Driving in Japan

[GaijinPunch]

Doing something all day every day will taint anyone's opinion on anything, no? That's all I was getting at.

 

[Mike Cash]

Doing something all day every day will certainly affect anyone's opinion on anything, I agree. As to whether it will taint it or not......

 

[GaijinPunch]

Touche'
--------

 

[khammo01]

I would strongly recommend to not hire a car here unless you have experienced life in Japan before. The streets are excessively narrow, full of non-vehicle traffic (and things), parked cars, obstructed line of sight, cars parked in the middle of intersections, across pedestrian crosswalks, etc.

The only thing that keeps the whole system from falling apart is strong adherence to driving protocol and driver-driver communication. If you aren't aware of this protocol, that sounds like an 'accident waiting to happen.'

Excuse me, but that's the biggest load of bollocks I have ever heard. And I like to think I am in a position to know.

I have to agree with the original reply to the Post. I drive several times a week. In Japan, people ALWAYS signal, are generally very attentive, and there is hardly ever any doubt about what another vehicle will do. Whether or not this predicted behavior is what you would do, or what you would like them to do, is another matter.
Partly for this reason, perhaps, a bystander may think it looks like chaos.



I personally find it extremely frustrating to drive in Japan, but I rarely feel like an accident is about to happen.

I hardly ever am surprised and in all these years of driving in Japan, I've never had to slam on my brakes.

Part of this is knowing which drivers are going to be defensive and which are going to be aggressive. This is also highly predictable.

Now, I would agree with you on the parking habits of Japanese. This area is absolutely pathetic.

Also, if you live in Kansai, people probably are a lot more aggressive in their driving habits.

 

[Revenant]

I wouldn't recommend driving in Japan. The rental cars themselves are expensive, and the subway in the big cities is reasonable and covers most of the city pretty well.

I live in what Japanese would call the countryside (600 000 people), and the narrow lanes, with some cars speeding past you coming from the opposite direction, as well as blind corners, and confusing roads (a lot of them don't follow any sort of north-south, east west pattern), all made me just nervous when I first started driving here.

They also have these streets that are one-way, and all the locals know where to wait, and when they can go. A non-local will just forge ahead, and it can be a headache getting around others on a narrow street as such.

 

[Mike Cash]

The only thing that keeps the whole system from falling apart is strong adherence to driving protocol and driver-driver communication.

Are you suggesting that Japanese drivers tend to be sticklers for driving protocol and driver-driver communication? If so, that's hilarious.

I have to agree with the original reply to the Post. I drive several times a week. In Japan, people ALWAYS signal, are generally very attentive,

More hilarity.

and there is hardly ever any doubt about what another vehicle will do. Whether or not this predicted behavior is what you would do, or what you would like them to do, is another matter.

Good point. Always assume that the other person will do the stupidest, rudest, most dangerous thing possible and you'll avoid most accidents. (And that advice goes for driving anywhere, not just Japan).

I personally find it extremely frustrating to drive in Japan, but I rarely feel like an accident is about to happen.

What's that old expression?...."If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, you probably don't know what the hell is going on" or something like that.

I hardly ever am surprised and in all these years of driving in Japan, I've never had to slam on my brakes.

Maybe you don't get out and drive enough.

Part of this is knowing which drivers are going to be defensive and which are going to be aggressive. This is also highly predictable.

Now, I would agree with you on the parking habits of Japanese. This area is absolutely pathetic.

Also, if you live in Kansai, people probably are a lot more aggressive in their driving habits.

Those last three paragraphs are full of good points. Particularly the last one. Kansai drivers make Tokyo drivers look solicitous by comparison.

 

[GaijinPunch]

More hilarity.

Come to Hawaii. Less traffic, more space, yet they still seem to smack into pedestrians on a regular.

 

[Mike Cash]

Some pedestrians just seem to really need a good smacking, doncha think?

 

[Windy]

is gaijinpunch a fighting style or a drink?

 

[GaijinPunch]

Some pedestrians just seem to really need a good smacking, doncha think?

