The number of traffic accidents in Japan is likely to hit a record high this year in tandem with the increase in vehicles and older drivers, National Police Agency officials said Sunday.

There were 837,480 accidents as of the end of November, up 8.5 percent from the same period last year, accompanied by 1,038,761 injuries, up 8.8 percent.

As of Thursday, the number of fatalities caused by traffic accidents had risen 1.2 percent to 8,788, breaking a four-year streak of declines. The rise in fatalities means it is unlikely the central government will attain its goal of keeping road deaths under 9,000 this year.

According to the NPA, traffic accidents in the postwar period exceeded 500,000 in 1963 and have been hovering between 400,000 and 700,000 ever since.

However, as Japan entered the 1990s accidents began rising steadily and surpassed the 800,000 mark in 1998. The number of injuries has also risen, breaking one million for the first time in 1999.

In regard to total road fatalities, it was found that the elderly now account for 34.3 percent of all deaths so far this year and have topped all age categories for eight years running.

On the other hand, the number of traffic violations as of the end of November fell 12.6 percent from the same period last year to roughly 10.42 million.

Drunk-driving offenses marked an especially steep year-on-year decline of 24.3 percent, while those caught driving without a license fell 14.7 percent.