Law change lets Japan police crack down on rule-breaking cyclists

13 comments

1. I’m worried (as a foreigner who is way more of a target) about how this is going to be enforced.

   Particularly with the left lane part. If I move across the road to enter the supermarket parking lot and cycle in the right lane for a few 10s of meters am I going to get fined?

   Many roads don’t have sidewalks, so if I come up to a red traffic light, hug the corner as I go round the same as a pedestrian would, am I going to get fined?

   These are things you’d see dozens of people do every hour but I know I’d be the only one stopped for such a mundane ‘crime’.

2. There are a lot of bicycle related pedestrian injuries… However, the data shows it’s always old men/women running into people. And they are still allowed to legally use the sidewalk. So this does nothing but risk lives.

3. Good. Fine the shit out of cyclists.

4. Makes sense. Laws without penalties get ignored.

5. > The revised law also requires drivers to slow to a safe speed when passing a bicycle heading in the same direction,

   Oh god we need that..

   > while cyclists are required to keep the left of the lane.

   ….

   Yeah usually riding in the middle is safer because cars won’t try to squeeze you but whatever.

6. I’m slowly realising why the guy that hit me looked like he was going to sh** himself. I was not paying attention in the slightest. I was distracted and then got hit. I thought he was going to shout at me but then he panicked and was like “OMG are you ok”. I got up and was trying to calm him down. I was hurt but just bruises. I blamed myself, checked that he was ok, then walked off. He looked confused. The next day everyone was asking why I didn’t call an ambulance or go to the police and I was like “… for some, albeit badly placed, bruises?”
   The only issue is that they were on my hand, so writing hurt, my inner thigh, knee, and calves so walking hurt, and my jaw so eating hurt.

7. Fair enough I guess, but my experience cycling here makes me think that the majority of cyclists who break the rules don’t seem to be aware of the rules in the first place. While I don’t think it’s a good excuse to say “I didn’t know”, a bit of time spent actively making folks aware of the rules and riding etiquette would be practical. I don’t think that many people bother to check this stuff out when they get a bike and need it laid out for them.

   Now it’s getting warmer, more and more folks are out on their bikes, so I’m dealing with minor to major fuck ups weekly and most of the time people seem genuinely surprised there are laws for bikes other than you can get fined for drinking and riding.

8. Wasn’t that the law that also prohibits bicyclists from using any kind of earbuds or earphones supposedly because they are a hazard? Also no more Google maps?

   If so, I dislike that rule.

   Car manufacturers specifically engineer their cars to block outside noises. They also include radios and even screens that allow the driver to watch TV while driving. Not to mention navigation systems.

   The hypocrisy is clear. The rules should be the same for both kinds of vehicles, and not hold bicyclists to a higher standard.

9. LDP has long expanded police interests to be protected by them in case they are going to be arrested.

   Biden Administration should demand Kishida to scrap Japan’s police interests.

   Excessively redundant police officers are tax parasites.

10. I already got my Bicycle Insurance and Helmet. The area I leave at spent serious money to paint bicycle lanes on the main road and they are not using it.

11. Just visited for 18 days. Wasn’t a fan of the bikes on the narrow sidewalks.

12. I still see people riding bikes and holding an umbrella when it rains, this is illegal but people still do it. Tsuyu is next month, it’s going to be fun lol

13. Sucks, but we have it better than many other places in the world. Highly doubt these rules will be enforced any more than before, at least on Japanese citizens.
    Every single day I see someone in a mamachari pulling dumb shit while riding.