Japan considers easing rules on use of bicycle child seats

The Japan Safe Driving Center on Tuesday held the first meeting of a panel of experts to discuss whether to ease restrictions on the age and size of children allowed to ride in child seats on bicycles.

The panel will conduct experiments to examine how a child’s weight affects bicycle handling and safety, and plans to compile a report by the end of March next year.

The center, which operates under the National Public Safety Commission, issues traffic accident certificates and conducts research on road safety.

Based on the panel’s findings, the National Police Agency (NPA) will consider revising the current rules, which generally allow children to ride in bicycle child seats only before they enter elementary school.

The agency plans to establish revised requirements and notify prefectural police departments.

The panel includes university professors specializing in traffic engineering and data analysis, as well as representatives of the Japan Bicycle Promotion Institute, which conducts performance testing and safety inspections of bicycles and child seats.

The NPA and Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department will also take part in the discussions.

The SG safety certification mark, which indicates that a product meets safety standards, recommends that bicycle child seats be used for children no taller than 120 centimeters and weighing no more than 24 kilograms.

The panel plans to conduct tests using loads heavier than those currently recommended. It will examine bicycle stability while moving and the risk of tipping over when turning, among other factors, before discussing safe weight limits and the structural strength required of bicycles.

Japanese law generally prohibits two people from riding a bicycle together. However, regulations set by public safety commissions in each prefecture make an exception for up to two preschool-age children when suitable child seats are used.

Calls to ease the restrictions have been growing for years, with parents arguing that they need to transport children by bicycle even after they start elementary school, including for school drop-offs and medical appointments.

Those calls have intensified since April, when Japan introduced the “blue ticket” system of on-the-spot traffic fines for bicycle violations, making illegal tandem riding punishable by a fine.