au Insurance Conducts Awareness Survey on Bicycle "Blue Ticket" System to be Implemented in April

au Insurance Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Takeshi Nakai; hereinafter referred to as au Insurance) conducted an awareness survey regarding the traffic violation notification system for bicycles (commonly known as the "blue ticket" system), which will be introduced on April 1, 2026. The survey targeted 14,098 men and women aged 15 to 69 who cycle nationwide.

The blue ticket system will make 113 types of violations subject to fines, including "signal jumping" and "distracted riding." In this survey, au Insurance selected 13 specific actions from the 113 types that are considered particularly common in daily bicycle use, and asked about cyclists' awareness, behavioral patterns, and understanding of the blue ticket system. The results revealed a significant gap between awareness and understanding, with a high awareness rate of 76.0% for the system, but only 32.0% correctly understanding the violations covered.

1. Awareness of the Bicycle "Blue Ticket" System is 76.0%

Regarding the application of the blue ticket system to bicycles starting April 2026, 76.0% responded that they "knew" about it [Table 1].

This indicates that awareness is spreading as the system's introduction approaches.

2. 40.5% Have "Committed at Least One Violation in the Past Year"

When asked about the 13 violation behaviors during bicycle riding, "having committed at least one in the past year" was answered by 40.5% of respondents [Table 2-1].

The most frequent violation was "traveling on the right side of the road (counter-flow)" at 19.1% [Table 2-2].

3. 77.7% Have "Witnessed Others Committing Violations"

Regarding the 13 violation behaviors, when asked "what have you seen others do while riding a bicycle within the past year," 77.7% responded that they had "seen it at least once" [Table 3-1].

The most frequently witnessed violation was "distracted riding," such as "riding while using a mobile phone or holding an umbrella," at 42.8% [Table 3-2].

4. Understanding of Violations Subject to "Blue Tickets" is Insufficient; Cases of "Knowing but Still Doing" and "Unknowingly Doing" Coexist

When asked about "actions believed to be subject to a blue ticket" for the 13 violation behaviors, only 32.0% fully understood all of them [Table 4-1].

For individual actions, "signal jumping" was recognized as subject to the blue ticket system by the highest percentage at 72.6%, followed by "distracted riding" at 70.0% [Table 4-2].

Furthermore, "signal jumping" and "distracted riding" were also frequently cited as actions committed knowingly, accounting for 85.0% and 80.6% respectively [Table 5].

On the other hand, only 43.9% recognized "not slowing down when riding on a sidewalk" as subject to the "blue ticket" system, but 45.1% responded that they had done this without knowing it was a violation.

Based on these findings, it is considered important to promote initiatives to prevent violations due to a lack of understanding, such as raising awareness of the system and improving comprehension of the covered behaviors. Simultaneously, efforts to encourage behavioral change for actions committed with awareness of them being violations are also crucial.

This survey revealed that while interest in the bicycle blue ticket system is very high, there is insufficient understanding of the specific behaviors covered by the system.

In conjunction with this survey, au Insurance has also renewed its "Blue Ticket Guide" content on its official website. This guide uses illustrations to clearly explain the blue ticket system and lists the 113 violation items and fines. We encourage all bicycle users to utilize this resource to promote correct knowledge and safe behavior.

The "Blue Ticket Guide" can be viewed at the following URL: