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Foreigner feigns ignorance of Japanese to avoid speeding ticket

speeding is a human rights violation

A clip from yesterday’s “Real Time News” in which a police officer in Kanagawa prefecture stops a Mercedes Benz that was traveling at 128 km/h (80mph), 58 km/h over the speed limit:

The driver of the car is a foreigner, and when the Japanese police officer starts speaking to her in Japanese, she pretends she can’t understand and speaks English. The officer cannot speak English and isn’t quite sure what to do. If he were to give up and wave off the foreigner without a ticket, his action would be caught on film and he would no doubt end up like the Tokyo police officer who resigned in shame recently for failing to enforce the law in a similar circumstance.

The officer continues to speak in Japanese to the woman. Eventually he notices that she seems to understand what he is saying, so he suggests that she can actually understand Japanese. She finally caves and and admits she can speak “a little” Japanese. He then informs her of that driving 128 km/h in a 70 km/h zone is a grave speeding offense that will result in a suspension of her license. The woman is shocked, so shocked that she suddenly develops the ability to speak enough Japanese to make the accusation that, “this country doesn’t treat gaijin like humans.” The officer says he is not treating her in such a way.

She starts to cry and say (in Japanese) that she will kill herself. The officer calms her down, tells her to drive carefully, and sends the woman away with a ticket. The woman will have a chance to dispute the ticket in court. Hopefully the judge will have a chance to see the video footage of the incident and get a look at how she tried to weasel her way out of taking responsibility for her violation of the law.

I don’t believe this woman’s action to be an isolated incident. I’ve met quite a few foreigners who swear by the “I don’t speak Japanese” method of avoiding traffic tickets, and anecdotal evidence across the internet seems to support the claim that this kind of thing is very common. When police officers are not on camera, many prefer to let foreigners off without a ticket instead of going through the hassle of dealing with the language barrier.

Note: This is just a short clip from a segment that included several other lawbreakers, all of whom were Japanese. Its primary focus was not on foreign criminals.

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84 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - September 9, 2009 at 8:45 am

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags: crime, Discrimination, English, foreigners, gaijin, human rights, japan, japanese

LB

“This country doesn’t treat foreigners like humans”
No, it doesn’t treat you like you’re “special” – get a grip.

“Maybe I should just kill myself”
Fuji Jukai is the third exit down. Try not to further inconvenience others. No jumping off tall buildings or in front of the train, and no mixing toxic chemicals in the bathroom, if you don’t mind.
- Brian
  
  Unfortunately, people of many western countries, especially here in the US, are conditioned to expect special treatment. We treat or at least call for treating our foreigners and minorities specially, so I can see how the “stupid American”-type would (undeservingly) expect to be given special treatment.
  
  (Of course, this special treatment stirs up a lot of anger fueling a different kind of special treatment to minorities, but that’s a topic for another day. ^_^)
  - adfadsadsasd
    
    What? I expected US to be hostile against foreigners.
  - Karisu
    
    Are you sure you’ve ever stepped foot in America, let alone are American? Cause I’d love to hear some evidence of this “special treatment”.
Tim

This doesn’t just work in Japan, it works anywhere. I have a number of foreign friends in the US who swear by the “I don’t speak English” method of getting out of tickets there, and it often works, especially for the “innocent” women.
- http://www.samuraikurisu.blogspot.com Kirbz
  
  Yeah, or people that make a horrible faux pas or cultural blunder that has possible consequences and pretend they didn’t know better, although sometimes maybe that is the case. Not here though, but it is not the first time I have heard a similar story like this (with the driver getting off from a ticket because the officer couldn’t deal with them) happening.
- LB
  
  Perhaps. But I would like to see the reaction of a US cop when he figures out that the person he just stopped is yanking his chain and actually does understand every word he’s saying. I doubt he would be nearly as friendly as this Japanese cop was. The person stopped would likely suddenly find themselves facing an obstruction charge as well as the speeding ticket and a ticket for anything else the cop could suddenly find wrong with the car – and I bet they would find something…
  
  *WHACK!!* “You know, your tail light is out…”
  - stfu
    
    sounds like u’ve seen too many movies. I’m not defending cops, but i’ve sadly had more than a few run-uns with them. i doubt it would go down like that. but this message won’t go well with the “i hate cops” people or the small majority that took sh*t the wrong way and got all butt hurt
    - LB
      
      Depends on the cop, I think. I’ve known a few, family friends and classmates. Most of them were fine and professional types, but if they thought you were jerking them around when they were doing their jobs they admitted they could be real dicks – professional, but dicks.
      
