TOKYO, Nov. 12, 2023–Baseball, football, soccer, tennis, golf.. Any sport needs regulations and penalties that are written by their sponsors. Without commonly accepted self-governing rules – in a ball game, for example, you’re struck out on the third strike ball and walked with four balls – games cannot be played equitably. Should bicycle riders be ticketed for dangerous riding manners? It’s the issue being debated by Japanese police with hardly any public input, probably making Japan the first country in the world to punish violations.
Japan amended the road traffic law on April 1, 2023 requiring that all bicycle riders wear a safety helmet; observe traffic lights; ride at slow speed on sidewalks; stop at stop signs; and other rules that are comparable to motorcycle rider regulations. The big difference between the two sets of regulations is that bicycle rules do not have penalty provisions, only the slap on the hand to bicycle riders to be careful to avoid the same violations.
Now the National Police Agency is gearing to toughen the bicycle rules by amending the law to add penalties to violations. It is asking its advisory commission to draw up law amendments to be sent to the 2024 regular Diet (parliament) session, possibly for enforcing the ticketing rule from 2025.
Bicycle riders purchase insurance against injuries to pedestrians and properties, yet the number of accidents involving peds has been increasing, to more than 2,900 in 2029 from 2,281 in 2016, according to NPA statistics. The number of ‘red tickets’ police issued for criminal indictment to bikers for reckless, drunken riding and other dangerous behaviors totaled more than 24,500, or approximately three times what it was in 2013. Barely 2 percent of those that were given the red tickets showed up in court.
What’s next after introducing the penalty provision being quietly considered by police is bicycle licensing. Already, Japan’s bike regs are the world’s most stringent, albeit without penalties, but a license to ride a bike? It’s how Japanese bureaucracy invades into what began as a free rider world.
Many Japanese sports world associations’ top officials are deeply connected with the bureaucracy, the most infamous of them is the Japan Olympic Committee. JOC moved billions of taxpayer money to questionable organizations in which ex-government officials serve in various obscure positions.
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