Driving In Japan

Driving in Japan

When I took
drivers ed, I took a course based on American driving,
signs, and rules. While this adequately prepared me to drive when I
move back to the states, I am currently learning how to drive in
Japan. Drivers ed is crucial to learning habits to avoid
and how to handle different situations while driving. However,
Japanese driving is highly different from American driving. Based on
the following differences, I believe it is important to push driver’s
safety as much as possible.

Here are some
examples of some of the differences I’ve noticed living in Japan.
To start, the Japanese drive on the left side of the road. In
addition, most of the car’s dials and levers are in Japanese and
the wheel is on the right side of the car. While that’s pretty
obvious, there are still many things that are common in Japan that
you wouldn’t usually see in the states. For example, there are TVs
in most of the cars. While there are TVs in American cars, the TVs in
Japanese cars are on the dash in front of the driver instead of
behind the driver. I’ve noticed that many Japanese drivers text and
drive as well. This creates immediate distractions for the drivers
here. I’ve also noticed that the Japanese don’t use or push the
use of seatbelts as diligently as in the United States. Kids are
often seen standing and playing in the car while their parents are
driving. In the US, wearing seatbelts, not texting and driving, and
just non-distracted driving is highly encouraged from a very young
age. In elementary school, when the fire department visits, they
always talk about making sure you’re wearing your seatbelt.

Educating
properly is an effective way to help keep un-knowledgeable drivers
off the roads. If the Japanese government enforces these things and
educates people on them, the risk of car accidents will be
significantly reduced.