Japan Drunk Driving

[verticaldoug]

In response to the JG thread, we've discussed this before, but penalties for DUI/distracted driving just aren't strict enough.

In Japan, the limit is 0.03% which is about a 1/3 of US levels.

- 0.3% - 0.4 % the fine is up to 500,000 yen or about $3000. License suspended for 90 days and potentially 3 years in prison (although you'd have to be pretty reckless for this last part)

Above 0.5% fine up to 1,000,000 yen and 2 years license suspended. Potentially 5 years in prison.

If you kill someone under DUI, it is 15-20 years.

If you are a professional driver, the limit is ZERO (0).

You still have drunk driving incidents, but it is so much rarer than the US.
And when there is one, the conversation is never they will get off with a slap on the wrist. They are gone.

Along these lines, from NOV 1 of this year, Japan is enacting stricter traffic laws on cyclists. Particularly intoxicated or distracted cyclists. More people are seriously injured in Japan by distracted cyclists (speeding on e-bike while using smart phone) than distracted drivers. So the rule change makes sense.

Fines have increased if you roll a traffic lights, etc etc - which are called blue tickets and only fine about 10,000 yen. But for more serious offenses, there are red tickets-

If you are cycling while using your phone, 100,000 yen fine.
If you are endangering someone up to 300,000 yen fine.

If you are drunk, 500,000 yen while riding your bike,

[Louis]

I'm fine with making the penalties as stiff as necessary to curb the undesirable behaviour, but it will be interesting to see the alcohol & hospitality industries go into overdrive lobbying against it and argue that "Well, a little drunk driving should still be OK."

I'm sure the drunk gal who passed me the other night, driving the wrong way on the highway, and later killed someone else, had driven drunk countless times before, and possibly even been stopped. Even if one were to jack up the fines a lot of people wouldn't pay them, and if you took their license away they'd still drive, but I bet it would reduce a lot of the "casual" drunk driving. (as opposed to the hard-core alcoholics, who probably wouldn't stop at anything, other than having their car confiscated, and even then, they'd probably still find a was to drive)

[Caballero]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

In response to the JG thread, we've discussed this before, but penalties for DUI/distracted driving just aren't strict enough.

In Japan, the limit is 0.03% which is about a 1/3 of US levels.

- 0.3% - 0.4 % the fine is up to 500,000 yen or about $3000. License suspended for 90 days and potentially 3 years in prison (although you'd have to be pretty reckless for this last part)

Above 0.5% fine up to 1,000,000 yen and 2 years license suspended. Potentially 5 years in prison.

If you kill someone under DUI, it is 15-20 years.

If you are a professional driver, the limit is ZERO (0).

You still have drunk driving incidents, but it is so much rarer than the US.
And when there is one, the conversation is never they will get off with a slap on the wrist. They are gone.

Along these lines, from NOV 1 of this year, Japan is enacting stricter traffic laws on cyclists. Particularly intoxicated or distracted cyclists. More people are seriously injured in Japan by distracted cyclists (speeding on e-bike while using smart phone) than distracted drivers. So the rule change makes sense.

Fines have increased if you roll a traffic lights, etc etc - which are called blue tickets and only fine about 10,000 yen. But for more serious offenses, there are red tickets-

If you are cycling while using your phone, 100,000 yen fine.
If you are endangering someone up to 300,000 yen fine.

If you are drunk, 500,000 yen while riding your bike,

Are you living in Japan ?

[verticaldoug]

I lived there for 20 years, just came back from 2mo there this summer and still own a home there.

I float between UK, US , and Japan. I like to compare the good, bad, ugly between the three countries on occasion.

[Peter P.]

Originally Posted by verticaldoug

In response to the JG thread, we've discussed this before, but penalties for DUI/distracted driving just aren't strict enough. ...
If you are drunk, 500,000 yen while riding your bike,

Thanks for the information.

What I don't agree with is the fine structure. Poorer people would suffer more because the fines are significantly higher vs. their income. And I'm not saying poor people are more likely to drive drunk. One European country fines proportional to income and I think that's a great idea.

I'm puzzled that with Japan's limits being so low that they can actually determine through observation that someone is under the influence as I'd expect more drivers would be able to pass field sobriety tests. Japan must have different methods used during traffic stops.

As for bicyclists being fined, how can that be if, I assume, most e-bike distracted cyclists would be youths, and it wouldn't be required to have a driver's license to operate an e-bike. Perhaps Japan's licensing laws are different?

I had some young punk pass me on his e-bike, riding AGAINST traffic, GOING UPHILL, while staring at his phone. There should be a law against embarrassing real cyclists by doing those things!

[dgauthier]

E-bikes are *heavy* and *fast* and the riders are generally clueless. If an e-bike collides with a pedestrian or normal cyclist the outcome for the pedestrian or cyclist is not good.

E-bikes have motors. They should be regulated like motorcycles. Period. Laws against operating an e-bike while drunk or distracted or not according to the rules of the road would automatically apply.

[herb5998]

Doug, this may have changed, but IIRC from when I lived in Japan from 2011-2012, that all drivers are considered "professional" if they are licensed, so the effective limit is zero for anyone driving. This may have been a mis-interpretation, but either way, lots of options in Japan to get home without driving (though that never stopped people from getting DUIs like everywhere).

[HamFisted]

American living in Norway here. The Norwegian system is also incredibly strict, 0.02% BAC limit and fines can vary based not only on the amount of alcohol in your system but also your net worth.

In general, driving offenses are penalized much more harshly than in the States. While I have a Norwegian drivers license, I avoid using it as it's just not worth the stress. (I moved here from the SF Bay Area and old driving habits die hard)

Penalties.jpg

[JMT3]

I agree with lowering the limits and stiffer fines. Too many people kill someone and get away with a slap on the hand where I live. There is not a lot of this going on where I live but the loss of any life due to these issues is very wrong and the offenders should pay for their stupidity. Drunk and distracted drivers has made some of the cycling industry richer to the high sales of radar units. When on a team ride I would say more than 50% of the riders have radar units and the rest 90% has a rear light that flashes.

[vespasianus]

But honestly, in Europe and other parts of the civalized world, all traffic fines are higher. Blowing through a cross walk can result in a heavy fine.

The issue is that the rest of the world seems to have other forms of transportation that works, the USA does not.

[oldpotatoe]

Lived in Japan for 3 years and the OP's post is all well and good. BUT, Japan has an extensive and quite excellent bus, taxi, TRAIN, people mover/public transit system all over Japan.

I get off work and walk to the Pearl St mall, 3 blocks..and proceed to get blasted. Bars close at 2am...I live 5 miles away..How to get home? Uber? Maybe, Taxi? probably not. Bus? nope, Train? pretty funny...so...

It takes 3 DUIs to even be considered an into jail felony.

[verticaldoug]

Originally Posted by herb5998

Doug, this may have changed, but IIRC from when I lived in Japan from 2011-2012, that all drivers are considered "professional" if they are licensed, so the effective limit is zero for anyone driving. This may have been a mis-interpretation, but either way, lots of options in Japan to get home without driving (though that never stopped people from getting DUIs like everywhere).

An ordinary driving license is Class 1. A professional license is Class 2 which means you can commercially carry passengers (taxi, buses etc).

Heavy Vehicle Licenses etc, are slightly different and there can be some confusion regarding these.

About a week ago, there was recently a fatal crash where a truck driver was driving aggressively and drunk where he crossed the median and killed two people. Someone had it all on their dashcam. As a result, traffic enforcement was running spot checks of truckers on the highways.

Companies also have the right to check drivers before their shift and after their shift for BAC.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

Thanks for the information.

What I don't agree with is the fine structure. Poorer people would suffer more because the fines are significantly higher vs. their income. And I'm not saying poor people are more likely to drive drunk. One European country fines proportional to income and I think that's a great idea.

I'm puzzled that with Japan's limits being so low that they can actually determine through observation that someone is under the influence as I'd expect more drivers would be able to pass field sobriety tests. Japan must have different methods used during traffic stops.

As for bicyclists being fined, how can that be if, I assume, most e-bike distracted cyclists would be youths, and it wouldn't be required to have a driver's license to operate an e-bike. Perhaps Japan's licensing laws are different?

I had some young punk pass me on his e-bike, riding AGAINST traffic, GOING UPHILL, while staring at his phone. There should be a law against embarrassing real cyclists by doing those things!

As bad as the US is, Japan is much more of a 'police state', in that there are no 4th amendment, 5th amendment considerations and when I was there, they used this gizmo that looked like a flashlight..breathe at it and it says whether or not you have been drinking. You are NOT going to refuse that. If you do, you are arrested, period.

E-Bikes, with throttles, are motorized scooters, not 'e'bikes'..There are laws against motorized scooters on sidewalks, bike paths, etc..the LEO just don't enforce them. When an 'official's' kid gets wacked riding one of these things, maybe then...

[verticaldoug]

Originally Posted by HamFisted

American living in Norway here. The Norwegian system is also incredibly strict, 0.02% BAC limit and fines can vary based not only on the amount of alcohol in your system but also your net worth.

In general, driving offenses are penalized much more harshly than in the States. While I have a Norwegian drivers license, I avoid using it as it's just not worth the stress. (I moved here from the SF Bay Area and old driving habits die hard)

Attachment 1698087438

If they get smart, they will flag you with insurance since you probably have your car insured under your Norwegian License and are driving on an international one in Norway.

Eventually, there is no free lunch.

[herb5998]

Thanks Doug, that clears it up. I always found driving there and cycling there (I lived on Okinawa) to be very safe, though I avoided the busy parts of Naha, but the rest of the island was easy to ride and access. Only conditions that were sketchy when riding was during rain storms, as the roads were always very slick.

One practice I did find convenient was the driver magnets to designate a new driver, or driver over 80 years of age on the rear of vehicles. It was an extra bit of awareness that could be replicated elsewhere.