Usually I often ride my bike without holding the handles(?), which is also quite dangerous in some situations. This was not shown here – is it not forbidden by the law in Japan or do Japanese people simply not do this at all?
I think I never saw someone riding a bike like that while I was living in Japan.

Haha, so typical. I was only mumbling at first, now I yell at them.

http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=4299

I’m very surprised to find out smoking and/or eating while cycling is illegal in Japan, and carries a 50,000yen fine (is that right?).

We’ve all seen people smoking, writing emails, eating, and drinking while cycling. But have you ever seen someone walking their dog, smoking a cigarette, while holding an umbrella and riding their bicycle at the same time!? Not to mention the old guy was doing it in the pouring rain. It should be physically impossible!

If you ever see the gaijin riding his bicycle around Mitaka/Kichijoji ringing his bell every time he comes to an intersection or blind corner because he knows some idiot is about to come screaming around the corner and bash into him, it’s probably me.

The only things these rules and policies engender is further disrespect and discounting of the law.

Also, enforce the bicycle lane at crosswalks. It’s useless when dipshit pedestrians walk in the bicycle lane.

Most of the time when they do stop people, it’s pretty obvious they’ve decided to set aside the evening for cyclist hunting, like when I’ve seen three of them hiding behind a corner on a pedestrian/cyclist bridge, or waiting at the end of one of the ramps from the Arakawa bike path (always in good weather). It seems like they hardly ever stop people on the spur of the moment. If this TV report was recent, I expect to see another round of police doing the ‘be seen doing something’ dance this week.

Still, despite the stereotype of gaijin on bikes always getting stopped by the police, I’ve never been pulled over, even once. The closest was when two police on bikes stopped to help me out while I was fixing a flat, and once when I was caught in a downpour and a cop shouted from inside his koban to ask if I was ok. I guess soemtimes pays to be one of those road racer freaks dressed head-to-toe in spandex.

Ironically, IMHO, the one thing the cops actually do bust – futari nori, or two-on-a-bike – is the least problematic of all these biking activities. Given that it slows bikes down hugely, it seems almost safer than single riders zooming down narrow sidewalks.

And don’t get me started about riding at night on the wrong side of the road with no lights!

Jokes aside though, just today, coming to work I saw a high school student riding a bicycle wearing headphones, and playing with her cellphone while having an umbrella propped up on the handlebar and her arm. The only way she could break even more laws and endanger herself more is if she had a hand grenade or perhaps a large sword in her mouth. She rode right next to a policeman standing in front of a Koban. Guess what happened. If your answer was “nothing”, you get 10 points and a pickled squid.

I have no idea how, in a country that seems to be taking safety really seriously, too seriously at times (how many of you saw 6 guys, all wearing helmets, safety shoes and high visibility vests changing a single lightbulb at a train station?), things like that happen and most people just don’t seem to care…