Japanese Drivers

[elrodeo666]

This is mainly aimed at crew that live here in Japan...

So whats your opinion on the standard of the everyday Japanese driver..

Whats the worst driving / thing you have seen?

Whats the worst road rage you have personally done in Japan?

Personally, everyday I drive seems to be a video game...just trying not to get hit and stay in one pice and remain alive!..

Tunnel vision and the fact that mirrors are for doing makeup and checking the state of their hair, and thats just the blokes, drives me to drink.

Suppose one of the worst road rage was after being tail gated for x amount of k`d and having the same f"#$%headstop cm`s from my bumper at traffic lights. The next set of lightds I calmy got out of me car, walked up to the idiot , opened his door and took his keys out and threw them away.

I was driving a work van but eventually kesatsu came to me house and I got to spend 10 days with free room,board and meals, plus a fine. But the satisfaction on seeing old mates face was worth it..absolute gold!

You should see winter here in Hokkaido, snow , ice and still no-one slows down except when they slam your bumper.

Edited June 3, 2008 by elrodeo666

[DaiOni]

This is mainly aimed at crew that live here in Japan...

So whats your opinion on the standard of the everyday Japanese driver..

Whats the worst driving / thing you have seen?

Whats the worst road rage you have personally done in Japan?

Personally, everyday I drive seems to be a video game...just trying not to get hit and stay in one pice and remain alive!..

Tunnel vision and the fact that mirrors are for doing makeup and checking the state of their hair, and thats just the blokes, drives me to drink.

Suppose one of the worst road rage was after being tail gated for x amount of k`d and having the same f"#$%headstop cm`s from my bumper at traffic lights. The next set of lightds I calmy got out of me car, walked up to the idiot , opened his door and took his keys out and threw them away.

I was driving a work van but eventually kesatsu came to me house and I got to spend 10 days with free room,board and meals, plus a fine. But the satisfaction on seeing old mates face was worth it..absolute gold!

You should see winter here in Hokkaido, snow , ice and still no-one slows down except when they slam your bumper.

jeeeezus

I had a cop perform a big skid to lock me into a carpark (after I overtook him at 'fair' speed - he was on the way to work, I saw the uniform and thought 'I hope that was a fireman'), but after I told him I didn't know where his police station was (and I didn't), he let me go with a warning.

anyway...

I can say with 100% honesty that my experience on the roads of Japan (3 years rural and 3 years urban) = overall, better than Australia. No shit. Much less stupid driving, almost no road rage, amazingly less young driver silliness. Maybe that's just my experience, but I can not complain about Japanese drivers (as opposed to a plethora of complaints against other drivers in the asian region - thailand, vietnam, china, etc etc). The only thing that has annoyed me (and this has only happened in rural areas) is drivers slamming on the brakes in 'random acts of politeness' (i.e. letting other drivers enter from side streets).

[elrodeo666]

I lived in Niseko for 4 years+ now 3+ in Sapporo and definitely rural driving was sweet except for the numbnuts who love to park on blind corners to use phone or sleep. There always seems to be some where they can pull off within in 10-50 metres but they just seem to stop in the most dangerous spot and wack the hazrds on.

City driving on the other hand..well in sapporo...its insane the lack of common sense. theres days where you are glad you got home in one piece as everyone sems to want to kill you. Like I go racing with Japanese crew cars and bikes and they are switched on but the average bloke/sheila is in there own world and they only look one way and thats forward. Taxis...psycho's...Truckies...wired up loonies.

I'm not Japan bashing as I love it here and she's been kind to me financially but drivng does has its days where I cant believe the stupidity. Dont get me started on winter driving in Hokkadaido as thats pure lunacy on the road.

The upside to it is that its definitely clamed me down. I go back to Oz and drive there and the aggro on the road is off the show.

Gunna be interesting with the new laws on back seat seatbelts. I'd love to know the stats on how many human missiles (kids) die each year. The cops here are gunna be flat out booking mums and dads for sure. Dunno how many times I've seen kids standing and jumping around on the back seat let alone front seat and its amazing that these drivers are the ones with the Children on Board stickers on their car.

[DaiOni]

that's one of my biggest issues with Japan - young kids/toddlers with their noses pressed against the front windscreen. Not sure if that's 'bad driving', but it's definitely horrific parenting.

[dodgybrooks]

The problem is that this guy is a registered Japanese driving instructor:

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=KbOBQNTEC8c

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=-bvwYiSBkFk

Air drift.... love it.

[Kaido_RR]

The problem is that this guy is a registered Japanese driving instructor:

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=KbOBQNTEC8c

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=-bvwYiSBkFk

Air drift.... love it.

ROFL!!

[m3gtr]

This is mainly aimed at crew that live here in Japan...

So whats your opinion on the standard of the everyday Japanese driver..

Whats the worst driving / thing you have seen?

Whats the worst road rage you have personally done in Japan?

Personally, everyday I drive seems to be a video game...just trying not to get hit and stay in one pice and remain alive!..

Tunnel vision and the fact that mirrors are for doing makeup and checking the state of their hair, and thats just the blokes, drives me to drink.

Suppose one of the worst road rage was after being tail gated for x amount of k`d and having the same f"#$%headstop cm`s from my bumper at traffic lights. The next set of lightds I calmy got out of me car, walked up to the idiot , opened his door and took his keys out and threw them away.

I was driving a work van but eventually kesatsu came to me house and I got to spend 10 days with free room,board and meals, plus a fine. But the satisfaction on seeing old mates face was worth it..absolute gold!

You should see winter here in Hokkaido, snow , ice and still no-one slows down except when they slam your bumper.

Thats...err, thats umm pretty f**kin crazy.

They locked you up for opening the door and tossing his keys into the snow??

shit...harsh.

