NationStates Jolt Archive

Yesterday I had the ever-so-enjoyable experience of having to renew my Japanese driver license. While sitting and listing to the hour and a half long lecture about road safety that you have to endure to get your new license, I found out that Japan's laws on DUIs have changed.

Previously Japan was a zero tolerance nation with the national BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) set at 0. Pretty much if you drink anything in Japan, you can't drive. Due to some recent high profile DUI deaths involving children however, Japan has up the ante for DUIs.

If you drive with any BAC, the penalty is 25 points off your license (License will be suspended and it'll take 10 years to work that off) and you have the option of paying a 1 million yen ($10,000) fine or spending 5 years in jail.

If you knowingly let someone drive drunk or rent/lend a car to someone who has been drinking, the fine is 500 thousand yen ($5,000) or 3 years in jail.

If you are a passenger with someone who has been drinking, the fine is, again, 500 thousand yen ($5,000) or 3 years in jail.

So, what do you think? Like I said, this is applied with ANY BAC. Is it a good idea or too draconian?

Much too Draconian, but you sure you meant USA dollars and not yen? Because those figures are... well, insane enough to actually be Japanese.

:eek:

...

:eek:


That is harsh. It might be incredibly effective though, I wouldn't even go near alcohol if those were the penalties, should I have a lapse of thought and drive after half a beer.

But this isn't about America, so no one cares anyway. :p

All that for just putting a donut to coffee?

Sorry...couldn't resist.


The any BAC thing is a bit extreme because of things like cough syrup and the like. Punishing the passengers is a unique take, I guess to pressure them into pressuring the driver to just not.

Seems extreme, but then, so is getting killed by a drunk driver, so...I don't know really...

I think 0 is a bit low, you've got to allow for small portions of alcohol to turn up in the system, from food etc, well below enough for an alcoholic drink but a margin of error.

And too harsh with the penalties, a year in jail is what I'd head for, more depending on level of drunkness.

I think it may be a little over the top. We have a limit of 0.05, which seems to be about right. Zero for those on Learner's or Provisional licences, though (which is fair enough - learning AND drunk are a bad combination).

Dunk driving laws :D

That seems a little extreme, but given the higher population density in Japan, it seems like there are some significantly higher risks posed by drunk drivers, so it may have some justification. As severe as the restrictions are, this is one of those situations where I have a hard time justifying anything less than a zero tolerance policy.

Doesn't Japan have good mass transit? Why not just take the bus/tram/taxi home? (I do that all the time...)

No, I mean US dollars. The Japanese figures are 1000000 yen and 50000 yen respectively.

Which comes out to far below $1 million and $500,000.

Edit: Comes out to $8519 and $425.95 respectively.

That is so fucking ridiculous. I'm not for drunk driving, but to punish their passengers is absolutely insane.

That seems a little extreme, but given the higher population density in Japan, it seems like there are some significantly higher risks posed by drunk drivers, so it may have some justification. As severe as the restrictions are, this is one of those situations where I have a hard time justifying anything less than a zero tolerance policy.

Doesn't Japan have good mass transit? Why not just take the bus/tram/taxi home? (I do that all the time...)

Zero tolerance policies for anything are ridiculous. We're humans, we make mistakes sometimes. The law needs to stop always being so goddamn black and white and look at things objectively. I'm sick of badge waving pigs and hypocritical bueracrats taking everything too fucking far.

If you are a passenger with someone who has been drinking, the fine is, again, $500 thousand or 3 years in jail.
That's fucking ridiculous. Good thing Japan has a reliable public transit system.

Much too Draconian, but you sure you meant USA dollars and not yen? Because those figures are... well, insane enough to actually be Japanese.
I take that back, I DID mean yen. Sorry, I haven't been getting much sleep due to a new baby. :P

Figures revised.

Still, I don't care if I'm riding with Drunky McDrunkerton, having to pay $500 or go to jail is fucking retarded for a passenger.

if your not supposed to drink-o-drive why are there pub car parks? ;)

Zero tolerance policies for anything are ridiculous. We're humans, we make mistakes sometimes. The law needs to stop always being so goddamn black and white and look at things objectively. I'm sick of badge waving pigs and hypocritical bueracrats taking everything too fucking far.

The thing is though, this kind of mistake is objective. If someone is killed by a drunk driver, they're dead...they're not coming back and that mistake can't be undone no matter what. Same if they're paralyzed, or even just injured; the ramifications of these actions will always be there even if the person ultimately recovers.

I do believe that the law should definitely be much, much less severe for the lower levels of intoxication, but I have no inherent problem with some kind of penalty for an elevated BAC level. It should be commensurate with the crime; a person drinking a single beer shouldn't lose their license for 10 years, for example.

You should get a politician drunk and driving in Japan, see if they enforce it! :p

The guy who replaced Hirohito is rolling in his grave.

Yesterday I had the ever-so-enjoyable experience of having to renew my Japanese driver license. While sitting and listing to the hour and a half long lecture about road safety that you have to endure to get your new license, I found out that Japan's laws on DUIs have changed.

