Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! Driving in Japan

[sillygirl]

Dude......get one of those collars and claim for a sprain (I did, when I got knocked off my bike. Got an extra 40,000 yen, a new bike and hospital bills paid, too )

Like Blah pete said, when it comes to meeting the insurance companies, don't back down.

Good luck, hon....

[Blah Pete]

Dude......get one of those collars and claim for a sprain (I did, when I got knocked off my bike. Got an extra 40,000 yen, a new bike and hospital bills paid, too Twisted Evil )

I belive in the US they call them Jewish turtlenecks.

[FG Lurker]

If I could get a couple of million yen it'd be worth it to try, but with the tiny payouts you get in Japan I just can't be bothered... I'll still go to the doctor and get checked out in case something appears later, but otherwise I think I'll let it pass.

At this point I'm just happy I don't have to fight to keep my insurance record clean!!

[Blah Pete]

At this point I'm just happy I don't have to fight to keep my insurance record clean!!

Agree. You are getting 100%.
Take it and thank God, Allah, Buddah, or the fuzzy dice hanging from your rear view mirror that you didn't get hurt...

[nullpointer]

I am not sure about this, but If you get rear ended, is not always the the fault of the guy behind you? I mean, this is why you are supposed to drive with a minimum gap between your car and the one in front of you. I don't understand what is meant by stopping too quickly. What if you are driving at 60+ and a kid suddenly runs out on the road. Are you not supposed to stop quickly to avoid running over the kid?

[FG Lurker]

I am not sure about this, but If you get rear ended, is not always the the fault of the guy behind you?

Well, if you change lanes suddenly ([nearly] cutting someone off) and then immediately brake, it will be at least partially your fault.

I did change lanes 100 to 200m before the accident. There was enough space to change and I made no sudden cut-off like maneuvers. If he felt he was too close to me he had plenty of time to back off, but he didn't.

Also, if I had cut him off and then suddenly braked he would almost certainly have hit my car at somewhat of an angle, not straight on like he did. The cops commented on this when they checked the cars, and I guess this is what they told the insurance company too.

So, 100% for him and 0% for me.

[FG Lurker]

I am not sure about this, but If you get rear ended, is not always the the fault of the guy behind you? I mean, this is why you are supposed to drive with a minimum gap between your car and the one in front of you. I don't understand what is meant by stopping too quickly. What if you are driving at 60+ and a kid suddenly runs out on the road. Are you not supposed to stop quickly to avoid running over the kid?

There is also one other time when it will probably be partially your fault: Road Rage. Let's say the guy behind you has made you angry for whatever reason (maybe he's just riding on your bumper). If you lock up the brakes to piss him off and he hits you.... It's going to be partly blamed on you.

[Mike Oxlong]

I am not sure about this, but If you get rear ended, is not always the the fault of the guy behind you?

Well, if you change lanes suddenly ([nearly] cutting someone off) and then immediately brake, it will be at least partially your fault.

Yeah, true dat!

Happened to me in Canada. Chinese guy stuying in Canada was waiting in a left-turn lane, and decided to get back in the thru-lane just as I was passing by. I was doing 50 kph (the speed limit) just before contact. It was a little snowy on the road. I pushed his rear-bumper nearly into his back seat (him - an early 80s Civic, me - an early 70s Pontiac). He scratched the chrome on my front bumper. We got out, he started yelling "You broke my car!" over and over. I suggested we drive to the cop shop and tell our stories. They said it was 100 % his fault, and I could go. They suggested having his insurance company call them if I had any hassles. No problems at all.

[Blah Pete]

Chinese guy stuying in Canada...

Ahh, if I had a dollar for every Chinese driver caused wreck I herad, witnessed, or was part of when I lived in S.F. I would be rich.
The problem is some of the drivers from China don't learn to drive until they are late 20's - 40ish.
If you don't learn to drive by the time you are 18 or 20 it is too late.

[Maths Dude]

With that first post about the cop not doing anything about going through a red light. I have this feeling that Japanese cops have clearly defined duties. So if it was the cops job to look for 'parking infringments' he would not chase down redlight speeders. Anyone have any ideas ?

[FG Lurker]

With that first post about the cop not doing anything about going through a red light. I have this feeling that Japanese cops have clearly defined duties. So if it was the cops job to look for 'parking infringments' he would not chase down redlight speeders. Anyone have any ideas ?

In my experiences this is 100% accurate. Cops don't have general "traffic duty." They are assigned to specific tasks and they don't deviate unless told to. Dozens and dozens of times I have seen cops riding their bikes past rows of illegally parked cars and done nothing about it.

By the way, what's a redlight speeder? Some dude driving at high speed through the local red-light district?

[IkemenTommy]

What was he thinking? Luckily no one was hurt..

[otakuden]

isn't it harder to get your drivers liscence in japan? more classes and certifications you have to pass before they hand you the ole j-liscence?
also, out of curiosity, what is the ratio of motorcycles to cars?

