Photo/Illutration Police officers watch out for cyclists using the right side of the road in Saitama in 2023. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Cyclists are expected to face penalties of up to 12,000 yen ($85) from next April 1 under a new system to prevent malicious traffic violations.

The National Police Agency on April 24 drafted a plan to revise the Road Traffic Law’s enforcement order and other rules to provide for details such as penalty amounts.

The agency intends to formalize the plan after soliciting public comments for one month from April 25.

“Like automobiles, bicycles are vehicles, and they must observe traffic rules,” NPA Commissioner Yoshinobu Kusunoki told a news conference on April 24. “Malicious or dangerous violations will be subject to monetary penalties.”

Kusunoki said the NPA will promote public awareness, call for safe bicycle riding and prepare for the operation of the new system.

Under the system, police will write up blue traffic tickets for relatively minor traffic violations. Offenders will not face criminal punishment if they pay penalties.

While the existing penalty system applies to motorists, cyclists have remained outside its scope.

The introduction of a framework for cyclists was included in the revised Road Traffic Law that took effect last year. 

Breaking any of the 113 types of violations listed can result in cyclists 16 and older being slapped with monetary penalties. 

Riding while drunk and tailgating are in a separate category of 24 more serious violations. Police already write red traffic tickets for these offenses and send cases to prosecutors.

Penalty amounts are to be the same as those dealt out to 50cc scooter drivers.

Cyclists will be fined 12,000 yen for using a smartphone while riding and 6,000 yen for ignoring a red light or using the right side of the road. 

The charge for two people sharing a bicycle or riding them side by side is expected to be 3,000 yen.

Police plan to crack down on malicious or dangerous cases as well as riders who ignore their initial instructions or warnings.

“We will not take action on all violations covered (by the system),” an NPA official said.

Last year, 51,564 cases of traffic violations were sent to prosecutors, up about 17 percent from 2023, according to the NPA. The number increased 4.3 times over 10 years.

About 42 percent of all cases in 2024 involved ignoring a stop sign, and about 41 percent were due to running a red light.

In recent years, the number of accidents for which cyclists were primarily or secondarily responsible remained at around 70,000 a year, accounting for 23 to 24 percent of all traffic accidents.

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