How much attention do you think drivers in Japan pay to child safety seats or making sure their kids wear seat belts when they are in cars?
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0
masterkun05
Absolutely zero. The kids are almost never restrained. They sit on mums lap while she is driving, they sit on grandmas lap,they sit on the dashboard under the front window. Everywhere in fact except in a seat properly restrained. All of this I might add while mummy is doing her makeup with one hand and holding the mobile phone with the other. We go out with my little boy and two sets of cousins on occassion and none of the children wear restraints. Even my wife says not to bother restraining our son. Coming from Australia which is obssessed with road safety its second nature to restrain everything inside the car..........even humans.lol. Not sure exactly what they are thinking here.
0
Maria
Certainly not enough. It should be enforced by the law.
0
NuckinFutz
I have two young children so I spend alot of time taking them back and forth to daycare five days a week. What I see horrifies me! I would say only about 10% of parents in Japan use child safety seats and then only for infants (who would otherwise roll off the seat.) Everyday the norm is kids standing in the front seat, jumping around in the back, and even laying on the wide dashboards of the vans right in front of the stupid mothers behind the wheel!
Police enforcement is zero until an accident happens. Last month a car in front of me got pulled over in one of the local keystone cops seatbelt "campaigns" and there were two toddlers jumping in the front passenger seat (but the driver was wearing her seatbelt) and the keystones waved her through without hesitation!
Another factor is what appears to be the high cost of child seats in Japan. In the USA and other countries the prices are much lower for good quality seats; here in Japan a good car seat can set you back 15 to 20,000 Yen or more! There are great bargains on safety seats in the recycling shops and I do see (the smart 10%) buying them up!
I really wish the J-government would put more emphasis on child safety, and not only in cars! educational campaigns can only go so far. How about vouchers for free car safety seats to those on limited incomes? Want to enroll you little ones in daycare? Show that you have the required seats in your car first! Keystones, ticket drivers not using car seats and then hand them a voucher for a free car seat (then inspect a few days later to make sure they comply!)
Do something people! Children are dying because of parent's stupidity!
0
Disillusioned
How much? What sort of scale should be used to measure this? I would estimate about 20% of drivers have enough common sense to properly restrain kids in cars. Although, I have seen many cars with baby seats mounted in the front seat right in front of the airbag, which of course is more deadly than not actually being restrained. While the rest should be sent to prison for negligence. Sadly, I really don't think it is neglect. I think it is just poorly educated and pig headed idiots that drive around with their kids on their lap, jumping around in the back seat, faces planted on the windscreens and leave the kids in the car while they go shopping. Of course, I have heard the argument, "We used to do it", but "used to" is the key phrase in that statement.
0
Hoolie
Not sure where you're living, Masterkun, but my experience has generally been the opposite.
My child has never ridden in a car without being in a proper safety seat, his Japanese mother will not take cabs with him because the cabs don't have safety seats, and the seat that we use in our own vehicle was a birth gift from his Japanese grandparents.
Every person in my (Tokyo) condo's parking facility uses child seats, though one woman initially had her infant seat in the front passenger seat where the airbags are a hazard for the kid - other neighbours put her to rights and the seat was moved to the back within a few days.
What I don't see used properly in my neighbourhood are booster seats - the kids who have outgrown child seats (over 17kg) still should be using a booster until they are over 140cm tall.
I do see unrestrained kids in vehicles on the road quite frequently, however, the worst case being a sunroofed minivan with Tokorozawa plates where the kids were not only unrestrained, they were standing on the middle bench seat and poking heads and shoulders out through the sunroof while the vehicle was in motion.
For the most part, when I see unrestrained kids, the vehicle usually has countryside plates... Yamato, Kasukabe and the like.
Maria, it is required by law as of a few years ago, and if you have an unrestrained kid or a child not in a proper safety seat when you roll up on a seatbelt check or are pulled over for something else, you'll get a point on your license for each unrestrained kid (and adult!) or smaller child not in a safety seat, and at 6 points your license is suspended. I've seen traffic cops loudly berating parents for not using them as well.
0
whiskeysour
From what I saw Tochigi and saitama are notorious for idiot mothers.
Just imagine a big white van, with 7-8 seats in the rear of the van. Now just imagine seeing a baby siting down on the mother`s lap while she is in a narrow street driving and dodging cars at 45kph.
