Japanese traffic signals and other driving fun

[Coligny]

Optimal angle for the reflective coating...

Usually overhead signage can be read with highbeams on at night. Therefore putting light at angle and distance of a potential incoming car might increase night read ability...

Maybe...

[wagyl]

Can anyone enlighten me on the reasoning behind illuminating the overhead highway signs via remote projection? I used to think it was cute and maybe it made changing the bulbs easier....but last night I saw one get plowed over by a kei (dead?) and a few of the projectors on my route were buried in snow so I'm thinking it's not such an ideal design. (especially if they update to LEDs)

You need to become friends with kyonkyonn.

According to that Yahoo! Chiebukuro Best Answer, benefits include not needing to make such a strong post to hang the lighting from, cleaning and changing the bulbs is easier, and less dazzle in drivers' eyes.

It looks like the next technology they are thinking of is black light illumination, so maybe LEDs are out of the question there. The other issue with LEDs in snow country is that they don't get warm enough to melt the snow off them.

[matsuki]

I guess that makes reasonable sense with what was available and what costs were back when these things went up...will be interesting to see how long it will take them to update the current system with newer tech considering how much money they rake in. Never seen the black light illumination but I have seen info on glow in the dark painted lines and (I think) at least some places here already have the pinwheel LED illuminated reflectors. I heard about the issues of non-melted snow clogging the traffic signals in the US that had been retrofitted with LEDs. (and you know tons of people were wagging their fingers and saying "told ya so!") On the other hand, the future site of the log-mahal has LED signals everywhere...they're completely flat faced with a slight downward tilt...there isn't anywhere for snow to build up.

Not worth bothering kyonkyonn sama about but just want to spit some hate at those bright yellow "patrol" turds that jump onto the highways at ridiculously low speeds, only to eventually set their cruise control at exactly the speed limit and impede the flow of traffic. I saw one almost get rear-ended last week when they decided to pass an even slower kei (still at the speed limit) Despite all those flashing red lights, they must not have any authority because the old dude that nearly hit them proceeded to swerve at them, make some gestures, and then take off doing 140+.

[Coligny]

i smell bullshit. when you have to make signs -flat surface perpendicular to the wind direction- that are typhoon resistant the added weight of few lighting device is negligible. also they often have catwalk to allow inspection of the various sensors that are fitted (traffic/wind/temp) sooo... the weight of few bulbs...

[matsuki]

i smell bullshit. when you have to make signs -flat surface perpendicular to the wind direction- that are typhoon resistant the added weight of few lighting device is negligible. also they often have catwalk to allow inspection of the various sensors that are fitted (traffic/wind/temp) sooo... the weight of few bulbs...

Yeah, the weight reasoning seems like a stretch BUT I can see how cleaning and changing the bulbs without blocking off a lane or the need of some sort of equipment would make maintenance much easier. (problem being what I cited...another pole to crash into and when they get covered in snow, they're useless)

[matsuki]

[AlbertSiegel]

After reading this, makes me wonder if I made the right decision...

I finally got my first ticket for changing lanes on a yellow line right before a light. Seems it was a police trap. In all honesty, it was done by accident. I did not see the yellow line until the moment I may have crossed it right where it starts. The road was confusing. I explained to the cop, but he said that the ticket stands. This is my first time even being pulled over.

I refused to sign the ticket and was told to go to the police office about a month later to try to get them to change the ticket to a warning. Well, I went today and they said that they cannot do that and I must take it to court, so they set a court date for me and required I sign a paper confirming I received the court date. They assured me it was not an admission of guilt or anything of the sort and needed to be signed in order to contest the ticket.

Now I have a court date, which is not what I expected. I'm not sure what happens from here. Any ideas?

[wuchan]

After reading this, makes me wonder if I made the right decision...

I finally got my first ticket for changing lanes on a yellow line right before a light. Seems it was a police trap. In all honesty, it was done by accident. I did not see the yellow line until the moment I may have crossed it right where it starts. The road was confusing. I explained to the cop, but he said that the ticket stands. This is my first time even being pulled over.

