Japan's New Bike Rule Is Backfiring Spectacularly
To follow Japan's new bike safety rule, 7 out of 10 drivers now have to break another law.
So, What's The Deal?
A new rule kicked off in April requiring cars to give cyclists “sufficient space” when overtaking. The National Police Agency says that means at least 1 meter.
Sounds simple enough. But an FNN investigation on a typical Tokyo road found that over 72% of cars—58 out of 80 observed—had to illegally cross the solid yellow center line just to give that meter of space.
So basically, a rule designed to increase safety is forcing a massive number of drivers to commit a different traffic violation. You literally can't win.
The Inevitable Chaos
Drivers are now caught in an impossible situation. Either you crawl at 10 km/h behind a wobbly bike on a major road, making everyone late, or you swerve into the oncoming lane and hope for the best.
I've seen it myself. Japanese commenters say local buses are now running 5-10 minutes late on routes that should take 10 minutes to walk. It's messing everything up.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police now says it's “reviewing” whether the yellow lines are “appropriate for the road conditions.” A little late for that, you think?
The Internet Is Not Having It
▲ The biggest point people are making is the hypocrisy. You are legally allowed to cross a solid yellow line to avoid a parked car. But you'll get a ticket for crossing that same line to avoid a human being on a bicycle. The logic just isn't there.
▲ A lot of people are saying the government just rushed this without thinking. Instead of adding more rules, maybe invest in actual road infrastructure and bike lanes on the ridiculously narrow streets we all have to use.
▲ And the most relatable complaint: you finally, carefully, legally overtake a cyclist... only for them to weave past all the stopped cars at the next red light and get right back in front of you. So you have to do the whole stressful maneuver all over again, every two minutes. People are now demanding a ban on cyclist “filtering” if this driving rule is going to stick.