individual differences.
We will then describe the comparison of DNA that determines individ-
ual differences.
3.2. Human DNA that differs among individuals
The majority of human DNA is encapsulated in organelles called cell
nuclei; this is called genomic DNA. Genomic DNA consists of four bases
(adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine), and the arrangement of
these bases specifies all the information necessary for human survival.
An attempt to decode the whole genomic DNA sequence started in the
United States in 1990 as the “Human Genome Project,” [7,8] and the en-
tire sequence was determined in 2003 [9]. Human genomic DNA is com-
posed of 3 billion base pairs, and about 0.1% of the sequence differs
among individuals. As a result of detailed investigations on the se-
quences that differ among individuals in the HapMap project that
began in 2003 [10] and in the 1000 genomes project that began in
2008 [11], their positions, sequence type, and their frequencies have be-
come clear. When performing individual identification using DNA, ana-
lysts use sequences in which differences are often identified rather than
sequences in which individual differences are observed very rarely.
These genomic sequence differences with a frequency in the population
of 1% or more are called “polymorphisms” and are distinguished from
“mutations” with a frequency of 1% or less. The sequence used for indi-
vidual identification is “polymorphism”.
There are various types of DNA polymorphisms, including single nu-
cleotide polymorphism (SNPs), repetitive sequence polymorphism, in-
sertion deletion polymorphism (Indel), and copy number
polymorphism (CNV) [12].
3.3. STR polymorphism
Currently, the DNA polymorphism widely used for individual identi-
fication in criminal investigations and for blood relationship identifica-
tion is “Short Tandem Repeat” or STR. STR is a repetitive sequence
polymorphism in which the length of the repeated unit sequence is as
short as 2–6 bases. It is also called microsatellite. It is possible to use
Year
STR for individual identification because the number of repetitions of
the unit sequence differs among individuals. STR has been identified
in genomic DNA in about 700,000 places [13]. It is the third-most abun-
dant DNA polymorphism next to SNPs and Indel, which have been
found in 40 million places and in 1.4 million places, respectively [13].
Since many STRs are several tens to several hundred bases in length,
they are suitable for amplification by the most common DNA amplifica-
tion method called PCR. In addition, even if the exact base sequence is
 T. Taki et al. / IATSS Research 43 (2019) 84–89
unknown, when the length of STR is investigated, the number of repeat
is recognized. Therefore, even if only a small amount of DNA can be ob-
tained at a crime scene, the amplification of DNA and the determination
of the repetition number can be performed.
Furthermore, because many STRs have been found that present 10 to
20 different repetition number patterns, individual identification be-
comes possible by examining a small number of such polymorphic
STRs. Currently, fifteen STR loci are widely investigated globally. Based
on the research of 15 Japanese STR frequencies [14], the frequency of
people with STR patterns with the highest probability in Japan is calcu-
lated to be 1 in 4.73 trillion people. Therefore, it is sufficient to identify
individuals with these 15 STR loci. In addition, it is worth noting that
since identical twins have the same genomic DNA, their STR patterns
are identical.
3.4. Investigating STR
In this section, we outline how to investigate STR after obtaining
samples containing DNA from vehicles or other evidence from an acci-
dent site. When a biological sample such as hair or blood that is consid-
ered to contain DNA or a fingerprint is collected, it is necessary to extract
the DNA from the biological sample. Since DNA forms a complex with
protein in an intracellular small organ called the nucleus, it is necessary
to dissolve the biological sample in a solution that contains chemicals
Fig. 7. Schematic diagram of personal identification method using STR. A) PCR amplification of one STR site by PCR. B) Determination of the repetition number using synthetic DNA
markers.
87
such as surfactant to denature the lipid and the protein. DNA is more
soluble in an aqueous solution than in an organic solvent compared
with proteins and lipids. After dissolving the DNA, this property is
exploited to separate the DNA by adding an organic solvent to the bio-
logical sample solution. Just 1 ng of genomic DNA is sufficient to inves-
tigate STR, which corresponds to 1–2 ml in the case of blood. In recent
years, many commercial kits that are capable of preparing purified ge-
nomic DNA from various biological samples through simple operations
have become available. With these kits, it is possible to purify genomic
DNA from biological samples in several tens of minutes.
Once the genomic DNA is obtained, it is necessary to amplify the STR
sequence through a widely used method called PCR to make it easier to
detect the STR sequence (Fig. 7A). After amplifying the STR sequence,
the amplified DNA is separated with a method called electrophoresis ac-
cording to their length by flowing electric current in a gel. Since DNA is
negatively charged in the gel, it moves to the positive electrode. Because
longer DNA encounters larger resistance in passing through the net-
work of the gel than does shorter DNA, its speed is lower. A measuring
instrument called a sequencer that performs electrophoresis in a gel
packed in a very thin tube makes it possible to identify DNA that differs
by as little as one base length. A detection signal is obtained when the
DNA passes through the detection component of the sequencer; further,
when the time is taken as the abscissa and the magnitude of the detec-
tion signal is taken as the ordinate, one or two peaks are observed for
88 T. Taki et al. / IATSS Research 43 (2019) 84–89
one STR derived from paternal or maternal DNA (Fig. 7B). Synthetic
DNA with a length corresponding to each repetition number of STR is
electrophoresed separately and compared with the peak position of
the sample. This allows analysts to determine the number of repetitions
of the STR (Fig. 7B). Formerly, the number of repetitions of single STR
locus was investigated one by one, but it was revealed that multiple
STR loci could be simultaneously amplified and examined, thus reduc-
ing the amount of sample and analysis time and cost. Currently, com-
mercially available kits capable of analyzing multiple STR loci can be
obtained, and STR analysis can be carried out without much labor.
