Japan has cut the speed limit on narrow residential streets from 60 km/h to 30 km/h, effective this week, in a bid to reduce pedestrian deaths and serious injuries. The new rules apply to roughly 870,000 km of roads less than 5.5 metres wide that lack centre lines or median strips — around 70% of the country's general roads. Authorities cite persistent danger to children and elderly pedestrians on these streets, where fatal and serious accidents have held steady at around 300 a year since 2021 even as overall traffic deaths have fallen to record lows, and note that a previous pilot scheme in limited zones achieved a 30% drop in fatalities and serious injuries after lowering speeds to the same threshold.