世論 What Japan Thinks

There’s been a survey of parents who carry their pre-school children on pedal bikes, and surprise, surprise, barely one in twenty actually makes their kid wear a helmet. The Japan Traffic Safety Association plan a campaign to persuade parents to protect their children. The gory details are as follows:

Sample size – 7,194 from all around the country, interviewed in February and March of this year around various creches and nurseries. The sex breakdown of the sample is implied to be all female. Note that the “Not clear” answer means that the mark on the answer sheet could not be read or was completed incorrectly, as this was a survey for people to fill out by themselves.

Q1: Have you (or anyone in your family) ridden your bike with a child on board?

Yes	59.8%
No	39.9%
Don’t know	0.2%
Not clear	0.1%

Q2: If you have, have you had an accident with a child on board within the last year? (Sample size=4302)

Yes	13.1%
No	86.6%
Don’t know	0.0%
Not clear	0.3%

Q3: If you have had an accident, how many times within the last year? (Sample size=564)

Once	70.4%
Twice	21.3%
Thrice	4.8%
Four times	1.2%
Five times or more	0.7%
Don’t know	0.7%
Not clear	0.9%

Q4: If you have had an accident, how many children riding were injured? If more than one accident in the last year, describe the more recent one. (Sample size=564)

One	82.6%
Two	16.1%
Three	0.2%
Four or more	0.0%
Not clear	1.1%

Q5: What were the ages of those injured in Q4? (Sample size=651 children)

0 years old	0.9%
1 year old	12.0%
2 years old	19.0%
3 years old	19.8%
4 years old	21.4%
5 years old	15.4%
6 years old	8.3%
7 years or older	0.5%
Don’t know	0.2%
Not clear	2.6%

Q6: Where were those injured in Q4 riding? (Sample size=651 children)

Child seat in front of the handlebars	13.8%
Child seat between handlebars and saddle	27.3%
Child seat behind saddle	48.2%
Non-child seat use luggage rack	5.4%
Piggy-backing on rider	0.5%
Don’t know	0.5%
Other	1.7%
Not clear	2.6%

Sadly, we don’t have a figure to say where children normally ride, in order to give some sort of idea if certain locations may lead to more accidents.

Q7: Which part of the body was most seriously injured? (Sample size=651 children)

Head	17.7%
Face	11.4%
Shoulders	0.2%
Chest	0.0%
Stomach	0.5%
Back	0.2%
Bottom	0.2%
Hands or arms	16.1%
Feet or legs	43.6%
Don’t know	3.2%
Other	3.8%
Not clear	3.2%

Q8: How serious was the injury? (Sample size=651 children)

Over two weeks in hospital	0.2%
One day to two weeks in hospital	0.2%
A number of out-patient/clinic visits	7.1%
One out-patient/clinc visit	6.0%
Didn’t visit doctor	64.8%
Don’t know	0.5%
Other	18.1%
Not clear	3.2%

Sadly, here there is no cross-referencing between location of injury and seriousness of injury.

Q9: Was the child wearing a helmet when injured? (Sample size=651 children)

Yes	1.2%
No	96.3%
Don’t know	0.0%
Not clear	2.5%

Q10: Whereabouts was the bike when the accident occurred? (Sample size=564 accidents)

When going across a step (kerb etc)	9.4%
When turning left or right	6.9%
When moving away from a stop	14.0%
When stopping	5.0%
When moving in another fashion	13.8%
When parking (engaging or disengaging stand, etc)	35.8%
When pushing bike	5.5%
Don’t know	0.7%
Other	7.4%
Not clear	1.4%

Q11: What was the cause of the accident? (Sample size=564 accidents)

Wheel hit a rut or obstacle avoidance caused loss of balance	56.0%
Collision with other bicycle or motorbike	3.5%
Collision with car	3.4%
Collision with pedestrian	0.7%
Collision with other object	2.5%
Child fell out of seat, etc	8.5%
Child got foot trapped in wheel, etc	9.0%
Don’t know	5.9%
Other	6.7%
Not clear	3.7%

Q12: Did you notify the police after the accident? (Sample size=564 accidents)

Yes	2.5%
No	95.0%
Don’t know	0.4%
Not clear	2.1%

Q13: If you did not notify the police after the accident, why not? (Sample size=536 accidents)

