Survey on Road Traffic Act Amendments: Awareness vs. Compliance Gap

Ideation Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Akikane Shiraishi), a marketing research firm, conducted a survey on the 'Road Traffic Act Amendments' targeting 669 men and women across Japan who use bicycles or cars at least once a week. The survey was conducted from April 21 to April 27, 2026. On April 1, 2026, amendments to the Road Traffic Act introduced the 'Bicycle Traffic Infringement Notification System (Blue Ticket)' and 'Obligations for cars overtaking bicycles.' This system, which imposes fines for violations such as ignoring traffic lights or riding on sidewalks, has become a major topic on social media and in the news. One month after implementation, we investigated whether 'knowing' translates to 'complying.' The survey aimed to clarify the penetration of the system and the real voices of the public. [Blue Ticket System] About 94% are aware, but less than half understand the details. The awareness rate of the blue ticket system is very high at about 94%, showing that many people are aware of its existence just one month after implementation. However, only 48.4% answered that they 'understand the details,' while 45.3% admitted they 'have only heard of it.' Although the existence of the system is widely known, understanding of the specifics—such as what constitutes a violation or how the system works—remains at about half. While it is still early, this result suggests that future awareness campaigns need improvement. The most common way people learned about the system was through TV/radio (75.6%), followed by internet news (32.7%) and social media (15.2%). TV/radio showed the most significant age gap, with 82.8% of those in their 50s and 83.8% of those in their 60s and older being aware, compared to only about 60% of those in their teens and 20s. The fact that about half of those who 'know' it still do not 'understand' it indicates that a single exposure via TV is insufficient, highlighting the need for targeted communication strategies. [Blue Ticket System] Compliance intention for the sidewalk riding ban is the lowest among all items. While awareness and compliance intentions for behaviors like wearing earphones, riding without lights at night, using a mobile phone while riding, ignoring signals, using an umbrella, and riding side-by-side were high (over 80%), the 'sidewalk riding ban' stood out. Despite an awareness rate of about 80%, the compliance intention was only about 43%, the lowest among all items and the only one below 50%. This gap reflects the disconnect between current road environments and the legal amendments. [Blue Ticket System] About 74% feel the sidewalk riding ban is 'strict,' with desperate voices in free-form responses. The 'sidewalk riding ban' was felt to be 'strict' by 74.3% of respondents, the highest among all items. Free-form responses highlighted that 'riding on the road is dangerous/difficult' (78 responses) and 'improving road infrastructure like bicycle lanes should come first' (49 responses). This consistent feedback suggests that the resistance is not due to dissatisfaction with the rules themselves, but rather a plea that they are 'physically impossible to follow' in the current road environment. [Blue Ticket System] About 75% of bicycle users say their 'awareness has changed,' but only 30% say it has 'changed significantly.' After the implementation, about 75% of bicycle users reported a change in their awareness of traffic rules, confirming a certain effect. However, only 31.2% said it 'changed significantly,' while 44.2% said it 'changed somewhat.' While awareness has increased, the low compliance intention for some rules suggests that behavioral change is still limited. [Overtaking Rules] Understanding of overtaking rules is about 40%; awareness is spreading, but penetration is halfway. While the awareness rate for the 'obligation for cars overtaking bicycles' was high at about 78%, only 40.4% understood the details. Similar to the blue ticket system, the 'existence' is known, but the 'content' has not yet reached everyone. The most common source of information was TV/radio (63.2%). Age differences were most prominent on social media, with high awareness among teens (28.3%) and those in their 30s (24.5%), but extremely low among those in their 60s (6.3%). [Overtaking Rules] Maintaining a 1m side gap is the top in awareness but the worst in compliance; the reality of drivers who cannot comply even if they want to. The most recognized item was 'a side gap of at least 1m is required when overtaking a bicycle' (about 69%), but the compliance intention was the lowest among the three items at about 59%, leading to a contradictory result of 'knowing but unlikely to comply.' [Overtaking Rules] Severity of penalties and dissatisfaction with road environments; drivers' true feelings reflected in data. When asked if the overtaking rules and penalties were 'strict,' the top two items were 'imprisonment of up to 3 months or a fine of 50,000 yen' (62.9%) and '7,000 yen fine and 2 penalty points' (54.3%). The most 'strict' behavioral rule was 'maintaining a 1m side gap' (51.7%). Free-form responses again cited 'narrow roads make it impossible/dangerous to comply' (75 responses). This confirms that for drivers, the issue is not that they 'don't want to follow' the rules, but that they 'cannot follow them or are anxious about doing so' due to the physical road environment. [Overtaking Rules] About 68% of drivers say their 'driving awareness has changed.' After the implementation, about 68% of drivers reported a change in their driving awareness when overtaking bicycles. However, only 29.6% said it 'changed significantly.' Conclusion. Both systems have high awareness, with the fact that they were implemented known within about a month. About 75% of bicycle users and 68% of drivers reported a change in awareness. However, two major issues emerged: 'lack of understanding of the content' and the 'gap between rules and road environment' symbolized by the sidewalk riding ban. The voices calling for 'safer roads' and 'dedicated lanes' are a desperate appeal to the reality that road infrastructure is not keeping pace with legal changes. While long-term infrastructure development is necessary, the immediate need is to provide concrete methods on 'how to ride safely in the current road environment' tailored to different generations and media habits. Moving from 'awareness' to 'conviction' is what is needed now.