Bike Safety Campaign: Use Your Head
An ad campaign by the Bicycle Association of Japan advises bicycle buyers to look for the BAA-approved safety sticker on new bicycles. BAA ads focus on bicycle brake response and night visibility.
Laws in Japan requires seatbelts be worn by all occupants in vehicles.
A regulation requires helmets be worn by riders of motorized bicycles and motorcycles.
Laws ban sidewalk bicycling in principle. Activities illegal while riding a bicycle: Wearing headphones, using an umbrella, using a mobile phone, carrying more than one person (some exceptions apply), and ringing the bell too much.
According to a Nov. 2008 review of road traffic laws by East Asia Forum, parents are obliged to instruct kids under age 13 to wear bicycle helmets. But there is no penalty for violating the rule. The law permits bicyclists 13 or over to ride a bicycle without wearing a helmet.
related:A Crash Course Guide to Bicycle Safety; photos: Red lady; kid no helmet; suits; kid helmet.
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You know, it would be nice if people would keep their bikes off the sidewalk. I bet one day of mass tickets for cycling on the sidewalk would take care of the problem for a while.