Guardrail warfare hits Japan!

[Captain Japan]

Sharp objects found in 4,200 guardrail joints across Japan
Mainichi

Sharp metal objects have been found stuck in guardrail joints at more than 4,200 locations across Japan, police said.

Police departments in all 47 prefectures have confirmed finding metal objects inserted into guardrail joints, with Saitama police searching for the culprits on suspicion of inflicting injury.

Four people have been wounded by the objects in Saitama, Chiba, Nagasaki and Tokushima prefectures.

An elementary school student had his leg injured by a metal object while he was riding a bicycle in Mino, Tokushima Prefecture, in December last year.

The number of locations where metal objects, sized up to about 45 centimeters long, have been found varies widely.

Metal objects have been found in about 580 locations in Fukushima Prefecture, while there have been at least 40 such locations in Tokyo.

Fukushima Prefectural Police suspect that inserting metal objects into guardrail joints constitutes a crime....more...

Nice quote here:

A senior official of an industry organization that studies guardrails said he had never heard of the insertion of metal objects in guardrails.

Who knew such an org existed?? Let's hope for an interview with this guy on NHK tonight!

[Blah Pete]

A senior official of an industry organization that studies guardrails said he had never heard of the insertion of metal objects in guardrails.

Well, I guess his organization doesn't study very much as these metal objects are everywhere...

[AssKissinger]

This is a really bizarro story! It must be either a very busy person or an organized conspiracy. Now that the story is out copycats will probably start up. Maybe it's a weird cult or something. Strange.

[drpepper]

Duh... mystery solved... the metal objects left in the guardrails came from cars that had crashed into them... why does everything have to be a conspiracy?

[spyder]

Exactly. Here in Tokyo (probably everywhere else too), they even showed cars with chunks missing out of them. Not that hard to work out.

Duh... mystery solved... the metal objects left in the guardrails came from cars that had crashed into them... why does everything have to be a conspiracy?

[devicenull]

Exactly. Here in Tokyo (probably everywhere else too), they even showed cars with chunks missing out of them. Not that hard to work out.

Duh... mystery solved... the metal objects left in the guardrails came from cars that had crashed into them... why does everything have to be a conspiracy?

Lies, the foreigners are doing it

[den4]

might be true about some of the cars getting chunks taken out of them, but those guard rails with not a dent in them, or even a scratch, and still having those metal shards...must take some extra special driving skills to get that accomplished... LOL

[ketchupkatsu]

The pieces of metal they are talking about are from those flag like things you see attached to the guardrails from time to time. It seems that the flags have been removed, but the pieced of metal straps that held them in place hasn't been removed at the same time

here is a couple of links to pics (thanks to nekobaba)

http://www.delabit.com/nekobaba/src/nkbb20050603190702.gif

http://www.delabit.com/nekobaba/src/nkbb20050603190616.gif

but like devicenull said its probably the foreigners are doing it

[AssKissinger]

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[Jshop]

Sorry but there is no way that those shards have come from a car - if they all look similar to that one pictured above.

As someone said there is no damage on the rails and it would have to be a pot shot to acutally stick between the joins!

On top of that I have worked in the car industry long enough and seen enough damage (and repaired) to know that a shard like that would be almost IMPOSSIBLE to come off a car. Metal doesnt just break off - it crumples. It has to tear to come of in shards - try twisting a aluminium can and if you do it hard enough it will tear into shards. If you bang it against something it will dent/crumple.

Cheers

[ketchupkatsu]

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oops
my bad i thought i could just link to nekobaba.

here is the pics I was trying to show:





hope this works

[oyajikun]

I think we can call this a closed case boys.

[AssKissinger]

I think we can call this a closed case boys.

I still think it has something to do with Space Jews.

[GuyJean]

I think we can call this a closed case boys.

It took the transportation committee, the national government, the entire media, and the whole police force to figure this out?.. We're fucked..

GJ

[sludge]

I think I figured it out.

[cliffy]

That is either a weak guardrail or a very strong car the major damage is to the rail as the car seems to be barely damaged. I bet the drivers seat has a stain or two

[Captain Japan]

I think we can call this a closed case boys.

Somebody needs to tell the Gomiuri...
Roadside metal debris found at 37,893 places
The Gomiuri Shimbun

Sharp metal fragments--believed to be automotive debris--have been found in guardrails alongside roads at 37,893 locations, the Construction and Transport Ministry said Wednesday.

According to a laboratory that examined 12 samples at the request of the ministry, eight pieces were from car bodies and are believed to have been ripped off vehicles during collisions. Two other pieces also are believed to be vehicular in origin.

"Many of the metal fragments were ripped from vehicles colliding with guardrails," said Prof. Yoshitaka Motoda of Iwate Prefectural University.

Motoda heads a committee established by the ministry to investigate the phenomenon and was speaking at a press conference held after the inaugural meeting of the body.

[Captain Japan]

It took the transportation committee, the national government, the entire media, and the whole police force to figure this out?.. We're fucked..

GJ

Obviously this "study" has been going on for months (if not years given all the prefectures have been surveyed) and still the lords in charge haven't bothered to relay the final conclusion for what exactly is going on. Yes, GJ, we are truly fucked.

[Taro Toporific]

Sharp objects found in 4,200 guardrail joints across Japan
Mainichi, June 10
Police departments in all 47 prefectures have confirmed finding metal objects inserted into guardrail joints, with Saitama police searching for the culprits on suspicion of inflicting injury....

MYSTERY SOLVED!


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[dimwit]

It took the transportation committee, the national government, the entire media, and the whole police force to figure this out?.. We're fucked..

GJ

Obviously this "study" has been going on for months (if not years given all the prefectures have been surveyed) and still the lords in charge haven't bothered to relay the final conclusion for what exactly is going on. Yes, GJ, we are truly fucked.

Call me conspiracy minded but I bet it is just a ploy by Construction Japan Inc. to replace all the guardrails in Japan. I noticed that a few guardrails located near my house that had metal clamps (and coincidentally had flags hanging from them several months ago) have been removed and I suspect will be replaced shortly.

[Captain Japan]

Panel rules out malice in guardrail menace
Asahi

SAITAMA-The road mystery has been solved. Sharp strips of metal jutting out from guardrails at about 38,000 spots across the nation came from contact with vehicles-not from malicious vandals, a research panel said.

The panel, set up by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, reached this conclusion Tuesday after conducting scientific analyses on 102 of 4,537 sharp metal pieces found on national roads.

"Statistically speaking, it's hard to think that those metal strips were peeled off anything other than motor vehicles," said Yoshitaka Motoda, a professor at Iwate Prefectural University and the chief researcher of the panel. "There is virtually no opinion that the strips were intentionally planted to harm people, or that they were parts of traffic signs or displays."

According to the land ministry, the components of all 51 metal strips found in Saitama Prefecture and another 51 found stuck in guardrails from Hokkaido to Okinawa Prefecture matched those of auto parts, such as bumpers and moldings....more...