[IkemenTommy]

It took me three tries to convert my US to the Japanese license. That's the less painful way of obtaining a license here, or you can go through the hard way and spend $3000 to go through some class with the rest of the Japanese kids. I guess your luck depends on which tester you get during the driving test. My first two were anal pricks, I wanted to burn their homes to the ground.

[American Oyaji]

I didn't even have a U.S. license when I got my Japanese one.

All I had was a license issued by Misawa Base. I had it translated by the Misawa Base Police Japanese liason before I left the service. He stamped it with his hanko.

I took it to some place in Aomori (way out in the boonies) and they gave me a license.

[omae mona]

It took me three tries to convert my US to the Japanese license. That's the less painful way of obtaining a license here, or you can go through the hard way and spend $3000 to go through some class with the rest of the Japanese kids.

When I did my "gaimen kirikae" to convert my US license to Japan, I struck up a conversation with one of the several Japanese kids mixed in with us foreigners. He thought the normal Japanese process was such a pain in the ass that it was part of the reason for him to visit California for 6 months, studying English[size=-2]*[/size] and getting a U.S. drivers license (easy). Then he came back to Japan to convert it into a Japanese license.


[size=-2]*Note that by the time of our conversation, he could not actually speak a word of English.[/size]

[Taro Toporific]

dp dp dp

[Taro Toporific]

also, out of curiosity, what is the ratio of motorcycles to cars?

The ratio of motorcycles to cars is the same as North America or EU....excluding 50cc scooters which are found on the side streets and seldom travel on the roads more than 4km.

[otakuden]

It took me three tries to convert my US to the Japanese license. That's the less painful way of obtaining a license here, or you can go through the hard way and spend $3000 to go through some class with the rest of the Japanese kids. I guess your luck depends on which tester you get during the driving test. My first two were anal pricks, I wanted to burn their homes to the ground.

convert the liscense, huh? is it like an application process you have to go through; paperwork and crap like that?
i remember naomi mentioning in high school during our senior year that it was much easierr for her to get her licence here in america. of course, that didn't seem to affect her actual real-life driving skillz

[Grumblebum]

Man, wish I had 100yen for every car I've seen going through a red light here. Just saw a couple more today.

I don't know why they don't install red light cameras here (Japan that is) - the cops would make a fortune.

[Taro Toporific]

Man, wish I had 100yen for every car I've seen going through a red light here. Just saw a couple more today.

I don't know why they don't install red light cameras here (Japan that is) - the cops would make a fortune.

Most significant intersections have traffic video cameras in Tokyo but cops don't seem to issue tickets EXCEPT when the camera captures an accident. Certainly, I have to watch my driving when I go back to States because I've learned that Japanese habit of going through red lights.
Likewise, they certainly have speed cameras here....but they only issue tickets from speed cameras in the countryside (as far as I can tell).

[ichigo partygirl]

In Japan driving is an abstract art..........

[Mulboyne]

What was he thinking? Luckily no one was hurt..

Reminds me of this Marunouchi taxi driver. Also no-one hurt

[IkemenTommy]

Reminds me of this Marunouchi taxi driver. Also no-one hurt

Front door service!

[otakuden]

how the heck do you drive a car down into a subway?! bizarro

[Ketou]

how the heck do you drive a car down into a subway?! bizarro

Maybe he thought he could be like those guys that carry their fold up bikes on. Just squeeze in there..no one will complain anyway.

[String]

I blame "The Italian Job".

[cliffy]

About twenty years ago an elderly woman drove her car down THREE flights of stairs in Spencer street station in Melbourne, Australia, and then drove up and down the train platforms trying to find a way out evading the frantic commuters and rail staff trying to stop her. She had no idea where she was and was too frightened to stop and ask for help so she drove her car through milling crowds next to trains past lots of uniformed people waving and calling for her to stop.

And some people claim a test on elderly drivers is victimisation.

Sorry no link but the news report is in an individual subscription sevice, ie. one payment, one viewing.

[Taro Toporific]

[floatl][/floatl] Minicar breaks through checkpoint at Narita airport
Kyodo: Tuesday May 9, 9:35 PM
A minicar broke through a security checkpoint at Narita airport on Tuesday afternoon and forced its way onto the airport premises, police said.
The police said they closed all gates for cars at the airport for about 40 minutes, but were not able to locate the silver-colored wagon, adding there was no trace of it having gone onto the runways or aircraft parking aprons....
....The vehicle, believed to have been driven by a man and carrying no passengers, entered at the airport's No. 2 gate, an entrance for public vehicles. It broke the plastic bar across the gateway and then headed toward the Terminal 2 building around 1:20 p.m., according to the police...............

[otakuden]

Maybe he thought he could be like those guys that carry their fold up bikes on. Just squeeze in there..no one will complain anyway.

lol! it's the new converto-auto :P