Believe it or not…
We have the best cyclists, because of jail.
The important thing is that the distinction between bikes and motorcycles are a little different in Japan than elsewhere.
Elsewhere, there’s a speed or weight limit, where if the e-bike can travel at greater than that speed without pedaling, it’s classed as a motorbike, otherwise it’s a electrically assisted bicycle and follows bicycle rules.
In Japan, the distinction is if the bike can move at all on its own without human input (i.e. it has a throttle), then it is a moped and classed the same as a motorbike, requiring a licence (a <50cc motorbike or general automobile licence), registration plate, liability insurance, helmet, and a prohibition against drunk and distracted driving (note: now manual bicycles are subject to the same prohibitions as well). The law was clarified this year that for a moped-class e-bike, even if the motor is switched off, is still the same, it doesn’t drop to a bicycle class.
But why?
The point of these laws for cars is that cars can absolutely kill innocent people if the driver is inhibited in some way. The chance that I’ll kill someone else on a bicycle is so remote it’s a rounding error. Oh, and hit and runs aren’t really a thing on bicycles because if I hit someone, I’m going down too and it’ll take some time for me to make a getaway (and I’m not getting away that quickly).
If we jail people for riding drunk, wouldn’t that just encourage them to drive instead? If you’ll go to jail anyway if you’re caught, might as well get home faster, right?
This article lacks some details, but I believe this is largely just treating a bicycle more like any other vehicle. As far as vehicle crimes go here, the existence of jail time as a punishment only exists if you don’t pay the fine, and these new laws just increase the fines.
Anyways, these changes are largely worthless for a couple of reasons. First it’s already a crime to use your phone while riding a bike, or riding drunk, or riding with headphones, but it’s basically totally unenforced. Same thing with riding using an umbrella, but even the police do that here!
As for drunkards getting home from the bar, they wouldn’t have a car available to them generally, so people riding drunk are usually doing so because they missed their last train, and they don’t want to pay for a taxi.
If we jail people for riding drunk
Not sure where you are, but in my state they do.
Waiting for Japan to enforce bike lanes. Cyclist in Japan have had dedicated bike lanes or marked paths on the road for many years but still use the sidewalk even if it causes problems for pedestrians.
I can’t imagine voluntarily using the sidewalk over a bike lane unless there’s something seriously wrong with them
Has something changed recently? When I was in Tokyo, admittedly more than a decade ago now, the bike lanes were tiny slivers of paint. And I do mean a sliver; they were not much wider than a foot. It would be unsafe to use them in traffic.
Nothing has changed recently. Japan has had purpose-built bike lanes for decades. Where bike lanes have not or cannot be inserted, markings instruct cyclists to use the shoulder of an existing road. It depends on where you are.
It’s actually part of Japanese traffic law. Cyclist can use the sidewalk (are required to use the sidewalk) where there are no markings or lanes. But in places where lanes and marking exist, cyclist are required by law to use them.
The problem is those laws are completely unenforced. So I often experience someone buzzing me and my child on the sidewalk even though there’s a completely empty bike lane right next to it.
Interesting! Thanks for the explanation. :)
Cyclist in Japan have had dedicated bike lanes or marked paths on the road for many years but still use the sidewalk even if it causes problems for pedestrians.
I’m speaking a bit out of my field here because I’m not Japanese, but I had the impression that historically, many Japanese cities are much more amenable to share the sidewalk with cyclists (compared to EU/NA), and several of these bike lanes start and end abruptly as part of the sidewalk instead of the road anyway, right? Same goes for pedestrian sharing space with cars and bikes in their narrow streets, sidewalks are almost non-existent because they’re culturally acclimatized to just walking in the street and hop on the sidewalk only if a vehicle needs to pass by.
And by looking at the ridiculously unsafe bike “lanes” they have (almost all are totally unprotected), I’d definitely be on the sidewalk if I lived there too. If you want Japan to enforce bike lanes, you gotta ask Japan to build better bike lanes first 🤷♂️