I refused to sign the ticket and was told to go to the police office about a month later to try to get them to change the ticket to a warning. Well, I went today and they said that they cannot do that and I must take it to court, so they set a court date for me and required I sign a paper confirming I received the court date. They assured me it was not an admission of guilt or anything of the sort and needed to be signed in order to contest the ticket.

Now I have a court date, which is not what I expected. I'm not sure what happens from here. Any ideas?

been there, done that.

Next you will be called to see the prosecutor. You will meet with one of his underpaid pissy assistants and a translator who barely speaks Engrish. It doesn't matter how well you speak J-go there will be a translator. The assistant will yell at you a bit and try to get you to admit you broke the law. If you don't, it will go to court.

If you don't admit your heinous crime to the prosecutor's office you will either have to pay for a lawyer or they will assign you some shit bag that won't ever take your side. (get your own)

After you meet with your lawyer a court date will be set unless your lawyer makes a deal where you admit your crime and pay a fine.

You go to court. You are guilty. By this point everything has been pre arranged. The only thing that the judge may decide is how much your fine will be. If you made it this far, you will pay 5-10万円. Also, if you are married to a J-girl she will also have to appear and apologize for her dog, you, breaking the law and promise it won't happen again.



The only possible way you could get out of this is if the cop decided on that day to let you go. He didn't and probably had 5 other cops there running the trap that will testify against you.

For reference: the yellow line thing isn't that expensive, maybe 6,000?, and it's only 1 point.

[Russell]

After reading this, makes me wonder if I made the right decision...

I finally got my first ticket for changing lanes on a yellow line right before a light. Seems it was a police trap. In all honesty, it was done by accident. I did not see the yellow line until the moment I may have crossed it right where it starts. The road was confusing. I explained to the cop, but he said that the ticket stands. This is my first time even being pulled over.

I refused to sign the ticket and was told to go to the police office about a month later to try to get them to change the ticket to a warning. Well, I went today and they said that they cannot do that and I must take it to court, so they set a court date for me and required I sign a paper confirming I received the court date. They assured me it was not an admission of guilt or anything of the sort and needed to be signed in order to contest the ticket.

Now I have a court date, which is not what I expected. I'm not sure what happens from here. Any ideas?

been there, done that.

Next you will be called to see the prosecutor. You will meet with one of his underpaid pissy assistants and a translator who barely speaks Engrish. It doesn't matter how well you speak J-go there will be a translator. The assistant will yell at you a bit and try to get you to admit you broke the law. If you don't, it will go to court.

If you don't admit your heinous crime to the prosecutor's office you will either have to pay for a lawyer or they will assign you some shit bag that won't ever take your side. (get your own)

After you meet with your lawyer a court date will be set unless your lawyer makes a deal where you admit your crime and pay a fine.

You go to court. You are guilty. By this point everything has been pre arranged. The only thing that the judge may decide is how much your fine will be. If you made it this far, you will pay 5-10万円. Also, if you are married to a J-girl she will also have to appear and apologize for her dog, you, breaking the law and promise it won't happen again.



The only possible way you could get out of this is if the cop decided on that day to let you go. He didn't and probably had 5 other cops there running the trap that will testify against you.

For reference: the yellow line thing isn't that expensive, maybe 6,000?, and it's only 1 point.

Isn't there a better way?

I remember reading on some Japanese blogs that one should get it to court to minimize the probability of paying the fine. Is there some trick to it? Never been there, never done that myself, BTW...

[Coligny]

Isn't there a better way?

I remember reading on some Japanese blogs that one should get it to court to minimize the probability of paying the fine. Is there some trick to it? Never been there, never done that myself, BTW...

Yea... Not crossing yellow lines...

They are always after an uninterrupted white line when reaching a red light.