Previously Japan was a zero tolerance nation with the national BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) set at 0. Pretty much if you drink anything in Japan, you can't drive. Due to some recent high profile DUI deaths involving children however, Japan has up the ante for DUIs.

If you drive with any BAC, the penalty is 25 points off your license (License will be suspended and it'll take 10 years to work that off) and you have the option of paying a 1 million yen ($10,000) fine or spending 5 years in jail.

If you knowingly let someone drive drunk or rent/lend a car to someone who has been drinking, the fine is 500 thousand yen ($5,000) or 3 years in jail.

If you are a passenger with someone who has been drinking, the fine is, again, 500 thousand yen ($5,000) or 3 years in jail.

So, what do you think? Like I said, this is applied with ANY BAC. Is it a good idea or too draconian?

Good! I'm glad to see some sort of stand against drunk driving. The laws over here in America are just too lax with people going to jail for days and months and sometimes just a few years for DWI or DUI related homicides. They should consider any crime committed while DWI or DUI to be one degree higher than what it would be normally. This way if you drive drunk and kill someone it isn't involuntary manslaughter, it's first degree homicide! One fool in New York here got 18 years for this: drove the wrong way down a highway, hit a limo killing {decapitating} a little 7 year old flower girl and the limo driver, then tried to corrupt the DNA test because he knew he would get in trouble. Throughout the whole trial, no remorse whatsoever. They should have just ran over him with a steamroller rather than let this slim ball live. By the way, the only way to go the wrong way on the Meadowbrook Parkway is to get on the wrong way. FYI his BAC was 0.28.

*does a drive-by title edit* :sniper:






Holy cow, I used the sniper smiley. It's the end days.

Yes, because killing the murderer is REALLY going to bring the flower girl back to life... :headbang:

Yes, because killing the murderer is REALLY going to bring the flower girl back to life... :headbang:

Wait.. what? Did I miss something here? Who is getting married?

How does 5 years in prison equate to $500? That's way too many years in prison, I mean, if you're going to make a no tolerance policy, some of it has to make sense (seeing as the no tolerance part doesn't).

The guy who replaced Hirohito is rolling in his grave.
Uh... why would the Emperor be rolling in his grave given he is very much alive right now? :confused:

Yes, because killing the murderer is REALLY going to bring the flower girl back to life... :headbang:
But we would have one less remorseless bastard crowding prison and isn't that what really matters?

You should get a politician drunk and driving in Japan, see if they enforce it! :p
Actually... this is where the law change comes from. One of those DUIs was a local politican.

:sniper:

http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~bites/omg.jpg

*bans*

But we would have one less remorseless bastard crowding prison and isn't that what really matters?

there are some very large assumptions being made isn't there now

one is who's to say this guy isn't very space kind and much prefers standing in the corner all day

I meant "head of state" replacement, but fine.

Gunpei Yokoi is rolling in his grave right now.

I take that back, I DID mean yen. Sorry, I haven't been getting much sleep due to a new baby. :P

That's what all the breeders blame. Get a new shtick!

So, what do you think? Like I said, this is applied with ANY BAC. Is it a good idea or too draconian?

Alcohol-related: 16,885
Cell phones: ~2,600
Older drivers: 6,512
Drugs: ~8,400

Alcohol isn't the only thing out there. But this just goes too far. What if I had a cold and I was taking cough syrup? Some cough syrups are 10 percent alcohol. Or alcohol in food? That's just ridiculous.

Here's my utopia: A DUI would constitute a BAC of .10 or higher if over 21, or .05 and up from 18-21. (I would make drinking 18). Fact of the matter is, the worst drivers aren't at .10, they are much higher than that. Penalty for DUI would be overnight in jail plus say, a $500 fine and loss of license for six months. At least for first time offenders. Penalties go steeply up for repeat offenses. Second offense: no license for two years. Third offense: a year in jail.

Yesterday I had the ever-so-enjoyable experience of having to renew my Japanese driver license. While sitting and listing to the hour and a half long lecture about road safety that you have to endure to get your new license, I found out that Japan's laws on DUIs have changed.

Previously Japan was a zero tolerance nation with the national BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) set at 0. Pretty much if you drink anything in Japan, you can't drive. Due to some recent high profile DUI deaths involving children however, Japan has up the ante for DUIs.

If you drive with any BAC, the penalty is 25 points off your license (License will be suspended and it'll take 10 years to work that off) and you have the option of paying a 1 million yen ($10,000) fine or spending 5 years in jail.

If you knowingly let someone drive drunk or rent/lend a car to someone who has been drinking, the fine is 500 thousand yen ($5,000) or 3 years in jail.

If you are a passenger with someone who has been drinking, the fine is, again, 500 thousand yen ($5,000) or 3 years in jail.

So, what do you think? Like I said, this is applied with ANY BAC. Is it a good idea or too draconian?

That's a wonderful idea. I wish the US wasn't so horribly leniant towards assholes who drink and drive.

If it was up to me, people would be executed for such offenses.

Still, I don't care if I'm riding with Drunky McDrunkerton, having to pay $500 or go to jail is fucking retarded for a passenger.

