On April 14, 2023, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) released the “Plan Promoting Victim Protection” as set out in the Act to Secure Compensation for Automobile Accidents (Act No. 97 of 1955).

Article 77-3 of the Act states that the plan “shall be prepared for the stable and effective implementation of the project to promote victim protection” and that the plan shall specify the actual conditions of victims’ lives, the goals of the project, and outlines the project to be implemented to achieve the goals.

Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance (CALI) was initially designed to ensure a minimum level of liability in the event of an automobile accident. The investment income from the “Automobile Safety Special Account,” in which the premiums are accumulated, have been used to subsidize personnel expenses at support facilities for people with disabilities and group homes for people who have suffered permanent disabilities in traffic accidents.

However, as the implementation of the project with investment income is unstable, the Act to Secure Compensation for Automobile Accidents was amended in June 2022 by the Act on the Partial Amendment of the Act to Secure Compensation for Automobile Accidents and Special Accounts (Act No. 65 of 2022). Given this, the new levy for automobile accident countermeasures was allocated for the project to promote victim protection.

To formulate the plan, a Study Group on the Project for the Promotion of Victim Protection was established, and have since been studying the plan.

The plan will be implemented for four years, from FY2023 to FY2026. The contents of the plan are as follows:

• Introduction
• Part I: General provisions
•  1. The society that the plan aims for
•  2. Timeframe of the plan
•  3. Evaluation and review of the plan
• Part II: Trends in automobile accidents and issues surrounding victims of automobile accidents
•  1. Damage caused by automobile accidents
•  2. Situation and challenges for victims of automobile accidents
•  3. Challenges in preventing the occurrence of automobile accidents
• Part III: Objectives of the plan and basic measures to be implemented to achieve the objectives
•  1. Basic measures to be taken to support victims
• (1) Objectives
• (2) Measures to be taken to promote the protection of victims
•  ① Measures to be taken by the government
•  ② Measures taken by the National Agency for Automotive Safety and Victims’ Aid
•  ③ Measures taken by other parties
•  2. Basic matters for measures to prevent the occurrence of automobile accidents
• (1) Objectives
• (2) Measures to prevent the occurrence of automobile accidents
•  ① Measures to be taken by the government
•  ② Measures taken by the National Agency for Automotive Safety and Victims’ Aid
•  ③ Measures taken by other parties

For more information, please visit: https://www.mlit.go.jp/report/press/jidosha02_hh_000566.html