      The tail light reference was a joke, but that did actually happen to someone I worked with years ago (and I saw the busted light). It happened because he mouthed off to the cop, and he admitted it. But when the light got smashed he said he had a “moment of clarity” and realized he’d better shut up and be humble. It worked – the cop just gave him a verbal warning about the light and not a citation. We figured that was all the cop was doing – making it clear who the big dog was and why you really didn’t want to challenge him.
    - Brian
      
      A whole side of my family is cops, and they typically don’t get along well with their coworkers. There are a lot of cheauvinistic, cheating (TONS of cheating — if your husband is a cop, be wary), bastardly, and otherwise despicable police officers on just about every force.
      
      If I had to analogize it, there are at least as many “bad cops” in a force as there are D or even C students in any typical classroom. Additionally, a good number of those “bad cops” are great as people but total douches as cops.
- DC
  
  In the UK, simply being a woman is often enough to avoid getting a ticket.
- SWater
  
  This doesn’t seem to work at least in my neighborhood in the States. A couple of years ago, my wife went to the county traffic court for a minor traffic violation. According to her, the court was full of Hispanic people, who barely speak English (thus with bilingual attorneys), and a few minors with their parents.
jmadsen

In fairness, a very great many people of all nationalities, in whatever country, invent excuses to get out of red light running/speeding tickets.

Hysterionics (? – there’s a real word in there somewhere) are another common device.

This doesn’t need to be a “bad gaijin-slammer” thing. It’s just a woman trying to get out of a speeding ticket. It’s the /media/ that’s giving foreigners a bad name here, by making it more than it is.
- LB
  
  Yeah – that’s the ticket. It was the media that made her break the law, and the media again that pushed her to be a twat and try to squirm out of it by lying to the cop…
  
  Sheesh. Do you read or think about what you are saying, or do your fingers just type the first stupid thing that pops into your head?
  - http://talesovercoffee.blogspot.com Brad F.
    
    I think what he’s saying is that it’s not just white people in Japan that try to weasel their way out of tickets. It happens everywhere.
    
    And what he’s further trying to explain is that the media is trying to make it appear as though all foreigners in Japan are “bad” and do what this woman did, as if Japanese people don’t have their own methods of trying to worm their way out of getting tickets in Japan.
    
    Sheesh. Do you read or think about what you are saying, or do your fingers just type the first stupid thing that pops into your head?
    - ponta
      
      And what he’s further trying to explain is that the media is trying to make it appear as though all foreigners in Japan are “bad” and do what this woman did, as if Japanese people don’t have their own methods of trying to worm their way out of getting tickets in Japan.
      
      How is this report trying to make it appear as if all foreingers in Japan are “bad” and Japanese people don’t have their own methods of trying to worm their way out of getting tickets?
    - jmadsen
      
      Uhm, I felt the point of the article was “look at what this foreigner is doing to weasel out of a ticket”, rather than, “look at all the ways that people try to weasel out of tickets” – and then show women showing off cleavage, etc., etc., etc.,
      
      That’s why I thought they were making it into a “foreigner thing”. Admittedly, I may have read too much into it.
      
      Thank you, Brad F., for actually reading me, not just claiming to.
Vox24

I confess I’m guilty of the “I don’t speak Japanese” part of the story. I have done that once. It worked, which still kind of surprises me.

While I’m confessing things, I may as well also confess that my father was a cop in Canada. When he sits around with his cop buddies, stories about the latest bizarre traffic stop excuses often come up.

Foreigners pretend not to understand English, and fat women pretend they’re going into labor (No joke, that happens fairly often. They tend to really freak out when the ambulance arrives…)

People just don’t like to get tickets. Somewhere in Paraguay right now, a farmer stands before a meter maid, constructing an elaborate story about his quest to find loose change for the meter. Somewhere in Sapporo a mother of three turns on the tears. Somewhere in Tokyo an English teacher is screaming racism over a routine bicycle stop.

