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Ai Irisawa-Coney, Contributor
One of the most noticeable differences between Jamaicans and Japanese is in the way they drive.
Jamaican driving can match that of Thais, Italians, French and the Greeks. Each drives as if there's no tomorrow. On the other hand, the Japanese are one of the safest drivers I have ever seen.
Is it because culturally the Japanese people are the most honest, law-abiding people? That's a myth. Everybody knows Japan is famous for organised crime.
But they do obey the rules of the road, simply because the Japanese government is serious about catching and punishing traffic offenders. And when they do, the penalties are ... let's just say severe!
The average driving time from the city of Osaka to Kobe is just under 30 minutes. But there are those that get there in 10! These daring drivers ignore the CCTVs covertly installed on the highway designed to take a photograph of them and record their speed. Offenders will receive a picture of them speeding and a summons in the mail to appear in court to answer the charges.
The faster you are caught driving, the more extreme the penalty. For example, if you were driving 30 kilometres over the speed limit, you could be ordered to pay JPY$50,000 to 60,000 (Japanese yen) (J$54,000 to $64,000). In some instances, depending on how fast you were going, you could lose your licence.
The penalty is worse if the driver is caught driving drunk. In this case, the passenger(s) will be held responsible for 'consenting'. This means, everybody in that vehicle will be ordered to pay between JPY$200,000 and $300,000 (J$215,000) each!
If you can't pay, you will be imprisoned.
If you are found responsible for causing an accident that damaged public property (traffic light, lamp post, trees, etc), you will pay for those, too. So Japanese have to think twice before committing any form of traffic offence.
One of the most noticeable differences between Jamaicans and Japanese is in the way they drive.
Jamaican driving can match that of Thais, Italians, French and the Greeks. Each drives as if there's no tomorrow. On the other hand, the Japanese are one of the safest drivers I have ever seen.
Is it because culturally the Japanese people are the most honest, law-abiding people? That's a myth. Everybody knows Japan is famous for organised crime.
But they do obey the rules of the road, simply because the Japanese government is serious about catching and punishing traffic offenders. And when they do, the penalties are ... let's just say severe!
The average driving time from the city of Osaka to Kobe is just under 30 minutes. But there are those that get there in 10! These daring drivers ignore the CCTVs covertly installed on the highway designed to take a photograph of them and record their speed. Offenders will receive a picture of them speeding and a summons in the mail to appear in court to answer the charges.
The faster you are caught driving, the more extreme the penalty. For example, if you were driving 30 kilometres over the speed limit, you could be ordered to pay JPY$50,000 to 60,000 (Japanese yen) (J$54,000 to $64,000). In some instances, depending on how fast you were going, you could lose your licence.
The penalty is worse if the driver is caught driving drunk. In this case, the passenger(s) will be held responsible for 'consenting'. This means, everybody in that vehicle will be ordered to pay between JPY$200,000 and $300,000 (J$215,000) each!
If you can't pay, you will be imprisoned.
If you are found responsible for causing an accident that damaged public property (traffic light, lamp post, trees, etc), you will pay for those, too. So Japanese have to think twice before committing any form of traffic offence.
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