Traffic Control Center

While the automobiles are an indispensable means of transportation in our life, they do have various negative impacts: many lives are lost by traffic accidents; traffic jams are constant; and environment. In a bid to quickly solve these problems, the MPD has been promoting complehensive measures which aims for the safe, smooth flowing, and pollution-free road traffic that would befit the society of 21st century. These measures include: adjusting the MPD's traffic control system to the current situation to realize smoother traffic flow, safer road transportation, and less air pollution; crack down on serious traffic violation by utilizing mobile traffic units; sending out traffic information on a timely basis. More recent moves are that the MPD has started operation the newly completed Traffic Control System, which features the highly effective computer system, and has been improving the roads to be barrier-free. Our goals are to realize the high-quality traffic safety. Road accident scene

Although statistics show that in 2002 the number of traffic accidents and injuries went down compared to the previous year, the number of traffic deaths has increased. The majority of these traffic accidents involve senior citizens while they are walking or youths riding scooters or motorcycles. The major causes of traffic accidents can be attributed to the driver being careless or improper vehicle operations; while the pedestrians are at fault for not following traffic sign or blatant disregard for basic traffic rules. In order to deal with the large number of illegally parked vehicles resulting in traffic jams throughout the Tokyo area, the MPD together with the cooperation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG), is promoting "Smooth Tokyo 21" to combat illegally parked vehicles in major metropolitan streets.

Clamping down the youth group racing on the Expressway Circuit To ensure nobody gets hurt or killed on the road, every individual who uses the road needs to follow all the rules, practice good manners and never lose the "heart" to care for others. Public awareness of this issue is being vigorously promoted by the MPD officers through various activities. Meanwhile, law enforcement and education activities focus on flagrant violations that trigger serious accidents, such as driving without a license, drinking and driving, speeding, ignoring red lights, and obstructing pedestrians. Another target of strict control is illegal parking, as it is the major cause of not only the traffic jams but accidents. Tremendous energy is also put on the investigation of the hit-and-run cases as well as the accidents caused by business-related infraction like overloading and fatigue driving in order to find out who was responsible behind the scene. Gathering material evidence on the accident scene Night-time traffic stop Illegal parking under control A checkpoint of alcohol-influenced drivers Gathering material evidence on the accident scene

---