No, it’s not right. No, it’s not mature. But it’s the way things are.

Anyway, the second time I tried feigning ignorance of Japanese, they asked me to wait in the squad car for 5 minutes. Another cop arrived, and his English was flawless. Checkmate. The ticket wasn’t that expensive.
Charles Bronson

I know a good way to get out of traffic tickets: don’t break the law.
- DC
  
  Unlike the majority of Japanese drivers who seem to think that red lights are merely advisory.
  
  When I got pulled over a few years ago in Japan my Japanese language skills were almost non-existent. That didn’t stop me getting a ticket, nor should it have. If all Japanese police officers learnt how to do their jobs properly, this wouldn’t even be an issue.
  - Charles Bronson
    
    Cool story.
    
    Don’t break the law.
- Karisu
  
  Only that’s not getting out of a ticket, that’s not getting one in the first place.
  
  Nice try being cute though!
HamachiMan

This is a pretty interesting subject and video clip.

The fact that there is actual proof that Japanese law enforcement have allowed foreigners to get off with no ticket in the past, seems to contradict those that say that foreigners are heavily penalized and unfairly targeted by Japanese police.

The fact that this ‘foreigner’ brings out the ‘foreigner card’ is pretty sad. I wonder how long before Debito gets wind of this one.

I agree the ‘no speak local language’ routine is pretty universal.
- James
  
  Considering the Japanese police’s standard method of holding all foreigners without charging for the full 22 days if arrested when nationals are out within 3 days, I think a bit of turnaround on traffic tickets is fair play. And as many commenters said, everyone tries to get out of tickets, not just foreigners, and have you driven in Japan? Everyone speeds, runs red lights, stops in the middle of the road to get out and go to a vending machine. It’s one of the worst countries I’ve been in as far as driving is concerned. People are always bragging about their 5 year no violation licenses, but that’s because outside of the big cities you never see cops on the road. They always just camp in the koban and never come out, so as long as you don’t speed past the koban you’re fine.
  - Iago
    
    Actually, outside of the big cities, one of the things you have to be careful of is the speed traps. They’ll just set up shop hidden in a layby on an otherwise long, straight, high-visibility stretch of road with an unfeasibly low speed limit and wait. It’s like a production line ticketing machine.
    
    Even in the big cities they have their favorite places, like just outside Shibuya police station where the lane markings are very confusing and insufficient, and drivers easily get caught in the wrong (“must turn left”) lane when they want to go straight. I think the NPA makes a fortune just there.
    - The Overthinker
      
      “Actually, outside of the big cities, one of the things you have to be careful of is the speed traps.”
      
      Seconded. Cops in the inaka have little better to do, roads are relatively straight and empty, and people drive faster. I have friends in the inaka who have been caught several times. I feel safer in the city. myself.
  - HamachiMan
    
    I’ll take your word for it that driving in Japan is bad. I have been to Japan several times but haven’t particularly sensed that the driving is bad. My point of reference is Thailand and Vietnam for bad (or scary) drivers.
    - The Overthinker
      
      Driving in Japan is not bad. Frustrating, at times, with their love of no-passing lanes and 50kph limits on empty country roads, but way better than China, for example.
    - Iago
      
      Compared to the wilder, drive on the shady side of the road, places, Japan isn’t terrible, but there are some bad habits you have to be wary of: running stop lights, running through stop signs, ignoring pedestrian crossings, parking anywhere, tailgating and undertaking (especially on expressway), drifting across lanes, expecting an obstruction in one lane makes the next lane magically clear, speeding, and the one that really bugs me — not giving way to ambulances and other emergency vehicles…
    - I have no mouth and I must scream
      
      @Iago
      Sounds like some of the drivers here in Southern California. Lately I’ve been seeing drivers run red lights after stopping first. Go figure. Last time I was visiting Japan the drivers didn’t seem too flaky. Shrug
  - http://ddurgee.blogspot.com darg
    
    James-
    
    I totally agree that Japanese drivers rarely follow traffic laws to the letter, but if you think they’re the worst then you should take a trip to some less developed countries. Riding in taxis in Thailand and Vietnam can be downright scary – even Korean taxi drivers will drive like Speed Racer if you ask them to.
    
