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[Xinhua News Agency Micro Feature] In order to reduce traffic accidents caused by driving in the wrong direction on highways, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan plans to introduce a new monitoring and warning system: after the surveillance camera detects a vehicle driving in the wrong direction on the highway, the system will send a warning message to the on-board navigation system of the wrong-traveling vehicle and nearby vehicles or the driver's mobile phone to avoid "head-on collision" accidents.

According to a report by Kyodo News on the 20th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism plans to launch relevant bidding activities within this fiscal year to select companies to develop the above-mentioned traffic monitoring system under the supervision of highway operators, in order to give priority to implementing this measure as soon as possible in sections with high incidence of wrong-way traffic after the trial period.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's idea, more than 15,000 surveillance cameras covering most of Japan's highways can be used, and artificial intelligence image processing technology can be used to identify vehicles traveling in the opposite direction. Voice prompts can then be sent to the drivers of the vehicles traveling in the opposite direction and the surrounding vehicles traveling normally through the in-vehicle navigation system or mobile phone map software.

Since relevant data records began in 2011, Japan has had more than 200 wrong-way traffic incidents on highways every year, with a peak of 259 in 2015. Of the 224 incidents last year, eight resulted in injuries or deaths, and in 185 cases, the wrong-way vehicles were stopped in time to avoid collisions.

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism hopes to achieve the goal of "zero casualties" in wrong-way traffic by 2029, but due to the increase in the proportion of elderly drivers, related traffic accidents have increased in recent years. Among the wrong-way accidents recorded on highways last year, 61.5% of the drivers involved were 65 years old and above, which is higher than the average data of 50.4% between 2011 and 2022. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and highway operators have taken some measures to prevent accidents in recent years, including setting up "no entry" warning signs, adding road markings at lane exits and merges, and using roadside electronic screens to remind wrong-way vehicles, but the effect is not good. (End) (Shen Min)