No lines: aloha snackbar, every man for himself
Doted line: can overtake
White line: danger, proceed with caution
White-yellow lines: dangerous for you, forbidden for the other
Yellow line: forbidden
Yellow-white-yellow lines: you are worse than hitler if you cross

Starting with the white line (rarer) and up, also check overtaking restriction (no overtaking or no entering right side of the road for undertaking).
As usual, if they are waiting for you, they know the place is dangerous or confusing. Therefore contesting the fine is not good. Meanwhile suing them for exploiting a known confusing or dangerous road setup/hazard might be a good idea. If it's possible in this country. There are illegal traffic signalisation to be found. Most commonly red light for which the green arrow is immediately followed by a red signal instead of yellow then red. Once contested they tend to be fixed quickly.

[AlbertSiegel]

Shit... The only reason it got this far is I simply did not want the point. I asked the cop on the day he gave the ticket if there was someone I could talk with to see if I could get the ticked changed to a waning. I was told to go to the police office and that's what I did yesterday. They told me they could not do that and I needed to go to the other office on another day, which is I guess setting up for court. So I may have been wrong and don't actually have a court date, but a date to set up for the court date. I'm still confused on this and will clear it up.

I really don't want a criminal record of this. I was not trying to go to court. I was just trying to get them to change it to a warning. Quite honestly, if it's still in time to prevent any sort of court record, I would rather just pay it and take the point. I'm not sure what to do right now. I'll try to find out with the police.

And yes, the trap was set someplace easy to confuse and it seems they had good business that day. The lane I was in said it was to go straight only to change into a left only lane just before the light on a road that went from four to three lanes as it curves. Looking at Google maps, it's easy to see why I ended up in that situation. I was hoping that by showing them this and explaining it I could have a warning. I don't want the point, but I want the court/criminal record even less.

[Russell]

Consulting with the police won't help you, because they will only tell you things that are to your disadvantage.

If the situation is as confusing as you describe, with arrows on lanes that change just before the traffic light, you may have a chance in court if you take pics of it showing the madness of it all.

I'm not sure about getting a criminal record because of this. Seems unreasonable, isn't it, if you just contest a fine?

[matsuki]

FTR, I paid off my speeding ticket but the unsigned ticket for my illegal left turn ("straight only" sign was not visible) never went to court or anything. It was a trap for sure. Apparently they just dropped it as it went past the point I could pay and I never got any calls or summons. As to why I paid for the speeding ticket, from what I understood after going balls deep into the details of this system....you could make it all the way to court and have only the fine dismissed. (or in most cases, like my left turn ticket, they just drop the ticket) The point(s) on your record, however, are a separate issue and require separate court action initiated by you, which is not always possible. So basically, avoiding paying is easy in many cases....but the cops can ticket you for anything and your driving record is likely fucked. With only a small chance of appeal, and the risk of being arrested for trying to appeal, the system is fucked and too risky to try to get any results from contesting. If you get unjustly pulled over, be the biggest asshole you can and refuse to sign or admit anything, have a fake NHK businesscard, whatever you want, but if they eventually do ticket you....probably best to pay and chalk it up to asshole cops rather than waste more time and $$ dealing with more asshole cops and the court system.

[Russell]

One more point, if you get fined for illegal parking and you're not there or the people fining you are not cops, just pay the fine, but do not go to the police station. On your fine it is written that you have to go to the police station, but if you go, your fine will stay the same and you will get points on your license. They need to confirm that it is you who parked illegally, otherwise they cannot give you points. So, cooperating with the police will work to your disadvantage in this case. There is no punishment for not going to the police in this case.

[Coligny]

So, cooperating with the police will work to your disadvantage in this case.

!!??

there's advantages possible ?

follow the laws...
fuck the police...

[Coligny]

Shit... The only reason it got this far is I simply did not want the point. I asked the cop on the day he gave the ticket if there was someone I could talk with to see if I could get the ticked changed to a waning. I was told to go to the police office and that's what I did yesterday. They told me they could not do that and I needed to go to the other office on another day, which is I guess setting up for court. So I may have been wrong and don't actually have a court date, but a date to set up for the court date. I'm still confused on this and will clear it up.

I really don't want a criminal record of this. I was not trying to go to court. I was just trying to get them to change it to a warning. Quite honestly, if it's still in time to prevent any sort of court record, I would rather just pay it and take the point. I'm not sure what to do right now. I'll try to find out with the police.