3.5. After determining the STR pattern
After the number of repeats of STR is determined, the STR patterns of
both the samples taken from the accident site and the samples from vic-
tims or perpetrators are compared. Since most of the commercial kits
that are currently used in Japan for STR amplification and typing exam-
ines the number of repetitions of 15 STR loci, it can be presumed that the
DNA has been derived from the victim or perpetrator when the number
of repetitions is the same for all 15 STR loci. Since the frequency of 15
Japanese STRs has been reported [14], it is possible to determine the
probability that the sample is from the victim or perpetrator with the
frequency data.
3.6. Recent trends in DNA analysis
The method of investigating the number of repetitions of STR from
genomic DNA is widely used in criminal investigations globally because
it can be performed relatively easily and reproducibly using commercial
kits. In order to analyze the STR sequence, it is necessary to amplify tens
to hundreds of bases of DNA by PCR. However, DNA in biological sam-
ples is fragmented when exposed to strong stresses such as high tem-
peratures at traffic accident sites. In such cases, DNA that is several
hundred bases long, including the STR sequence, cannot be amplified,
and identification methods using SNPs are used, in which a specific sin-
gle base of the genome is different among individuals. It is possible to in-
vestigate SNPs if there are DNA fragments of several tens of bases in
length containing SNPs, but since there are only 4 types of bases in
DNA, the disadvantage is that the amount of information is small in
each SNPs. Research is being conducted on how to achieve sufficient dis-
crimination abilities by combining SNPs out of 40 million [15]. Further-
more, a device called a next-generation sequencer that dramatically
improves DNA sequencing speed has caught attention, and researchers
are now aiming at determining all the STR sequences including muta-
tions and achieving DNA analysis with high accuracy.
In recent years, it has become clear that in addition to identifying in-
dividuals using DNA it is possible to estimate age [16] and the color of
one's hair or pupils using DNA [17]. It is expected that traffic accident in-
vestigations will be conducted more efficiently using various informa-
tion obtained from DNA.
4. Reported cases
In this section, we present reported cases in which DNA analysis was
used effectively in the investigation of traffic accidents.
4.1. Case 1
Hair fragments were discovered from the damaged front and end of
a vehicle after a traffic accident. The police explained that the hair frag-
ments might have originated from a dog because an unknown dog left
the scene of accident after the collision. To clarify whether this
suspected dog was involved in the accident, these hairs were subjected
to DNA sequence analysis using canine mitochondrial D-loop control re-
gion [18]. The mitochondrial D-loop hypervariable regions I and II have
been reported to be suitable for DNA analysis of dogs as well as humans
[19,20]. The hairs discovered at the vehicle were shown not to be iden-
tical with the hairs of the suspected dog [18]. Thus, the DNA analysis of
canine mitochondrial DNA could be suitable for exclusions of some
cases.
4.2. Case 2
One night, the dead body of young child was discovered on a road. A
light truck was discovered around the scene after a few hours. The truck
driver testified that he had not run over the child because he did not no-
tice anything that would stop the truck when he heard a collision noise.
However, the autopsy findings indicated that many marks were left on
the body of the victim, such as abrasions or subcutaneous bleeding.
Blood trace materials on the surface of the tire of the suspected truck
were transferred to the adhesion film and subjected to Denaturant Gra-
dient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) [21]. The DGGE method separates the
same length of double-stranded DNA based on the difference of the base
sequence and allows the estimation of genotypes. Since the stability of
the structure of double-stranded DNA for denaturing agents such as
urea or formamide is different from base sequences, different DNA se-
quenced fragments move forward different distances [22]. With
DGGE, by using blood types including MN, Duffy and Kidd demonstrated
that the blood type of the trace deposits was identical to that of the vic-
tim [21]. Thus, the DGGE method is useful for the determination of mul-
tiple genotypes from trace materials.
4.3. Case 3
When a traffic accident occurs, it is important to identify the driver
of the vehicle. Airbags may help to resolve the question about the driver
or passenger's positions within the vehicle. Most of the deployed
airbags possess biological deposits including blood, skin abrasions,
nasal mucus, or saliva. The deposits of the airbags were subjected to
DNA analysis using STRs. As a result, 60% of STR profiles in the investi-
gated airbags were identified with the real positions of the occupants
in the vehicle. Thus, biological deposits of the airbags were effective in
determining the drivers' or passengers' positions within the vehicle
[23].