    I’m sure things are even worse in other places, but those are the only ones I can speak of personally and were all worse than Japan. It’s hardly the worst.
    - puri
      
      I find no connection between a country’s development and driving manner. Taxi drivers in London are quite rude and don’t strictly follow traffic laws too; I was scared way too many times while I was there for a month.
    - James
      
      “It’s one of the worst countries I’ve been in as far as driving is concerned.”
      
      I freely admit I haven’t been to some of the less developed countries. This was a statement regarding my experience.
klimmer

I’m not sure if anyone else have had this experience of getting pulled over for speeding, but I think the cops (or radar) are set at around 40km/hr over the limit. I’ve never done anything faster than 120km/hr and haven’t been stopped yet.
- The Overthinker
  
  You’ve just been lucky. Next time you see a cop, try doing 40 over the limit and see what he does….
BS

The “No Japanese” act has worked for me 4 out of 5 times. I found that they are more lenient if you thicken up the accent and speak “a little” Japanese. (one time the cop yelled at my Japanese friend next to me for not telling me the rules!)

What I wouldn’t do is fake it and then call the cop a racist when they call you out. That just seems like it would strengthen the stereotype.
houkiboshi

I’m quite sure that she meant to say that she is going to kill herself but the Japanese she’s speaking actually translates as “You’d better commit suicide soon”.
- LB
  
  I hadn’t caught that the first time, but you’re right! LOL
glitch

Now wait a second…

If I’m in a situation that involves possible legal ramifications — be they a ticket, jail, court, whatever — I am NOT going to complicate the issue by attempting to converse in a language I barely understand. That would just be stupid.

They want to give me a ticket, they talk to me in English. I’m not going to make things worse by sticking my foot in my mouth using my bad japanese. If there’s a miscommunication, it’s on their heads, not mine.

I’ve had one ticket from a speed trap here. We went back to a van where there was an officer that spoke pretty good English. The situation was polite and civilized. I apologized and thanked them for their time, took the ticket, paid it when it came in, and everything was fine. But the whole transaction was done in English.
- LB
  
  “They want to give me a ticket, they talk to me in English.”
  
  Begging your pompous lordship’s pardon, but the language of the land is Japanese. They don’t have to talk to you in any language but that one. The onus is on you to learn the native language, not on the natives to learn yours.
  
  Would you be so understanding of a Japanese in your home country saying “You want to give me a ticket, you talk to me in Japanese”?
  - glitch
    
    …And if I’m ordering at a restaurant, reserving a hotel, meeting at my son’s school, working with money in a bank, or just saying ‘hi’ to somebody on the street, I do my darnedest to speak the “language of the land”. Got nothing against that, and I’d bet that I probably try harder than the majority of the foreigners here (not trying to be holier-than-thou here, but it’s merely necessity; we live way out in the inaka, and the vast majority here just can’t/don’t speak English. I *have* to speak Japanese or get nothing done).
    
    But here we’re dealing with cops and possible legal implications. That’s different.
    
    Remember the text from the Miranda: “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
    
    Yeah, different country, but I’d still no sooner speak a language I don’t know adequately to a cop than I’d give a deposition without a lawyer if I were arrested for something.
    
    And, damn skippy, I’d be 100% understanding of a Japanese saying that they want a possible criminal proceeding done in Japanese. I’d think they’d be risking legal consequences if they didn’t understand and communicate properly in this situation.
    - LB
      
      A formal criminal proceeding I would agree with you on. Someone going to trial deserves to have full access to and understanding of the charges against them and the evidence. I will give you that, no argument there.
      
      But we’re talking about a speeding ticket. Radar guns with digital readouts/printouts. Advanced knowledge of Japanese is not required to understand what is happening. Hell, most people figure it out themselves as one of the first things anyone does when a cop comes up behind them is check their speedometer. Anyone who says “yeah, sure, I speak a bit of Japanese but I’m not taking a speeding ticket unless the officer addresses me in English” is, IMHO, just being a prick.
    - glitch
      
      Yeah, you’d think. But back in the States I was pulled over for 10mph over the limit one time. There was a glitch in the cop’s computer when he ran my license. Spent almost 48 hours in a Texas jail, and cost me ~$1000 in lawyer’s fees to absolve a simple clerical mistake. And that was done entirely in my native language.
      