And yes, the trap was set someplace easy to confuse and it seems they had good business that day. The lane I was in said it was to go straight only to change into a left only lane just before the light on a road that went from four to three lanes as it curves. Looking at Google maps, it's easy to see why I ended up in that situation. I was hoping that by showing them this and explaining it I could have a warning. I don't want the point, but I want the court/criminal record even less.

send the googlemap url...

[matsuki]

One more point, if you get fined for illegal parking and you're not there or the people fining you are not cops, just pay the fine, but do not go to the police station. On your fine it is written that you have to go to the police station, but if you go, your fine will stay the same and you will get points on your license. They need to confirm that it is you who parked illegally, otherwise they cannot give you points. So, cooperating with the police will work to your disadvantage in this case. There is no punishment for not going to the police in this case.

Right...they bill the registered owner of the vehicle. Showing up to the station to dispute the citation means taking the point hit + the fine to dispute whereas paying the fine by mail will end the situation without a point against you. Their way of basically saying "fuck you! pay the citation or get fucked more." (since the revenues go straight to police, it's basically like legal bribing them not to fuck up your record)

[Samurai_Jerk]

One more point, if you get fined for illegal parking and you're not there or the people fining you are not cops, just pay the fine, but do not go to the police station. On your fine it is written that you have to go to the police station, but if you go, your fine will stay the same and you will get points on your license. They need to confirm that it is you who parked illegally, otherwise they cannot give you points. So, cooperating with the police will work to your disadvantage in this case. There is no punishment for not going to the police in this case.

Right...they bill the registered owner of the vehicle. Showing up to the station to dispute the citation means taking the point hit + the fine to dispute whereas paying the fine by mail will end the situation without a point against you. Their way of basically saying "fuck you! pay the citation or get fucked more." (since the revenues go straight to police, it's basically like legal bribing them not to fuck up your record)

I've never understood why parking violation should count against your insurance. I guess that depend on what kind of violation it is though (like not feeding the meter versus obstructing traffic).

[Coligny]

Maybe because in case of accident if your car illegal parking was the trigger or aggtavamating the situation your insurance might have to pay up.
Those morons parking just at the stop line obliging other driver to make the stop on the right side of the road (baiting to be roadkill for driver turning in the street) are guilty of a bit more than illegal parking...

Wasn't there one of us who's wife double stopped to unload but an oyaji on bycicle collided with the car and got away with it against her (despite the 5 min allowance stopping rule)

[matsuki]

In other news, I almost destroyed my daily again yesterday...or rather, the asshole in the left lane of a two-lane right turn intersection decided to pretend the cars/lane next to him didn't exist. (not even the first car like usual...he had someone to follow and yet still turned into me) Anyone know the fault % for that scenario here? It happens sooooo fucking often at that intersection, I think it's only a matter of time til my vehicle is toast.

[edit] From my driving recorder:

[Coligny]

same. google map url please. why is there 2 lanes at the redlight then just one after ?

here in the Big T you see it's a 2 lanes - 2 lanes situation. with mah Note pushed left by the white Honda.

Much less issues with the Delica... and I don't en have a bullbar yet...

[Takechanpoo]

http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/10294009/

実は、総務省と警察庁では、年度ごとに「交通反則者納金」を決めている。つまり、全国の交通取り締まりによって得られる反則金の予定額だ。しかも例年、予定額は750億円前後という莫大な金額になっており、実際の取り締まりに基づく反則金による歳入もほぼ同額となっている。また、各自治体への交通安全対策特別交付金は、交通事故や違反の摘発件数が増えれば増額され、摘発件数が減れば減額される。つまり、これが警察の“ノルマ”になっているのではないかとの指摘もあるのだ。

「事実上のノルマはあります。ノルマを設定しないと、誰も取り締まりをしないと懸念されるからです。ただ、警察はノルマではなく“努力目標”と言っています。また、ノルマに届いていない現場の警察官は、上司から『あと1～2件取ってくるまで帰ってくるな』などと言われると聞いたことがあります。そうなると、警察官は素直に言うことを聞いてくれそうな主婦やバイクに乗った若者を取り締まります。我々市民としては、悪質な違反者を取り締まってほしいところですが、悪質な違反者はごねたりして面倒なので、主婦や若者を取り締まって件数を稼ぐということもあるようです。そうすれば、簡単にノルマ達成できますから。企業のセールスマンもノルマを設定されれば、なんとか件数を稼ごうとしますよね。警察官も同じなんです」（同）

recommend you to read it by using translating app. worth to do it
it seems like there is a de facto work quota per omawari as you guys have guessed so far.

