Opinion: The quirky road rule in Japan confusing Aussie drivers

The tolerances of Japan’s fixed speed cameras are so absurdly generous, they make Australia look like an over-policed driving dystopia.

On a recent trip to Japan, I learned something about their speed cameras that made my jaw drop.

In Japan, speed cameras have a 40km/h tolerance on motorways, and a 30km/h tolerance on urban roads. That means that if you do 119km/h past a speed camera on a Japanese motorway, in an indicated 80km/h speed zone, you can expect no mail from the local authorities.

Of course, we’re not suggesting you try this at home (or on a Japanese freeway). If you’re one of the many Australians visiting Japan on holiday, especially with the dollar fetching 110 Japanese yen, you should respect local road rules, especially speed limits. That’s even if many of the locals may not.

Let me set a scene for you. It’s December last year, and I’m on the Chuo Expressway heading west out of Tokyo. For all intents and purposes, this dual carriageway is so billiard-smooth it makes some parts of the Hume Highway look almost unsealed.

The speed limit is a plodding 80km/h, and I’m in a vehicle capable of 310km/h – the $728,000 Ferrari Purosangue. I’m here as part of the Ferrari Grand Tour Japan (itself a story for another time). And the Purosangue’s 533kW 6.5-litre V12 is almost at stalling revs at 80km/h.

Back home in Australia (I’ve lived in Victoria now for more than 10 years), exceeding the speed limit, especially in an unfamiliar area, causes me such acute anxiety that I never do it. A hidden speed camera may lurk around the next corner.

And so here in the Land of the Rising Sun, I am ambling along at 80km/h in the far left lane, with the fear of death should I exceed the limit by even 2km/h.

I must be missing something, I think to myself. Buses with school kids pasted to the windows pass by, as do Japanese nannas in hatchbacks, but most disconcerting is locking eyes with a middle-aged Japanese man as he slowly overtakes in his 658cc Daihatsu Hijet Kei-class mini-truck.

We pass speed camera after speed camera (you can tell by a specific blue sign with a camera icon), and yet the traffic doesn’t slow. Are they out of order? Do they not work on Tuesdays?

In Victoria, break the speed limit by less than 10km/h, and you’re out-of-pocket $254. Break it by 25km/h or more, and you’re up for not just $560, but three months on a bus. Too bad if you missed the sign letting you know the 100km/h road you drove yesterday is now an 80km/h zone.

But none of that is even a thought in Japan, where the huge tolerances for speed cameras are actually the result of a quirky legal precedent set in 1969, when a court ruled that police can’t film individuals unless a criminal offence is being committed.

This brings us to a catch of sorts. If you are caught doing more than 40km/h over the limit on a motorway, it’s a criminal offence potentially attracting immediate licence suspension and massive fines. If you are doing 50km/h or more over the limit, you could face six months’ imprisonment.

This is what I learned, anyway, from one of our Japanese guides at a rest stop, and armed with this new knowledge, I rejoin the Chuo Expressway – and the V12 Purosangue is much happier matching the traffic. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it’s much safer to match the speed of the other traffic than it is to dawdle along at the actual posted speed limit.

With that all said, the travel advice remains the same: follow the posted speed limits and drive safely, and you’ll be fine. But if you find yourself getting passed by a bloke in a Kei mini-truck, he might just be in on something you aren’t.

Have you ever been caught by a speed camera in Japan or overseas? What did it teach you? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Opinion: The quirky road rule in Japan confusing Aussie drivers appeared first on Drive.