No serious injuries	59.0%
I didn’t think it was necessary to report bicycle accidents when riding	11.4%
I didn’t think it was necessary to report bicycle accidents when pushing or parking	10.3%
I didn’t think it was necessary to report bicycle accidents involving only myself	6.2%
It wasn’t on the public road, but private land at home, etc	6.9%
Don’t know	2.2%
Other	3.7%
Not clear	0.4%

Q14: If you answered Yes in Q1, do you use a child helmet when riding? (Sample size=4302 women)

Always use	1.2%
Sometimes use	1.4%
Never use	95.4%
Don’t know	0.1%
Not clear	1.9%

Q15: If you answered Always or Sometimes in Q14, for what reasons do you use a child helmet when riding? Multiple answers allowed. (Sample size=112 women)

There’s lots of accidents, and I’ve seen and heard information about this	52.7%
Family or friends recommended I use it	22.3%
Reduce risk, increase safety	18.8%
Experienced accidents or injury	8.0%
Family or friends have had an accident	7.1%
Obligatory abroad, obligation to parents	4.5%
Bicycle shop recommendation	3.6%
Children want to	2.7%
Requested to wear one riding to nursery, etc	0.9%
Municipality recommendation	0.9%
Nursery, creche, etc recommended it	0.0%
Don’t know	0.0%
Other	10.7%
Not clear	0.0%

Q15: If you answered Never in Q14, for what reasons do you not use a child helmet when riding? Multiple answers allowed. (Sample size=4105 women)

I didn’t know a helmet was needed when going to nursery, etc	41.8%
It’s troublesome	28.9%
It’s extra luggage	24.1%
I don’t know where they are sold	23.6%
I don’t ride so as to cause injury	16.7%
Children don’t want to wear it	15.3%
I don’t know how effective they are	13.1%
The price is high	10.3%
Frequency is low (ie won’t use it much?)	4.7%
Never thought of it or been aware of it	3.3%
Not seen many people around me wearing them	2.3%
Don’t know	4.2%
Other	10.0%
Not clear	0.2%

Q16: Within the last year, have you attended road saftey lectures for guardians or families? (Sample size=7194 women)

Yes	9.3%
No	87.0%
Don’t know	2.1%
Not clear	1.6%

Q17: What measures do you think would be effective to avoid serious accidents? (Sample size=7194 women)

Sufficient safety education for guardians	68.9%
Child helmets when riding two-up	48.6%
Flatten kerbs on pavements	47.8%
Accident risk warning posters	46.3%
Stricter road safety laws for bicycle riders	26.0%
Develop a bicycle that’s hard to fall off	25.6%
Other	5.9%
Don’t know	2.2%
Not clear	1.4%

Q18: Regarding making wearing of child helmets compulsory, what do you think should be done? (Sample size=7194 women)

Should make it compulsory immediately (to Q19)	31.2%
Too soon to make it compulsory (to Q20)	21.1%
I couldn’t accept it being compulsory (to Q21)	33.8%
Don’t know	12.6%
Not clear	1.3%

Q19: For what reasons should it be made compulsory immediately? (Sample size=2246 women)

Increasing the safety of children should be a priority	91.3%
If it’s not compulsory, no-one will use them	72.0%
I’ve seen and heard about lots of accidents occurring	26.9%
Other countries make it mandatory	5.4%
My family or friend’s children have been injured	5.1%
Don’t know	0.0%
Other	6.0%
Not clear	0.0%

Q20: For what reasons do you think it is too soon to make them compulsory? (Sample size=1520 women)

The level of awareness amongst guardians is not high enough to make it compulsory	84.5%
There are few shops selling them	28.8%
I don’t know by how much it would reduce head injury	27.5%
Price is high	26.3%
Limited range of models	18.6%
Other	13.2%
Don’t know	0.8%
Not clear	0.3%

Q21: For what reasons could you not accept them being compulsory? (Sample size=2428 women)

It is better if the guardian decides	69.3%
Children won’t like wearing them	35.5%
Extra luggage to carry	31.3%
Takes money	29.5%
Even if used, I don’t think head injuries will decrease	16.4%
Other	15.7%
Don’t know	1.9%
Not clear	0.5%

Q22: How often do you ride with a child on board? (Sample size=7194 women)

Just about every day	20.2%
Three or four times a week	7.6%
One or two times a week	8.0%
Two or three times a month	9.0%
Almost never ride together	10.5%
Almost never ride a bike at all	43.4%
Not clear	1.4%