My advice: If Daiki kun// Makiko chan doesn't want to stay in the child seat or move around crazy. At home train the baby to sit in the car seat in the livingroom. Give them toys or something shiny or cool.
Train them in the house, put them in the child seat train the kid to chill out in the living room than after awhile daiki/makiko is ok. He/she shouldn't act up when in the car.
Also cleaning up the car is a good idea to. When the car has to emergency stop or is hit by another car. Sembay snack, toys and etc can be missle hazards in the car.
0
limboinjapan
@masterkun05;at 07:44 AM JST - 22nd December
You wrote much of what I was going to say!
But I have been here a long time and when my children were younger and needed a child seat I found some and I FORCED my wife and her mother to use them even if I was not there.
It was simple refused to let my wife use the car with the children if she did not use the child seats and did the same with the in-laws.
Had huge fights with the mother in-law who claimed the the children were safer in her arms because she would not let go.
My pigheadedness paid off when one late night my father-in-law crashed his car while driving to their home form Tokyo with the children for the winter break, both children were in their child seats and unharmed as for the mother-in-law despite having her seatbelt on but loose as usual she was hospitalized since that point she has now realized there would have been no way that she could have held on to one child let alone 2 and is now a champion of safety seats pushing other family members to use them.
Put you foot down he is your child too and your responsibility make your wife and in-laws follow the few laws there are on this.
0
illsayit
Go Japan! Stay tough on this one, enjoy your car ride. It is lifestyle, and has not much to do with safety. Some want to say it is dangerous to not have a -what they call- a safety seat. Raving on about car-seats for a distance travelled of less than 2kilometres to your local school, and with road speeds set at 40k, the lifestyle is a lot slower than western styled lifestyles. Im not saying accidents dont happen, though it is rare at this sort of pace, and even with one-laned roads. Car seats are just a ploy to keep you spending-they always update the seats to a new style because the older style was deemed in-efficient. So like what! Youve been using a seat that really wasnt what it was meant to be in the first place....Japan needs to stay tough on this one, so those lucid building companies dont take-over with their type of lifestyle -Australia on the otherhand needs more delivery services :) Doesnt it highlight that Japan is good at stipulating a child is the parents' responsibility. I think this is a positive aspect of Japan. I think the drivers pay attention to their child. How much attention are you gaijins paying to the road and Your car when youre looking at everybody else, huh. Figure since your kids are strapped in you can just follow the road rules and you'll be right. No room to allow the old lady walking along the road; and would make you in your car slow down and go around her, maybe even having to wait for on-coming traffic coming the other way to pass first, and then going around the walking pedestrian, or would you follow the road rules and wipe her out cause she isnt following the rules, just using the road. Or maybe a better word would be path. Id say those hooting the child seat wagon are the ones with blinders on.
0
Disillusioned
You said it alright! Have you ever seen cars adhering to the speed limits? Have you ever seen a kid's head go through a windscreen? Do you have your own kids? I think not.
0
ebisen
absolutely zero. My Japanese wife though will not even take a cab, or accept a ride in a friend's car without a baby seat...Working in automotive, I know that even at 30km/h an accident can easily get fatal for a baby held in arms...
Japan is a third world country from this point of view, with no driving safety culture and uneducated people.
What irks me most and the egoistic parents (mostly housewifes), driving with seatbelts on and babies playing between the seats... the idiots survive small crashes while their children are killed (or mutilated)...
0
limboinjapan
illsayit at 08:50 AM JST - 22nd December
Do read what I wrote about my Japanese in-laws and my children's experience at 08:24 AM JST - 22nd December, then rethink you little rant.
I have seen to many victims of car accidents as a Paramedic back home including one where the mother stepped on the gas thinking the car was in reverse when it was in drive lunged forward about 2 orb 3 metres into a wall, her child was not in his seat went flying into the windshield and was killed instantly. (she said "we were just going 3 blocks to the daycare so I didn't think of tying him in").
It not just the "gaijin" on JT who are saying this it is also the LAW in Japan so what you seem to be saying is that either the Japanese government safety experts are idiot or that it is somehow the "gaijins" pushing the Japanese government!
0
illsayit
Scare tactics anyone? Exactly I said it. When the roads are widened the pace goes up because of traffic passing through the community. It really is to do more with urban issues and population distribution-so are you talking about a community of Japan or business based lifestyle roads? Otherwise you dont scare me. Though I wont drop as low to call everyone an idiot, the roughed out percentage of sensible drivers could be true-but has zilch to do with carseats. Sensibility is arbitrary wherever you are and whatever youre doing, and really you just have everybody pointing fingers at everybody else.
