With the holiday season approaching, the Diet has decided to get tough on drunk drivers.
The House of Councilors on Wednesday enacted legislation that allows a maximum 15 years in prison for drunk driving resulting in death.
The Criminal Code revision, which creates a new category of conviction called highway manslaughter, will take effect by the end of the year, as the bill has already cleared the House of Representatives.
The law allows for up to 10 years imprisonment for drunk driving that leads to injury.
Driving under the influence of drugs will be treated in the same way as drunk driving under the new law.
Losing control of a vehicle due to speeding, ignoring traffic lights and tailgating will be treated as reckless driving if an accident results in death or injury.
Under existing law, the maximum penalties for drunk or dangerous driving are five years' imprisonment or a fine of 500,000 yen.
The Justice Ministry moved to stiffen the penalties for reckless driving in the wake of a campaign waged by the parents of two children who died in a car crash involving a drunk trucker on the Tomei Expressway in November 1999. In January, the Tokyo High Court sentenced the driver to four years in prison.
The parents collected 374,000 signatures in support of demands for heavier penalties for driving-related crimes.