The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) published on July 4, 2025, investigation reports on commercial vehicle accidents involving a large truck collision in Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture (May 16, 2023) and a large bus rear-end collision in Hamakita-ku, Hamamatsu City (December 4, 2022), presenting lessons on the importance of proper labor management, emergency stop safety measures, and communication between drivers.
Key Points
Overview and Causes of Large Truck Collision Accident (Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture)
- Occurred around 20:11 on May 16, 2023, in the first traffic lane of the Tohoku Expressway
- Large truck collided with a large charter bus stopped due to breakdown and two people (driver and passenger) who were handling the breakdown behind it
- Charter bus driver and two passengers died, large truck driver seriously injured
- Truck driver's attention overly focused on a passenger car to the right rear while overtaking a vehicle ahead, resulting in failure to watch forward
- Fatigue from long working hours affected attention capacity, with driving characteristics of "considerably delayed judgment timing" and "insufficient attention distribution" contributing to the accident
Overview and Causes of Large Bus Rear-end Collision (Hamakita-ku, Hamamatsu City)
- Occurred around 5:53 on December 4, 2022, on the New Tomei Expressway
- Large route bus operating between Fukuoka and Tokyo with two-driver crew, carrying 17 passengers in the third lane, rear-ended a large truck in the second traffic lane
- Bus driver and six passengers, and truck driver sustained minor injuries
- Driver developed abdominal pain during operation, stopped at an unplanned parking area for about 21 minutes, causing delays
- Traveling at approximately 120 km/h in a 50 km/h speed limit zone, attempting to make up for lost time, deviated from lane and collided
Management Issues with Operators and Operation Managers
- Truck operator overlooked long working hours violating improvement standards notifications and implemented operation plans that caused driver fatigue accumulation
- Truck operator lacked detailed guidance considering individual driver characteristics
- Bus operator provided insufficient guidance and supervision for appropriate responses during emergency stops on highways
- Bus operator failed to clearly specify concrete response methods for poor health conditions, limiting guidance to service regulations only
- Bus operator did not correct habitual speeding to make up for operational delays
Recurrence Prevention Measures (Labor Management and Communication)
- Strictly comply with improvement standards notifications and thoroughly create operation plans that do not accumulate driver fatigue
- Establish systems to share improvement instructions received from authorities across all business offices, not just the instructed office
- Enhance daily communication and strive to understand crew health conditions
- Prepare manuals enabling drivers to respond without hesitation during poor health conditions and ensure regular understanding
- Improve workplace communication skills in two-driver operations to prevent authority gradients between senior and junior drivers from becoming obstacles
Specific Safety Driving Guidance Improvements
- Thoroughly educate about the dangers of failing to watch forward and provide guidance to avoid driving that leads to forward inattention
- Deepen understanding of various dangers arising during nighttime operations using hazard prediction training methods
- Thoroughly provide guidance on appropriate responses during vehicle breakdowns or emergency stops (triangle warning board installation, etc.)
- Review daily operation records and instruct to prevent repetition of violations such as speeding
- Provide appropriate instructions to drivers to ensure safety is not sacrificed for schedule maintenance even when unexpected delays occur
Through these accident investigations, the report emphasizes that ensuring commercial vehicle safety requires proper labor management to prevent driver fatigue, thorough implementation of appropriate emergency response procedures, and establishment of smooth communication systems between drivers and between drivers and managers.