A longer version of my article on road safety in Japan, that appeared in THE JAPAN TIMES, Feb 2017
A really safe Japan
Prime Minister Abe says that he concerned about the safety of Japan in the uncertain and constantly changing flow of international politics. If so then there are three, rather simple, things that he could do that would hugely increase the safety of people in Japan, guaranteed - and with no prospect of war resulting. But he won’t do them, and probably no other government of Japan will do either, for reasons that go right to the heart of modern Japanese society and economy.
The three simple things that could be done are these:
1. Make it illegal and totally unacceptable for cars, taxis and vans to block the pedestrian pavement/sidewalk.
2. Change the road system so that it’s illegal and totally unacceptable for cars to drive through road crossings at the same time as people are crossing.
3. Make an extensive system of bicycles lanes that are actually wide enough to use (meaning for human beings wider than a cat walk model!).
Let’s look at these three. Number 1 is something that happens millions of times everyday, with delivery vehicles, taxi’s and other cars in every town and city across Japan completely blocking the very narrow walking path. This forces people, including infirm old ladies and careless children, to walk on the main car road, often right in the middle of it, putting them in far greater danger of getting hit by the unseen cars rushing towards them from behind. In any well run society, that should be both illegal and totally unacceptable. But in Japan it is accepted. I’ve never once seen anyone complain about it (apart from myself!). And I’ve never once seen the police remonstrate with a driver for it. In fact, I’ve seen it happen right outside a Koban police station, and they did not even notice until I brought it to their attention that people were being forced to walk onto a busy road. It appears to a ‘traffic blind spot’ in Japan, so long the norm that people don't think of it as a problem. But, it is.
What’s the Solution? First the major one: redesign the roads in Japan to make the sidewalk/hodo much wider than they are at present, so that even if a car does park on to it there will still be room to walk past. I’m wondering if the pile of money needed to do that would reach up to Venus or only to the moon. It would be the height of several Mt Fuji’s at least. In any case, we might safely say that this would take about 50 years to complete. And what government appears to be able to think past the next 5 years nowadays?
Ok, so got any other bright ideas? Why, yes, I do: make it compulsory for any new shops and houses built to have an ‘offloading/waiting area’ where such delivery cars and taxis have to go. Again, that would take ‘loads of money’, to coin an 1980s phrase. Although, a lot less than the first solution. Houses are replaced in Japan very often - by comparison to the UK anyway. Where I grew up, in Edinburgh, 90% of the houses are around 100 years old. But in Japan this solution would probably only take about 20 years to become normal and it would be a very large improvement.
Yet, there is an even easier solution: buy small cars. The first thing is that no one, other than those with large families, needs those big ugly four wheel drive cars that are so popular now. Since they are so inconvenient to drive in the narrow roads of Japan, cause obstruction to others where ever they go and definitely where ever they park, are expensive to buy and waste gas/petrol, then how about this: be smart, don’t buy them.
The very small, single seater,electric cars that are just starting to be seen in the last few years will probably become more and more common. When they are the normal type of car we drive the benefits will really be, no exaggeration, life changing. Not only will it solve the sidewalk blocking problem, since they are too small to completely block even the narrow walkways of Japan, they are cheaper (to run I mean - not yet to buy, but they will be), much less noisy, take up less parking space, and pose less of a threat to pedestrians and, therefore, in the end, will be safer for car passengers too. Sounds great, let’s do it! Oh, but macho cars lovers won’t be able to drive around dangerously fast, making lots of noise revving their engines, and showing off to the ladies about the size of their appendage. Yes, they wont... Good!
Ok, next up: Number 2 is something that happens even more often than number 1. Although cars and motorbikes are supposed to let people go through first, it is very common that they push ahead while someone is still on the crossing. Often if the person is only inches away. Thankfully, the majority of drivers are considerate, and do wait until the people crossing are safely out the way. But if only 10% of cars and motorbikes go through in a reckless fashion that still adds us to literally millions of dangerous situations being allowed to happen everyday. Again, in any well run society, anywhere in the world, that should be a totally unacceptable thing.
What’s the Solution? Change the road rules and traffic light functioning so that cars are not allowed to go through when people are crossing AT ALL (as is the road system in other countries already). Again, that would be costly. It would involve reprogramming millions of traffic lights all over Japan. But far less costly than the changes needed for number 1. And remember the aim is: to increase the safety of people in Japan. Isn’t that worth doing? Chances are that it would cost less than a new battleship, and be a lot more useful. Plus it would probably only take about 5 years to do it.
Or, a cheaper version: continue to allow cars and motorbikes to go through but launch a major campaign to make it clear that they absolutely HAVE to wait until all people have walked through, and that severe fines will be given to those that do not wait. And then actually GIVE out those fines! Put it into practice. In a country like Japan were most do follow the set rules, if it became clear that this was the new standard road rule, then within a few years we would see 99% of folk follow it. Result: a massive increase in the safety of the people of Japan. And no constitution needs reframing, no neighbouring countries offended, no increased risk of war. Just a nice safe walk along the road.
Number 3: Make an extensive system of bicycles lanes that are actually wide enough to use. The present bike path system has three problems: 1. its often not there at all. 2. the paths are so tiny that they appear to have been designed for cat walk models. 3. Motorbikes often use them too. Solution: make more bicycles paths, make them wide enough, don't allow motorbikes to use them.
Result of all of the above: a massive increase in the safety of the people of Japan. And no constitution needs reframing, no neighboring countries offended, no increased risk of war. Just a nice safe country for all.
