Japan's National Police Agency (NPA) is constructing a bill to punish road rage even heavier. (Image via Japan Guide)

Japan to impose higher road rage fines

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Politics & Economic
News Flash Japan
Dec 08, 2019
3324
As the Japanese are concerned about the increase of high-profile road accidents, Japan’s National Police Agency (NPA) is eyeing to revise the traffic laws regarding the definition of “road rage” and impose a higher fine for the violators.

The NPA stated that a “road rage” will be defined as dangerous driving behavior in the form of aggressive tailgating, sudden braking, or repeated swerving between lanes with the malicious intent of obstructing other drivers.

Speaking in front of the traffic safety panel of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), NPA proposed the idea that the Japanese officers will have the authority to revoke the violators’ driver’s license after one confirmed road rage offense.

Once their driver’s license is revoked, they will be forbidden to take the wheel for a year. For the penalty, the NPA is considering an up to three-year prison term or a fine of up to ¥300,000.

The case is established when evidence in the form of a dashcam record or driver’s testimony is present. To avoid any ambiguity (when a driver accidentally is driving in such an attitude mistaken as “road rage”), the NPA will see whether a driver has done repeated offenses before considering them as a road rage violator.

Forcing other vehicles to stop on an expressway will also be considered road rage. Japan’s Ministry of Justice is also proposing a bill to punish reckless drivers whose abrupt cutting lane tendency forces other vehicles to stop.

Currently, one’s driver’s license may be revoked if he/she is caught drunk-driving or driving with a suspended license, among other offenses. The current penalty is either a three-month prison term or a fine of up to ¥50,000.

The NPA was discussing the detail of the bill with the LDP’s traffic safety panel so that it can be proposed to “The Diet” in 2020.

ISHIBASHI’S ROAD RAGE

The concern began amid the wake of a high-profile traffic accident in June 2017, where a motorist, Kazuho Ishibashi (27), forced a van to stop in a passing lane on Tomei Expressway. A truck then hit the van, killing Yoshihisa Hagiyama (45) and Yuka Hagiyama (39), presumably the parents of the two injured daughters.

The motive was that Ishibashi was offended when Yoshihisa warned him of his reckless parking manners.

The motorist/construction worker then aggressively tailgated the family and forced them to stop in a passing lane in Oi, Kanagawa Prefecture; then, Ishibashi started to assault Yoshihisa, threating to kill him, before a truck hit the car from behind, instantly killing the couple.

The eldest daughter testified that her mother, Yuka, taking the wheel at that time, had been trying to avoid hitting Ishibashi by changing lanes. But, the motorist kept on obstructing the van. Moreover, Ishibashi also violated the 80km/h speed limit by speeding to 118 km/h.

The accused 27-year-old motorist was sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment, fallen two-year short from the proposed prison term at 20 years.

However, on Friday this week, the Tokyo High Court ordered the case and the sentence to be reexamined by the lower court due to the illegal procedural issue, a decision which disappointed the bereaved families, who were frustrated as Ishibashi remained unpunished.

The Tokyo High Court agreed with the Yokohama District Court that Ishibashi was held responsible for the deaths and injuries. However, the procedure required the case to be reheard by the lay judge since a technical issue might have affected the lower court’s ruling.

The district court was said to illegally overturn a view at pre-trial that Ishibashi did not violate the law. Hoping to reduce Ishibashi’s sentence, his lawyer, Takashi Takano, hoped that additional lower court’s sessions would be held to check the truck driver’s accountability.

When the case was exposed to the Japanese people, they began to concern the traffic safety, triggering NPA to immediately revise the traffic law.

Source: https://bit.ly/2s89Vew

Law , Traffic , Regulation , Politics , Automotive , Accident , Road-rage , Asia , Japan , NPA , Police