I agree ... add to that that they probably are not going to care if you as a passenger are also drunk it makes things pretty unreasonable. I mean if I am plowed there is no way I will be able to tell if my driver is at .02

Hell if I was completely sober if a friend came over and we were going out there is NO WAY I would be able to tell if he was at like .01 or .02. How the fuck can they hold me responsible for something that I have no way to know for sure.

Actually... this is where the law change comes from. One of those DUIs was a local politican.

Really :p
He didn't get a little slap saying "Naughty naughty"?

Alcohol isn't the only thing out there. But this just goes too far. What if I had a cold and I was taking cough syrup? Some cough syrups are 10 percent alcohol. Or alcohol in food? That's just ridiculous..


So don't swerve and don't speed and there will be no reason for a cop to pull you over and to issue you a sobriety test. Unless the cop is really that bored (Which I won't deny cops get bored and pull people over for no reason)

This will be interesting, I wonder if the drunk men will be forced allow their wives or female partners to drive them home?

Having a parent who was hit and almost killed by a drunk driver makes me biased I'm sure but I personally say fuck the drunks who decide to drive. Those sound like some great punishments to me. We need that here in the US. It'll keep the assholes off the road.

Having a parent who was hit and almost killed by a drunk driver makes me biased I'm sure but I personally say fuck the drunks who decide to drive. Those sound like some great punishments to me. We need that here in the US. It'll keep the assholes off the road.

Or out of the passenger seat ... who the fuck needs to carpool if the person you are going with could register at ALL and you could get your ass handed to you for not realizing they had one beer before heading out.

So don't swerve and don't speed and there will be no reason for a cop to pull you over and to issue you a sobriety test. Unless the cop is really that bored (Which I won't deny cops get bored and pull people over for no reason)

Small town cops have nothing else to do. Period. I once got busted for taking a leak in a dumpster, $75 ticket right then and there.

Gee, at least I had the decency to put it with the rest of the garbage unlike the drunks who would just let fly anywhere...

Or out of the passenger seat ... who the fuck needs to carpool if the person you are going with could register at ALL and you could get your ass handed to you for not realizing they had one beer before heading out.
The idea being riding with someone whom you know has been drinking.

Of course proving knowledge or lack thereof is rather hard.

So, what would happen if the passengers were children? Fine them too?

Yesterday I had the ever-so-enjoyable experience of having to renew my Japanese driver license. While sitting and listing to the hour and a half long lecture about road safety that you have to endure to get your new license, I found out that Japan's laws on DUIs have changed.

Previously Japan was a zero tolerance nation with the national BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) set at 0. Pretty much if you drink anything in Japan, you can't drive. Due to some recent high profile DUI deaths involving children however, Japan has up the ante for DUIs.

If you drive with any BAC, the penalty is 25 points off your license (License will be suspended and it'll take 10 years to work that off) and you have the option of paying a 1 million yen ($10,000) fine or spending 5 years in jail.

If you knowingly let someone drive drunk or rent/lend a car to someone who has been drinking, the fine is 500 thousand yen ($5,000) or 3 years in jail.

If you are a passenger with someone who has been drinking, the fine is, again, 500 thousand yen ($5,000) or 3 years in jail.

So, what do you think? Like I said, this is applied with ANY BAC. Is it a good idea or too draconian?


Yay now that is good. If you are subject to any substance that changes the way you see things, or effects your reactions, then being barred from climbing into a 2 ton machine capable of causing serious injury or death seems very, very sensible to me.

So, what would happen if the passengers were children? Fine them too?
Good question. I think not as Japanese criminal code can only be applied to minors in case of a serious crime (Murder) and DUI is not considered such.

This is only vaguely related (on the topic, I think the penalties are overly harsh, it would make more sense to simply make the punishments for hurting someone while DUI more inline with other cases of gross wilful negligence leading to death etc), but I've always wondered: there are places in Japan where the street racing scene is still around (not as much as it used to be (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_Night_Club), but you get the idea).

Does the police actually bother breaking up touge and drift racing on empty mountain roads?

Does the police actually bother breaking up touge and drift racing on empty mountain roads?
Only if someone gets hurt or someone complains. Police action is Japan is almost always based upon reaction to something.

Only if someone gets hurt or someone complains. Police action is Japan is almost always based upon reaction to something.
That's a good system. One of these days I'm gonna build myself a road-legal Porsche 956 and turn up at one of those mountains in the middle of the night. See what they say. :p

That's a good system. One of these days I'm gonna build myself a road-legal Porsche 956 and turn up at one of those mountains in the middle of the night. See what they say. :p
Oh, that's easy. It'd be: "ああ外人だ！　ま英語分からないよ！ I no English speak!" ;)

Someone probably mentioned this, but you'd have to be far too careful with your meals.

Anything cooked with alcohol should have no alcohol (boils off), so beer batter fish/chips would be ok, and those nice desserts COOKED in alcohol, but anything with alcohol ON IT could have you in jail for 5 years.

Also, vinegar. Vinegar contains alcohol (I've heard it can even be .5%) it may, just may, show up in a test if you had enough. Would be hard though as this is BAC, and after breathalysing you, they take you to hte station, and let you wait about an hour before blood test, so it should be gone by then.


I wouldn't risk it.