Cyclists distracted while using their smartphones caused a record high 28 fatal and serious injury accidents around Japan in 2024, according to the National Police Agency.
The figure is up by two from the previous year.
The NPA, which started compiling such statistics in 2007, strengthened penalties for distracted cycling last November to stem the number of accidents caused mainly by young people.
Under the revised Road Traffic Law, bicycle riders caught pedaling while using their smartphones face penalties of up to six months in prison or a maximum fine of 100,000 yen ($665).
The penalties are stronger if the behavior results in an accident or endangers others.
Until 2020, the annual number of fatal and serious injury accidents caused by smartphone-using cyclists ranged from 10 to 19. But in recent years, the figure has exceeded 20 a year.
Of the accidents reported last year, 25 involved the cyclist looking at or touching the phone screen. The three other cases involved the cyclist talking on the phone.
The one fatality was a cyclist in his 40s in Saitama Prefecture who crashed while using his phone.
In the five years through 2024, more than half of the cyclists involved in fatal and serious injury accidents were teenagers or younger, while nearly 20 percent were in their 20s.
The legal revisions in November also made cycling under the influence of alcohol a punishable offense.
Last year, there were 22 fatal accidents caused by inebriated cyclists, the same as the previous year, while the number of serious injury accidents dropped by 13 to 20.
In November and December, such cyclists caused five fatal accidents and eight serious injury accidents, both up by three from the same period the previous year.
In the five years through 2024, 506 fatal and serious injury accidents have involved cyclists riding under the influence of alcohol.
Such accidents were particularly common among middle-aged and older cyclists, with 60 percent involving those aged 50 and older.