[wagyl]

Just very very quietly, I hope that the youtube user account was chosen deliberately.

[matsuki]

same. google map url please. why is there 2 lanes at the redlight then just one after ?

here in the Big T you see it's a 2 lanes - 2 lanes situation. with mah Note pushed left by the white Honda.

Much less issues with the Delica... and I don't en have a bullbar yet...

There are two lanes after you turn...the paint is just totally gone. No excuse though, the two lane right turn paint is pretty good where the asshole almost ran into me.

35.673075, 139.459086

[Takechanpoo]

same. google map url please. why is there 2 lanes at the redlight then just one after ?

here in the Big T you see it's a 2 lanes - 2 lanes situation. with mah Note pushed left by the white Honda.



Much less issues with the Delica... and I don't en have a bullbar yet...

in case of you, theres nothing wrong with the honda. you just dont know j-traffic rules or just a mental turd

[Coligny]

same. google map url please. why is there 2 lanes at the redlight then just one after ?

here in the Big T you see it's a 2 lanes - 2 lanes situation. with mah Note pushed left by the white Honda.



Much less issues with the Delica... and I don't en have a bullbar yet...

in case of you, theres nothing wrong with the honda. you just dont know j-traffic rules or just a mental turd

Look again retard. The "straight" way of this road is in fact a 30° turn to the right. I'm on the left lane which is turn left or go 'straight'. The Honda is on the "go straight" only lane. After the crossing the honda switch to the left lane without 1- checking for traffic and 2- using turn signal. Both being illegal.
Look closely again, the Honda reach after the crossing 80% in the right lane then after the first dotted line marks continue drifting to the left without check or signalling. Tell me you fucking ricepaper window licker how this is a legal move.

ALSO taketard, just so you know. I complained several times at the local koban aboot this issue showing this video and others since it happens few times a month. The coppers while sucking teeth always sided with me.
With only at best theorical knowledge why do you even open your yapper on subject involving driving or vaginas ?
(Did I repeat slowly enough for you to understand or do you need me to write even slower with shorter words more adequate to your limited brain ?)

[Coligny]

same. google map url please. why is there 2 lanes at the redlight then just one after ?

here in the Big T you see it's a 2 lanes - 2 lanes situation. with mah Note pushed left by the white Honda.

Much less issues with the Delica... and I don't en have a bullbar yet...

There are two lanes after you turn...the paint is just totally gone. No excuse though, the two lane right turn paint is pretty good where the asshole almost ran into me.

35.673075, 139.459086

From above, the extendend stop line from the traffic on the 110° right road wishing to make a right interfere with with the lanes for the cars turning right like you do. It's a complete clusterfuck.

Sidenote, for mah crossing there is actually a third line extreme right for right turns only. She deserve her own backstory but have no influence on the main issue.

[Takechanpoo]

you did something to that honda before it happened. but you cut the scene. its obvious.

[Mike Oxlong]

you did something to that honda before it happened. but you cut the scene. its obvious.

Any more edits, or are you still channeling Taki Inoue?

[Wage Slave]

you did something to that honda before it happened. but you cut the scene. its obvious.

Nice try but this:

theres nothing wrong with the honda. you just dont know j-traffic rules or just a mental turd

and this:

you did something to that honda before it happened. but you cut the scene. its obvious.

Are typical. Of course you were completely incorrect in the first place but rather than just admit an inconvenient truth you prefer to invent a nonsense and bluster. And you want us to take your interpretation of history seriously?