      These things can spiral way wrong, way fast — even at the mundane level of the street cop. And when they do, there are extremely unpleasant complications.
      
      And if the officer wants to just rip the ticket off the pad and stuff it in my shirt pocket without saying a word, that’s fine with me. But I’m speaking English anytime I open my mouth.
      
      Sorry if I’m coming off as a prick, but I’m quite pathological about not taking any chance if I can help it.
  - leitmotiv
    
    Begging your pompous lordship’s pardon, but the language of the land is Japanese.
    
    Wow….leaving aside obvious comments about pots, kettles, and specific colors, it would seem that the cops (in glitch’s case) were quite aware of a need to have some english ability on hand …. i.e., that its a simple matter of logic that some people caught in a speed trap in Japan may not speak Japanese. So reasonable measures were taken by the cops. There is no onus here. Glitch may have easily been a short-term visitor or tourist (something Japan ostensibly wants to promote). Japan sees itself as an important member of 1st world international community (rightly by virtue of its economy, state of development, and many other metrics), but as we all know remains an outlier in some oddball areas like english ability. But in this case they had an english speaking cop on hand. Unless the cop, like LB, also felt uncontrollable need to chastise glitch on supposed “onus” of language learning, it would seem in this case that Japan, though overly-conservative and misguided about some practical harmonization issues, is nonetheless far far ahead of LB on this issue.
- http://durf.org Durf
  
  No, that’s a fair attitude. In a situation like this it’s important that the monolingual law-breaker clearly understand what’s going on.
  
  You’ll also understand, of course, that an English-speaking officer won’t always be on hand, so you may have to go into custody and head down to the station until the interpreter can make it there to help you out. I’m sure you wouldn’t possible complain about that.
  - glitch
    
    Just drop me back by my car when we’re done please. “Say officer, would you care for a stick of gum?”
  - ponta pon
    
    I don’t think it is a good idea to feign ignorance of Japanese in a situation like this.
    The point is she should answer simple questions she understands and she should say she doesn’t understand when she does not understand.
    Feigning ignorance of Japanese in the situation above might leave the police ( and later the court) bad impressions and make things worse for her.
http://www.invisiblegaijin.com InvisibleGaijin

See #9 of 59 Ways to Tell if You’re a Gaijin

http://invisiblegaijin.com/2009/09/06/59-ways-to-tell-if-you’re-a-gaijin-not-a-gaikokujin/
somegirl

I seriously hope her ticket was a large fine. How annoying that she acted in such a way, I am disgusted by her actions and wish she did have her license taken away. anyone who acts in such a manner when purposely breaking the law doesn’t deserve to be treated human.
- The Overthinker
  
  Doing 58kph over the limit? You bet it’s a large fine. Between 80 and 90,000 yen.
Sen

she probably posts on Japan Today
- nakamura25
  
  “she probably posts on Japan Today”
  
  LOL
  
  I think she posts under the username “Sarge”
http://tune-in-tokyo.com Billy

She should be charged with obstruction of justice on top of her speeding ticket.
MF

She lied to a cop, but he spotted it right away. Then she starts talking about suicide? And what did she say when she wanted to explain how she feels Japan treats foreigners? I hope she lost her license, a lady like that could kill someone driving that fast, thinking she is Princess Lea at least.

If she wanted to do this in English, why didn’t she say so? Her lie was rather easy to spot. I bet she has connections with some huge company with really expensive lawyers. Scary.
alan

I find two things interesting here:

1. The cop seems (sorry, I don’t understand Japanese) to speak to her like she’s a real person. Here in the US, being stopped for speeding is a “gateway” offense that could lead to bigger crimes, such as drugs, DUI, illegal weapons, etc., so the cops tend to treat speeders like hard-core criminal suspects.

2. At the end of the video, the cop direct traffic to allow the motorist to get back into traffic. This NEVER happens in the US. Here, you’re left on your own and if you screw up you can get ANOTHER ticket !!
7-10split

hostess driving her sugar-daddies big ole Benz??, whatever, she is pretty pathetic – that cop was very patient and tolerant.
MF

alan, yes, you are right, the cop treats her very well under the circumstances. He is cool. She is not.
http://witzl.blogspot.com/ MaryWitzl

This woman is an idiot and ought to be ashamed of herself. However Japan treats foreigners, her speed was dangerously excessive and I am so glad the policeman gave her a ticket instead of caving in.

