Global Petition: Fervent Prayers and Vow Towards Zero Road Fatalities, From Tateshina to Globally
Toyota Gathers Industry Leaders for Zero Traffic Accident Summit
Over 100 representatives from Japan and abroad recently gathered at Shoko-ji Temple in Chino City, Nagano Prefecture, for the Tateshina Meeting, a yearly summit focused on achieving zero traffic accident casualties worldwide.
The Tateshina Meeting, a gathering of automotive industry leaders, took place on July 17 and 18. The event, established in 1970 by Toyota and its dealer network, is a tradition that honours lives lost to traffic accidents and serves as a focal point for strategic discussions aimed at eliminating traffic fatalities through industry collaboration, innovation, and public awareness efforts.
The temple, erected in 1970, has been the site of the Tateshina Meeting annually since then. This year's meeting was the second session, following the first in 2019. Chairman Akio Toyoda, President Koji Sato, and other leaders from Toyota took part in the Summer Festival associated with the Tateshina Meeting.
The Tateshina Meeting brings together senior managers from automobile manufacturers, suppliers, and insurers. During the meeting, participants discussed new safety technologies in development for cars, as well as ideas for achieving zero traffic accident casualties.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda, who also has a background in motorsports, emphasized that safe driving requires skill, humility, and adaptability—paralleling principles from racing to everyday road safety. The gathering’s purpose includes encouraging individuals to recognize the importance of safe behaviour to prevent accidents, responding to global concerns such as the approximately 1.19 million annual deaths worldwide due to traffic accidents, which disproportionately affect young people and vulnerable users like pedestrians and cyclists.
After the Tateshina Meeting, Chairman Toyoda reflected on its significance. "This meeting is more than just a discussion; it's a commitment to the countless lives lost in traffic accidents," he said. "We will continue to work together, transcending company boundaries, to make our roads safer for everyone."
The Tateshina Meeting aims to transcend company boundaries and foster collaboration in the pursuit of road safety. As the meeting concludes, the participants leave with renewed determination and a shared vision of a world without traffic accident casualties.
[1] History of the Tateshina Meeting: https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/28258449.html [2] Toyota's commitment to road safety: https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/28258453.html [4] Global road safety concerns: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries
Business and finance are integral to the Tateshina Meeting, an annual summit organized by Toyota and its dealer network, as it involves strategic discussions amongst automobile manufacturers, suppliers, and insurers on eliminating traffic fatalities through industry collaboration, innovation, and public awareness efforts. The meetings aim to reduce global concerns such as the roughly 1.19 million annual deaths due to traffic accidents, which disproportionally impact young people and vulnerable users like pedestrians and cyclists, thus impacting finance through insurance claims, medical expenses, and loss of productivity.