A really safe Japan
Prime Minister Abe says that he concerned about the safety of Japan in the uncertain and constantly changing flow of international politics. If so then there are three, rather simple, things that he could do that would hugely increase the safety of people in Japan, guaranteed - and with no prospect of war resulting. But he won’t do them, and probably no other government of Japan will do either, for reasons that go right to the heart of modern Japanese society and economy.
The three simple things that could be done are these:
1. Make it illegal and totally unacceptable for cars, taxis and vans to block the pedestrian pavement/sidewalk.
2. Change the road system so that it’s illegal and totally unacceptable for cars to drive through road crossings at the same time as people are crossing.
3. Make an extensive system of bicycles lanes that are actually wide enough to use (meaning for human beings wider than a cat walk model!).
Let’s look at these three. Number 1 is something that happens millions of times everyday, with delivery vehicles, taxi’s and other cars in every town and city across Japan completely blocking the very narrow walking path. This forces people, including infirm old ladies and careless children, to walk on the main car road, often right in the middle of it, putting them in far greater danger of getting hit by the unseen cars rushing towards them from behind. In any well run society, that should be both illegal and totally unacceptable. But in Japan it is accepted. I’ve never once seen anyone complain about it (apart from myself!). And I’ve never once seen the police remonstrate with a driver for it. In fact, I’ve seen it happen right outside a Koban police station, and they did not even notice until I brought it to their attention that people were being forced to walk onto a busy road. It appears to a ‘traffic blind spot’ in Japan, so long the norm that people don't think of it as a problem. But, it is.
What’s the Solution? First the major one: redesign the roads in Japan to make the sidewalk/hodo much wider than they are at present, so that even if a car does park on to it there will still be room to walk past. I’m wondering if the pile of money needed to do that would reach up to Venus or only to the moon. It would be the height of several Mt Fuji’s at least. In any case, we might safely say that this would take about 50 years to complete. And what government appears to be able to think past the next 5 years nowadays?
Ok, so got any other bright ideas? Why, yes, I do: make it compulsory for any new shops and houses built to have an ‘offloading/waiting area’ where such delivery cars and taxis have to go. Again, that would take ‘loads of money’, to coin an 1980s phrase. Although, a lot less than the first solution. Houses are replaced in Japan very often - by comparison to the UK anyway. Where I grew up, in Edinburgh, 90% of the houses are around 100 years old. But in Japan this solution would probably only take about 20 years to become normal and it would be a very large improvement.
Yet, there is an even easier solution: buy small cars. The first thing is that no one, other than those with large families, needs those big ugly four wheel drive cars that are so popular now. Since they are so inconvenient to drive in the narrow roads of Japan, cause obstruction to others where ever they go and definitely where ever they park, are expensive to buy and waste gas/petrol, then how about this: be smart, don’t buy them.
The very small, single seater,electric cars that are just starting to be seen in the last few years will probably become more and more common. When they are the normal type of car we drive the benefits will really be, no exaggeration, life changing. Not only will it solve the sidewalk blocking problem, since they are too small to completely block even the narrow walkways of Japan, they are cheaper (to run I mean - not yet to buy, but they will be), much less noisy, take up less parking space, and pose less of a threat to pedestrians and, therefore, in the end, will be safer for car passengers too. Sounds great, let’s do it! Oh, but macho cars lovers won’t be able to drive around dangerously fast, making lots of noise revving their engines, and showing off to the ladies about the size of their appendage. Yes, they wont... Good!
Ok, next up: Number 2 is something that happens even more often than number 1. Although cars and motorbikes are supposed to let people go through first, it is very common that they push ahead while someone is still on the crossing. Often if the person is only inches away. Thankfully, the majority of drivers are considerate, and do wait until the people crossing are safely out the way. But if only 10% of cars and motorbikes go through in a reckless fashion that still adds us to literally millions of dangerous situations being allowed to happen everyday. Again, in any well run society, anywhere in the world, that should be a totally unacceptable thing.
What’s the Solution? Change the road rules and traffic light functioning so that cars are not allowed to go through when people are crossing AT ALL (as is the road system in other countries already). Again, that would be costly. It would involve reprogramming millions of traffic lights all over Japan. But far less costly than the changes needed for number 1. And remember the aim is: to increase the safety of people in Japan. Isn’t that worth doing? Chances are that it would cost less than a new battleship, and be a lot more useful. Plus it would probably only take about 5 years to do it.
Or, a cheaper version: continue to allow cars and motorbikes to go through but launch a major campaign to make it clear that they absolutely HAVE to wait until all people have walked through, and that severe fines will be given to those that do not wait. And then actually GIVE out those fines! Put it into practice. In a country like Japan were most do follow the set rules, if it became clear that this was the new standard road rule, then within a few years we would see 99% of folk follow it. Result: a massive increase in the safety of the people of Japan. And no constitution needs reframing, no neighbouring countries offended, no increased risk of war. Just a nice safe walk along the road.
Number 3: Make an extensive system of bicycles lanes that are actually wide enough to use. The present bike path system has three problems: 1. its often not there at all. 2. the paths are so tiny that they appear to have been designed for cat walk models. 3. Motorbikes often use them too. Solution: make more bicycles paths, make them wide enough, don't allow motorbikes to use them.
Result of all of the above: a massive increase in the safety of the people of Japan. And no constitution needs reframing, no neighboring countries offended, no increased risk of war. Just a nice safe country for all.