There is indeed a lot of truth to that.

is gaijinpunch a fighting style or a drink?

It is neither. It's just a name I came up with. I was frequenting the game centers back in my younger chain smoking days when Virtua Fighter 4 came out, and they had the cards which stored your name and displayed it on-screen while you fought. I was clearly a gaijin, and it was a fighting game so I went with 'punch'. After that, it just stuck.

 

[GaijinPunch]

3 Japanese (on the sidewalk) were hit by a car in Waikiki this last week my wife tells me. :/

 

[Mycernius]

I live in what Japanese would call the countryside (600 000 people), and the narrow lanes, with some cars speeding past you coming from the opposite direction, as well as blind corners, and confusing roads (a lot of them don't follow any sort of north-south, east west pattern), all made me just nervous when I first started driving here.

Narrow lanes don't really bother me, as we have quite a few in the UK. Plus most of our cities don't follw the north-south, east-west patterns.

 

[Mike Cash]

I live in what Japanese would call the countryside (600 000 people), and the narrow lanes, with some cars speeding past you coming from the opposite direction, as well as blind corners, and confusing roads (a lot of them don't follow any sort of north-south, east west pattern), all made me just nervous when I first started driving here.

I was also nervous as hell the first time I tried driving here, what with it being my first time on the other side of the car and the other side of the road and all. I thought I'd have to give up the idea of ever driving here. Now, though, I support a family of four (and a cigar merchant in Illinois) by driving in Japan. Go figure.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Mike Cash, as a professional truck driver, obviously knows what he's talking about. He has probably driven more already than I ever will in my entire lifetime. But I must take issue. Of course the bad drivers stand out and over the course of years one will encounter many bad drivers, but wouldn't you agree that for every maniac driver there are at least 10 (I'll be conservative) perfectly sane drivers in Japan? I think that if you drive every day as Mike Cash does, you may often find your life threatened by other drivers, but if you are here for a short vacation, your own driving would be much more of a concern, as it's unfamiliar territory.

 

[DoctorP]

No, it doesn't work that way. Every 5 minutes you will see (probably) more than 10 drivers that you could consider poor...they may just not be very attentive...but that translates into a bad driver. Especially when they routinely cut you off, turn without signals, park on the side of the road or major highway in front of a no parking sign so that they can either pee or talk on their cell phone...there is an endless list of offenses.

 

[GaijinPunch]

No, it doesn't work that way.

The way it works is opinion. It is very much the same question of "don't Japanese people treat foreigners badly". Different experiences = different opinions. I rode a bicycle from Ikejiri to Akasaka for years (in the street) and the only accident I had involved one person -- me (and a curb and some sidewalk). I have an office full of people that lived and drove in Japan for many years, that can't say enough good things about the drivers when compared to our current location.

they may just not be very attentive

I live on an island full of much less attentive drivers.

 

[Silverpoint]

While my own opinion of Japanese drivers is mixed, I think part of the problem with a lot of 'casual observers' is that they come here for a few weeks holiday, drive around a bit and of course being a stranger in a new country pay a lot more attention to what is going on around them (including other motorists, and their driving habits).

This even goes for people who live here for a year or more, who may never actually drive that often, but perhaps hire a car for a couple of weeks during a summer vacation to go looking around Japan.

Perhaps back home where their driving is more relaxed and familiar, they wouldn't notice so many people driving badly because the level of attention being paid is much lower.

On the flipside, I am frequently shocked by the lax attitude towards drunk driving over here, particularly amongst young people. I've refused a seat in a car on more than one occasion before, because the driver was slurring and stumbling before getting behind the wheel. Certainly the stigma attached to drink driving over here doesn't seem as serious as it is back home. This is especially unbelievable up here in Sapporo where the road surface changes to a 10 inch layer of sheet ice for several months of the year.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

On the flipside, I am frequently shocked by the lax attitude towards drunk driving over here, particularly amongst young people. I've refused a seat in a car on more than one occasion before, because the driver was slurring and stumbling before getting behind the wheel. Certainly the stigma attached to drink driving over here doesn't seem as serious as it is back home. This is especially unbelievable up here in Sapporo where the road surface changes to a 10 inch layer of sheet ice for several months of the year.