[akeenan]

driving is alright. however what really gets to me as a pedestrian is cars not stopping at zebra crossings like they should be. I always walk out infront of cars and make them wait. and also thinking an orange and also red light means speed up to get through.

[elrodeo666]

i think you blokes should come up to Hokkadido for a drive...

M3...it wasnt winter at the time and I threw the keys as far as I could. Cops classed it as assault.

[m3gtr]

WHAT!?

No seriously man, thats f**ked up.

Hollywood would be horrified.

Assault? On the keys i imagine..?

[hojak]

The problem is that this guy is a registered Japanese driving instructor:

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=KbOBQNTEC8c

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=-bvwYiSBkFk

Air drift.... love it.

That dude is off his chop...haha. Fully gettin into it too.

[(B1) MR_fanny]

are they laughing with him in politeness or at him?

[m3gtr]

In my short time of 2 months on the road, Its been very smooth.

I havent had any problems so far and have found many ways to scythe through traffic. Ive found people here in Tokyo to be pretty observant for the most part although i will agree that it shits me that people dont stop at zebras - like they dont understand the meaning of PEDESTRIAN crossing. Ive nearly been hit a few times...

The traffic jams can be excruciating especially when your pressed for time - and navigating without a navi takes practice although i have found my way in and around Tokyo pretty easy after a couple of tries navi-less.

I had a situation last weekend where a dumbass pulled left to overtake a slower car and i had to hit the anchors pretty quick to avoid joining his bumper. The Brembos work very well i can tell you.

There is ZERO road rage as far as i can tell and people just ignore you and stick to the rules...unless its late and the roads are empty.

I have to say the Fonz is f**king thirsty!! It cost me 10000 yen to fill up and i only got 300 kays to the tank!...probably something to do with my right foot i imagine...

[elrodeo666]

Just Wait!

[m3gtr]

Honey moon period is it?

[Laurence]

I saw some awesome road rage yesterday. A truck was half blocking the road and a typical なにわ　ナンバー driver was dawdling along doing her makeup or checking her Mixi or whatever and swerved into the next lane at the last minute to avoid a truck half blocking her lane.

An old dude in a Subaru Liberty had to swerve to maintain a safe distance, then drove along swerving fairly violently next to her until the next set of lights which she managed to sneak throuigh.

Anyway, I checked out the car that had been swerving around and he had Nankang NSII tyres on a Liberty RS... So I guess it was dangerous that he had to swerve hehehehe...

[dodgybrooks]

I saw some awesome road rage yesterday. A truck was half blocking the road and a typical なにわ　ナンバー driver was dawdling along doing her makeup or checking her Mixi or whatever and swerved into the next lane at the last minute to avoid a truck half blocking her lane.

An old dude in a Subaru Liberty had to swerve to maintain a safe distance, then drove along swerving fairly violently next to her until the next set of lights which she managed to sneak throuigh.

Anyway, I checked out the car that had been swerving around and he had Nankang NSII tyres on a Liberty RS... So I guess it was dangerous that he had to swerve hehehehe...

Yea NSII should only be used as rear tyres of RR cars, and only for a minimum of half a day until they delaminate.

[Brood]

I have living in Japan since 2001.

From my experience, I would have to say that driving on japanese roads is quite dangerous at times. As mentioned by others, I don't understand where they have gotten the idea that by putting on the hazard lights it makes it ok to park the car anywhere. Living in the countryside where streets are narrow just compounds the problem.

Another thing to mention is that there are too many old people driving!!! They drive too slow and then there's the young drivers and they drive too fast, then there's the kamakazi truck drivers then there's the chick's doing makeup ... the list goes on.

When Japanese get behind the wheel, it seems as though all concerns for the safety of other goes out the window. That's why when driving in japan you have to be on full alert.

that's my 2 yen's worth.

[sleeper_et]

We have the same problem in Australia but not as big. The main problem with majority of drivers is that they don`t realize that when you are driving a car you have a potential killing device and they are not taught how to respect what it can do.

One of the bigger problems is that cars are getting safer and smarter(abs, stability control, reversing sensor other driver aids), it gives people a false sense of security and takes away the need for people to learn the basics of handling a car(stopping distances, what to do if the car starts to slide, allowing room for a potential hazard bla bla).

Personally I think every school should start teaching kids from the age of 14 about driving, I am not just talking about road rules but the actual fundamentals that can help you. i.e

-If the front wheels look up which causes you to have no steering what should you do?

-Don`t just watch the road in front of your car, watch the bigger picture (people on the side of the road, look for children near the road, animals...)

-Remember that you are not the only person on the road and you have to be prepared that the people around you might not be in full control.

Just the simple principals that people should know, but start teaching at a young age.

Then when you are on your learners it should be Mandatory to do at least 1 week of defensive driving courses.

Even this is not enough.

At the end of the day driving is not a right; it is a privilege and one that should not be taken on lightly.

Anyway that`s my rant for the day, but driver safety and responsibility is something i think is not taken seriously enough.

Cheers

Edited June 22, 2008 by sleeper_et

[elrodeo666]

As for the theory that japanese drivers dont flog their cars...absolute bullshit..

Driving home on the xpress way after weekend of racing and was cruising along nicely on about 130kph. Over a 60 km stretch I got passed by 22 cars going a hell of alot faster, absolutely ringing their cars out, with alot of them watching tv..Sunday night and one thing on their mind and in ther sight...GET HOME FAST>>

Saw a classic segment last week on some of Hokkaidos Highway/Patrol drivers...they were using a crash simulator..e.g cars ,people ,obstacles popping out in front of em...most of them in accident situation slammed the brakes and took their hands off the wheel and yelled kowaii !!

Edited June 23, 2008 by elrodeo666