4.4. Case 4
A chain reaction pile-up on a highway included more than 80 vehi-
cles, creating a severe traffic accident. More than 40% of the vehicles
caught fire and several victims suffered burns due to severe heat. Vic-
tims were identified using post-mortem 3-dimensional CT-scans, au-
topsies, and DNA analyses. As a result, all victims were successfully
identified [24].
4.5. Discussion of the reported cases
Based on these reported cases, DNA analysis was needed to identify
(i) the species of dog in the vehicle collision, (ii) the suspect in the hit-
and-run fatal accident, (iii) passenger's position in the vehicle at the ac-
cident time from the biological deposits of airbags, and (iv) the individ-
uals from burned materials. Not only blood but also various biological
deposits at the scene were used for DNA analysis. When a traffic acci-
dent occurs, we must determine the driver of the vehicle or the factors
that have caused the traffic accident. Of course, DNA analysis is not the
only method used to identify drivers or factors at the time of an acci-
dent. For example, in the case of fatal hit-and-run accidents, an autopsy
must first be performed to clarify the cause of death if the victim died.
Simultaneously, the brake marks on the road at the scene are analyzed
with photography, and the speed at the time of the accident is estimated
by these tire marks. If there are tire marks on the clothing of the victim,
the tire marks are analyzed with photography or image processing.
When there are smears on the clothing of the victim, the smears are
 T. Taki et al. / IATSS Research 43 (2019) 84–89
subjected to chemical analysis. Types of vehicles are also estimated with
information-processing technology [25]. Thus, many analytical pro-
cesses are performed to identify the drivers or factors at the time of an
accident in cooperation with various experts.
If DNA sources such as blood, bloodstains, or tissue are obtained, it is
relatively easy to analyze DNA, since abundant DNA is often contained
in such samples [21]. However, biological materials, such as the touch
DNA samples available in most scenes, contain low amounts of DNA
[26]. Thus, it is difficult to analyze DNA in touch DNA samples. To over-
come this problem, Ishiko et al. examined whether the drivers could be
identified by DNA analysis under various experimental conditions [27].
They obtained samples from several parts of cars, including the steering
wheel, gear lever, door handles, etc., and also from unrelated people.
They found that swabbing the entire steering wheel was useful for iden-
tifying the driver with DNA analysis. DNA from the steering wheel is
likely to be available at the scene of traffic accidents; however, this is
limited to cases in which the driver drives with their bare hands [27].
When a biological sample obtained by a traffic accident contains DNA
derived from more than one person, it is necessary to clarify which
DNA is derived from which person. In such cases, Y-STR loci are typically
used to separate the male and female mixture [28], or mitochondrial
DNA is used to separate several individuals [29]. Several other methods
are proposed for the physical separation of cells containing DNA, such as
laser capture microdissection (LCM) [30,31], cell sorting with flow cy-
tometry [32], and microfluidic devices [33–35] to identify DNA from dif-
ferent persons. The LCM was shown to be effective for sperm cell
isolation from a mixture of cells in casework samples [36]. The separa-
tion of sperm and vaginal cells was shown to be possible using
fluorescence-activated cell sorting by comparing differences in major
histocompatibility class I, CD45, and cytokeratin expression [32]. More-
over, with the newly developed method called droplet digital PCR, it
was shown that it is possible to identify individual DNA by separately
amplifying DNA from each person in small droplets [35].
In forensic science, research analyzing difficult samples, such as
those with low amounts of DNA or mixed DNA are currently under
way. In the future, DNA analysis may be carried out quickly with new
methods or equipment, allowing perpetrators or victims to be identified
promptly and accurately.
5. Conclusion
The number of fatal traffic accidents is decreasing each year in Japan,
but the speed of this decline was found to differ by age group and trans-
portation type. Because of the declining young population accompany-
ing the aging of Japanese people in recent years, as well as changes in
the lifestyles of young people, the number of traffic death accidents in-
volving young people, especially deaths caused by cars and motorcycles,
has decreased drastically. On the other hand, the number of fatal traffic
accidents for elderly people has not decreased as significantly. Fatal traf-
fic accidents for cyclists with pedestrians are also increasing. In order to
reduce the number of fatal traffic accidents, it is necessary to prevent ac-
cidents involving elderly people by strengthening inspections at the
time of license renewal. It is also necessary to widely inform the public
of the dangers of using smartphones while driving, riding a bike, and
walking.
DNA analysis is useful for identification as an investigation method
in traffic accidents. The increasingly rapid and reliable identification of
individuals and the accumulating examples of criminal cases in hit-
and-run incidents are expected to have a psychological effect that pre-
vents the escape of perpetrators and reduction of deliberately caused
traffic accidents.
Now that technological development of automatic driving is rapidly
advancing, we expect that traffic accidents will be reduced by technol-
ogy that prevents human driving errors etc., and the psychological effect
that it is difficult to escape from an accident caused intentionally.
89
Acknowledgements
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agen-
cies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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