What do you mean by young people? Most Japanese people I know would NEVER drink and then drive. Or at most drink only one drink and then stop. I'm talking at any age 24 and up (at least up to 80 anyway).

I agree with your point execept that, it was mikecash, who drives long hours every day, that was talking about how bad the drivers here are. I personally think they are no worse considering the driving conditions than American drivers, but he has obviously experienced many more drivers both American and Japanese than I have.

 

[budd]

i've always felt like i was gonna get run over just walking down the street if there is very little or no sidewalk
have seen one or two fender benders while visiting also
did anybody mention the headlights being turned off?

 

[Pachipro]

On the flipside, I am frequently shocked by the lax attitude towards drunk driving over here, particularly amongst young people. I've refused a seat in a car on more than one occasion before, because the driver was slurring and stumbling before getting behind the wheel. Certainly the stigma attached to drink driving over here doesn't seem as serious as it is back home. This is especially unbelievable up here in Sapporo where the road surface changes to a 10 inch layer of sheet ice for several months of the year.

Is this really so? I know it was lax back in the day when I was living permanently there. But we're talking 15+ years ago. I now hear that if one is caught Driving While Intoxicated that

1) They lose their license forever.

2) They are fined 1,000,000 yen ($10,000) and

3) All passengers in the car are also fined 1,000,000 yen each.

Is this true, or is this info from my Japanese wife exagerated a bit? I didn't look it up so I am just going on what she has told me.

 

[Mike Cash]

She exaggerated it to the moon and back.

 

[Silverpoint]

3) All passengers in the car are also fined 1,000,000 yen each.

Although I don't know about the size of the fine, I have heard that if you hold a valid Japanese license and you are passenger in a car driven by a drunk driver, you can also be prosecuted. Mike might know more about this than me though.

 

[GaijinPunch]

Drunk driving story from a colleague of mine. Yes, he/they know they were very stupid for doing this.

Late night. Couple of friends were going home around 2 or 3 AM. They had been drinking scotch and smoking cigars. Needless to say -- bombed. They come up to one of those road blocks where the driver sticks his head in and smells the drivers breath. He stuck his head in, took a whiff, and said, "Okay, go ahead". They just looked at each other and went on. Doesn't sound like they're that serious about it.

I got stopped on a scooter one time in a similar situation. I only had a few beers, but I think in the states, I'd have had to walk the line. Luckily, I diidn't, as I had no license.

 

[Silverpoint]

I was being given a ride home by my coworker last year in his Pajero, when we got pulled over by the police. Apparently he'd been drinking more than he let on and knew he'd get busted so when the cop tapped on the window, he floored the gas pedal and drove off, at speed. Straight through a red light, with me in the passenger seat. There was no police car ready to give chase (I guess they just never anticipated this course of action) and one police officer chased us on foot for about 100 meters until he disappeared from sight in the rear view mirror. They can't have even got the license plate number because nothing was ever heard about it again. It can't be that hard to trace a big bloody 4x4 being driven by a gaijin. Doesn't say much for the police effort to stamp out drunk driving.

I'm not condoning or gloating over what happened by the way and the above story is not meant to be 'cool'. Much as I like my coworker, he was an idiot. I have a friend back in England who was walking to the shops one day when he was hit by a drunk driver. He's 28 years old, and now has a mental age of 2. He spends his days sitting in a special wheelchair, can't support his own head and has to wear diapers.

 

[Pachipro]

She exaggerated it to the moon and back.

I found a link here that says, as of 2002, the fine for driving while drunk in Japan is 500,000 yen and for driving under the influence it is 300,000 yen. Other places such as forums and such have said that your license is suspended for 2-3 years and that the passengers in a car with a drunk or impared driver are also fined the same amount as the driver.