Anyone who thinks Japanese drivers are dangerous, please go to Turkey. One day in Istanbul will make you nostalgic for Tokyo.
- The Overthinker
  
  No thanks. I can imagine…. Nor do I imagine Turkish cops are all paragons of virtue.
Nam

I’m ENGLISH.

But I live in California.

I always tell people that they need to stop saying that they speak English here, because they don’t.

They think they’re speaking the same language, but they’re not.
They’re actually better of speaking Spanish here.
- http://witzl.blogspot.com/ MaryWitzl
  
  I’m Californian. But I live in the U.K. And my English husband understands my non-English 99.9% of the time.
  
  Personally, I think we’re better off (two Fs) trying to look for similarities, not differences.
Sophia

I think it’s interesting how many people assume that she’s American. Though they distorted her voice, the way she says “impossible” doesn’t really sound like how an American would say it… and since there isn’t any indication of her nationality or ethnicity, I’m a little saddened that the immediate conclusion is “American,” and not just foreigner.
Level3

She’s obviously a hostess or a “graduate” hostess who found her sugar daddy. Visa rules (no working holiday visas for Americans) tend to mean hostesses are less likely to be Americans.

And the accent is obvious even through the distortion

Impossible! “Eem-poh-see-ble” (native speakers don’t even say that, it would normally at least be “This is impossble.”)

Not for this! “noht – fohr – thees” (Yes, ees for thees, Baby)

Another Russian / Eastern Euro hostess.

She probably got the Benz by threatening suicide, too.

Of course Euro trash will blame America, as usual.
Racists.
- Level3
  
  Besides, even by you Euros’ racist logic, isn’t it impossible for an American to become a hostess and get a sugar daddy and get a Benz?
  All Americans are fat and rude, after all!
  This girl certainly wasn’t fat.
  
  I mean, at least be internally consistent in your racist logic. >:[
MF

Sophia, Level3: There has not been a single comment here that assumes she is American. Forgot to take your medication this fine morning? And who are you to call people “Euro trash” on this blog?
MF

Hi —

Just want to mention two things:

1. I guess there are two MF’s here — although I post here from time to time I didn’t write the thing to Sophia.

2. My friend once saw a Swiss (supposedly) guy feign ignorance of Chinese, and then of English, and then of German, to try to get out of paying a three RMB fare on a Chinese bus. Pretty sad!
- RMilner
  
  There are Swiss whose native language is Italian and Romantsch, so it’s not impossible (though very unlikely) he was telling the truth.
http://aki-akiaki.blogspot.com Aki

I’d add a few practical tips for drivers in Japan.

1) Someone on this thread wrote that drivers in Japan run red lights, but it’s not true. You shouldn’t enter a crossing when the signal is red. If cops find it, they never overlook it. However, if your car has passed over the advanced stop line when the signal is still yellow, you can run through the crossing, even if the signal turns red while you are still in the crossing.

2) The Japanese call the speed trap nezumi-tori, or mouse-catching (device). When drivers find cops carrying out nezumi-tori, they often try to let oncoming drivers know it by flashing headlights. If you find oncoming cars flashing their headlights with no apparent reason, you should reduce the speed since the flashing may be a sign that they found nezumi-tori.

3) Cops overlook slight speeding. As a rule of thumb, you can go 10 km/hr over the speed limit on usual roads. In the case of expressways, you can go up to 120 km/hr, even though the speed limit is 80 km/hr there. Cops never count these levels of speeding as speeding offenses.
- James
  
  @Aki,
  
  I wrote that people run red lights in Japan, and I stand behind that. I live in Nara and I see people running red lights every day. And it’s not that they were in the intersection when it turned red. It’s that it was red and the other side hadn’t started going yet so they run the light because there is so much traffic everywhere they’re sick of waiting.
  - The Overthinker
    
    Damn right. I wonder what sort of fantasy world Aki drives in? In my experience of driving in Japan, which is over 15 years, drivers here will frequently continue to go through red lights until just before the other set turns green.
    
    The usual speed limit on expressways is 100kph, not 80. Certain areas, normally ones where the expressway is one lane each way, will be 80 (and it will be adjusted down in bad weather temporarily). Incidentally, a good rule of thumb for speeding in Japan is to watch the taxis, who know from experience where the cops like to hang out.
    
