It was last night and dark, but the driver didn’t even slow down when making the turn. Luckily they saw at the last second and slammed the breaks. I was shocked and was trying to process what happened. The driver apologised by waving their hand out the window and let me cross the road. Then they went off.
Not sure if I should report this to the police. There were no other bystanders. I don’t mind going to the police station but not sure if they would think I’m being a nuisance.
18 comments
I am wondering, what do you expect could be the outcome ?
Something “almost” happened -without witnesses-, but fortunately it did not (+the driver apologized). Besides your word, is there anything to back your version ?
I ride a scooter and people constantly do needless dangerous passes around me while in front of the koban, when there’s a police car within site on the road, etc – I would not expect them to do anything. I could be wrong, of course.
Did they actually break any traffic rule like running a stop sign? From the sounds of it they probably also had a green light since they were turning. If they didn’t actually hit you and haven’t broken any traffic laws there nothing really the police can do. You also don’t have any witness or evidence so it might not be worth it.
>I don’t mind going to the police station but not sure if they would think I’m being a nuisance.
That really depends on your local koban. Some officers are a lot nicer than others.
Maybe invest into some safety lights you can wear and/or wear something reflective on you.
I don’t think police will do anything for you since nothing actually happened. You have to be observant out here. I’ve had to avoid people driving the wrong way on the highway and even the wrong way down 1 way roads. Then they look at you like YOU’RE crazy.
not trying to be an ass but nothing happened to you , what do you want the police to do ? charge the guy for ” almost ” running someone over ?
Doesn’t sound like they did anything illegal.
I had a green (blue) walk light in the middle of the day today, and someone made a left turn at high speed, saw me, then proceeded to look away from me toward the pedestrian light for some reason. No change in speed whatsoever, just swerved toward the right lane, and I had to stop for them to avoid hitting me. You’re lucky that your encounter with someone who was apologetic and wanted to do the right thing.
The only outcome is that you will be interrogated to get your name, address, nationality, place of employment, etc., and you end up on the local police’s radar. There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that they would follow up on the driver, but they will be more than happy to get your details logged.
I went to a koban to report a missing child once, and they would not even take his name and description until they had my name, ID, address, etc. It was unbelievable.
it is possible that パトカー may start 取り締まり if they receive multiple complains
There’s nothing to report because they didn’t hit you. Hopefully they learned from this experience and will pay more attention in the future.
Have you driven anywhere else that in Japan?
nothing happened.
he almost hit you, but he didn’t hit you and you didn’t get hurt.
Going to koban won’t result in anything probably.
But I’m sure the police will start asking a lot of question about you.
My bike was stolen about 8 years ago and when I reported it, they wanted a lot of info about me. They even took my fingerprint. They didn’t seem to care much about my bike, but they wanted to know a lot about where I work, why I came to Japan… I felt like a criminal. Never going to koban again unless I really need it.
That’s a big no-no in Japan, however reporting it to the police won’t help. Nothing actually happened other than you got scared. What exactly would the police do? Yes, you will be seen as a nuisance.
You should go, and then let us know how much they laughed
Sry bro, don’t get me wrong, but you wanna report what? That somebody was driving and, at first, didn’t realize that you were crossing the street, but when the driver actually saw you, he was able to brake in time, thus avoiding an accident? I dunno if you drive, but this is kind of common, it’s a mistake but it happens and the good thing is: the driver could stop his car before hitting you. He apologized, then you crossed the street, so move on.
Plus, what cops gon’ do? Check the eventual road cams, identify the driver, and give him a call asking to pay more attention the next time? I’m sure he had no intention to do that, especially in Japan where easily you go to jail for hitting somebody with your car!
Relax, it’s Friday and nothing happened, be grateful instead.
I once actually got hit by a car like that but directly in front of a Koban. Police rushed out and looked at me on the ground and told me to hurry up and get inside as it was raining. Offered no help and ran in while I lay there. Yelled at the person who hit me and then sent them on their way as they were late picking up their child from school. Police didn’t do anything. So I’m not sure what you want out of this situation. Accidents happen.
You can be 100% right and 100% dead.
Look both ways when you cross the street, even when it’s green.
If you are this triggered by careless people, Japan ain’t the country for you mate.
What would you report? A ridiculous question! Grow up!