Automakers will soon be obligated to install a system in new cars sold in Japan that monitors drivers for signs of distraction or drowsiness, as the number of accidents caused by mobile phone use while driving increases in the country. The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry will revise its ministerial ordinance in September to make it mandatory for carmakers to install driver monitoring systems (DMS) for new car models from September 2031. For existing models, it will be mandatory from 2033.
A DMS uses cameras and sensors installed in front of the driver to monitor attention. It alerts drivers if it suspects they are looking at their smartphones, for instance. The transport ministry regulation will be revised to have the DMS sound the alarm if the driver looks down at their hands for 3.5 seconds while driving at 50 kilometers per hour or more, and for six seconds if they are driving between 20 kph and 50 kph.
The DMS will monitor the driver’s eyelids and movement of the steering wheel when a vehicle is driven between 70 kph and 130 kph. It will alert the driver if signs of drowsy driving are detected. Carmakers such as Toyota, Subaru and Mazda have already installed such systems on some of their luxury car models.
A DMS add-on for vehicles without it typically costs around ¥100,000 ($630). According to the National Police Agency, the number of deaths and severe injuries attributed to mobile phone usage while driving has risen every year since 2020. The number reached a total of 148 cases in 2025.
The agency noted that the fatality rate for automobile accidents between 2021 and 2025 was 3.4 times higher when mobile phone use was involved compared to instances in which it wasn’t. The Japanese mandate comes on the heels of the approval of additional regulations by the U.N.’s World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) earlier this year, which addressed warning systems for driver drowsiness and distraction. DMS mandates have been put into place elsewhere in the world, most notably in the European Union.
Under the bloc’s General Safety Regulation (GSR), driver drowsiness and attention warning systems have been required for all new road vehicles since July 2024. Advanced driver distraction warning systems have also been mandated since July this year for all new vehicles hitting the EU market. The EU estimates that the GSR will prevent over 25,000 deaths and 140,000 serious injuries by 2038.
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