Japan's traffic death toll dropped to a record low of 3,694 in 2017, due partly to strengthened traffic regulations, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
The figure fell by 210 from the previous year to the lowest since comparable data became available in 1948, standing at nearly one-fifth of its peak of 16,765 in 1970, the agency said.
An agency official attributed the decline to a police crackdown on traffic violations and the revised road traffic law that took effect in March last year, as well as new tougher dementia tests for elderly people renewing their driver's licenses.