世論 What Japan Thinks

The four most frequent petty vehicular crimes I see in Japan are red light running, no adult seatbelts, not using child seats and, the focus of this article, the use of mobile phones. This was outlawed in Noverber 2004, and although the government reported a significant reduction in accidents caused by the use of mobile phones, there was some scepticism from me and others as to whether this was really due to safer driving and not just due to less reporting. So, japan.internet.com reported on the results of a survey conducted by Cross Marketing Inc into hands-free adapters.

Demographics

Over the 15th and 16th of August 2007 320 car-driving members of Cross Marketing Inc’s online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was split 50:50 male and female, and 25.0% in their twenties, 25/0% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, and 25.0% in their fifties.

You’ll have to buy the full report, I suspect, to find out the most interesting figures, such as when driving how frequently people make or receive calls or email on the mobile phones.

Research results

First, 60.3%, or 193 people, said they had made or received a mobile phone call when driving, a figure very similar to the one reported last September. These 193 were asked the following question.

Q1: When talking on the phone in the car, what sort of equipment do you use? (Sample size=193)

Hands-free kit	14.0%
Earphone mike	12.4%
Mobile phone’s built-in hands-free mode	2.6%
Other attachments	0.5%
Didn’t/don’t use anything, just talk normally (to SQ)	70.5%

Q1SQ: Did this cause problems when driving? (Sample size=136)

No problem	53.7%
A little dangerous	42.6%
Extremely dangerous	3.7%

Q2: Do you think that the use of mobile hands-free kit should be spread? (Sample size=193)

Think so	13.4%
Perhaps think so	38.8%
Perhaps don’t think so	40.6%
Don’t think so	7.2%