    (2) is correct, but of course is not limited to Japan, both in the habit and the response of drivers.
    - http://aki-akiaki.blogspot.com Aki
      
      I drive in real world. I wrote the above comment to give a practical tip for foreigners so they would not be caught by cops. If foreigners who are starting to drive in Japan read the James’s comment (at 2009-09-09 10:24:14) that stated “Everyone speeds, runs red lights,…”, they may start to speed without limitation and to run red lights only to be caught by cops. If many people here want to make foreigners who are starting to drive in this country to fall into such a situation, I should not have commented here.
      
      You are right. The usual speed limit for expressways is 100 km/h. I used to drive a light vehicle (kei-jidousha) until about 10 years ago. The speed limit for kei-jidousha was 80 km/h at the time, so I was confused when I wrote the above comment. As you wrote, the usual speed limit on expressways is 100 km/h for most vehicles including kei-jidousha now. Anyway, as I wrote, one can speed up to 120 km/h on expressways without fearing cops.
    - The Overthinker
      
      I think you are slightly misinterpreting James’ comments. It is hyperbole, and merely means that it is common. I do not think people will see it as being literal and true to go down the Ginza at 180kph. When you write “Someone on this thread wrote that drivers in Japan run red lights, but it’s not true. ” then that is also misleading: it is the legal position, but not the real one.
    - ponta
      
      The problem is that some foreign journalists and readerships don’t take hyperbole and exceptional cases as such, though, t seems it is not uncommon in this instance.
    - Isabo
      
      Is this James JP’s James?
    - http://www.japanprobe.com James
      
      If the name isn’t a link to this site, it’s some other James.
  - ponta
    
    Everyone speeds, runs red lights, stops in the middle of the road to get out and go to a vending machine.
    
    People　assume you were talking about the drivers.
    
    It’s that it was red and the other side hadn’t started going yet
    
    If you are talking about pedestrians starting walking at the intersection while the light for the walkers is still red when the cars in a vertical direction　stop because the light for the cars is red , yes,I see that often.
    I live in Tokyo.
    But I rarely see the cars going against the red-light.
    - James
      
      Yes, I am talking about drivers, not pedestrians. I don’t know about Tokyo, but in this part of the country cars are running red lights constantly.
    - ponta pon
      
      It depends on the place.
      
      ４）車の運転中、赤から青に変わったとき、関東ではゆっくりアクセルを踏んで発進しますが、関西は一気にアクセルでブーンと発進。これは、教習所の先生も言っていました。
      http://oshiete1.goo.ne.jp/qa1379697.html?check_ok=1
      
      このごろ赤信号無視が目に余ると思うのは私だけですか？・・・・・
      大阪の運転講習所ではこの風潮に対し皆さんはそのような運転をしないようにと教えています。ここでいう風潮とは
      「大阪では、青は進め、黄色は注意して進め、赤は更に注意して進め」だという事です。
      
      そう云うのは、失礼ですが地方によるんじゃないですか？
      大阪とか、特に堺、南河内方面とか．．．
      東京なら、江戸川、足立、葛飾とか．
      http://ziddy.japan.zdnet.com/qa539031.html
    - The Overthinker
      
      「大阪では、青は進め、黄色は注意して進め、赤は更に注意して進め」
      
      Except this isn’t just Osaka.
    - Isabo
      
      I have been driving in Japan about 20 years and I rarely see cars ignoring red lights.
      If almost every cars around The Overthinker ignore red lights, why are you still alive?
    - The Overthinker
      
      By running red lights I don’t of course mean going through them when the other side is green. I mean that they will continue to go through the intersection as long as possible until the other side turns green. As I said on the 14th of Sept.
      That comment about Osaka drivers I quoted is not of course neither my own words nor deadly serious.
  - Isabo
    
    People in Kansai area are like that.lol
    That is why Kanto-jin never want to drive in Kansai.
Japantoday Sucks

Stupid gaijin bitch, 58KM over the limit = death!
Isabo

The girl is typical Debitist.
The think it’s OK for foreignsers to break laws.

Foreigner feigns ignorance of Japanese to avoid speeding ticket

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