0
ExportExpert
Zilch, zero, none, niet!!
0
cleo
I really don't know where illsayit is coming from. Not long ago I saw a small family car containing a Mum with a toddler and a baby, travelling within the speed limit on a country-town road, get hit by another car coming out of a side-street. The family car did a somersault and skidded across the road on its side. Both kids, being properly strapped in, were unharmed apart from a slight bump on the head the little boy got in his hurry to get out of the car after the accident. Mum had a slight cut on her arm, nothing serious. Unstrapped, everyone in that car would have been mincemeat.
It doesn't matter if the kids whine and moan about being strapped in. It doesn't matter if the law demands it or not. Do it because it will help keep your kids safe.
0
fishy
for people who say that Japanese parents pay ZERO attention to child safety seats and etc -- I would like to say... I, too, see many people installing car seats on the passenger seat, I, too, see kids not wearing seat belts, and it makes me really worry, but like some posters said, there are also many Japanese parents who make sure that their kids are safe in the car and wear seat belts, do not ride in friends' car if car seat isn't installed and etc.. so saying all Japanese parents don't care about child safety is too much.. because it is simply not true.
the problem is that the concept of installing car seat in your car is pretty recently introduced.. When I was a child, I had never sat in a car seat and I had never even seen a car seat. I think I was already a teenager when I first even heard of a car seat. So, a lot of older people don't really have the concept of putting a child in a car seat. It is the government's job to educate those people and making sure that the police officers check to see if there are car seats installed in people's car while they are on the road, and make sure that they give out tickets when they find a car with kids inside and no car seats for them.
0
combinibento
Can only speak from personal experience but my wife's parents certainly didn't take childseats/seatbelts serious whenever we went driving together. I assume most Japanese are like them.
0
fishy
Illsayit-
It's funny that I still remember you saying you refuse to wear a seatbelt yourself.. that was a very long ago but I think it was you.. I wouldn't be surprised you say all you've said on this thread because you are a firm believer of not wearing seatbelt yourself.
0
koriyamaboy
Shockingly little. I teach a lot of little kids and when they are picked up not one of them gets into a child seat when they leave. And these are the mothers with a brain! Imagine the Yankee types. I actually saw a kid, not too long ago, bouncing on the front passenger seat holding a screwdriver (not the drink everyone. ha!ha!) Mother had her cell in one hand and a smoke in the other. Japan is pathetic on child safety.
0
Takuma7
About 5% here on Okinawa!
0
porter
More and more recently but still not much. I take lots of taxi rides with my kids but I have to admitt that buckling them up barely happens. If it was my car, I'd have them all locked down though. On the public bus there is no seat belt....
0
yasukuni
Okay, some people are good with seat belts but most aren't. To be fair, japan is where some western countries were decades ago. There was a time back in the day when I was a kid when there weren't baby seats, and kids sat in the back, or the very back of a station wagon. And most of us got through unscathed. Most of the Japanese kids who sit on their mother's laps while driving in Japan will be okay too. What people need to learn is that somewhere someday doing something unwise will lead to unnecessary loss of life or limb, and the accompanying sorrow. It's like a lot of precautions in life. 99% of the time you might be okay. But it's the crazy, unexpected "who would have thought that would happen?" moments that change people's lives. And they could have been avoided for a few bucks or minutes of time.
My kids were the type that could cry literally for an hour at being in a baby seat. But as I told my wife -let them cry. Even if it takes a you a week of having to wear earmuffs, they will get used to it. And that's what happened. But if I would have given in, my wife and mother-in-law would still be thinking it was showing more love to hold a baby/infant in the backseat on the freeway, than letting it cry.
Yes, many Japanese are okay. But on the other hand, there are many people (probably both japanese and foreign) who have a literal battle to get their spouses to comply with the law. And the hardest thing is when you get the in-laws against you, so then you are looked at as someone is arguing against decades of experience, the Japanese way, and "common sense". But kids get used to anything. One day the thing they hate will become their ritual which they guard with their life.
`limboinjapan - scary story, but another one that I will be able to tell the family just in case they relapse....
What they need here is the same solution for everything. People need to talk about it on TV. TV is the great educator. You can say something for years and be ignored, but if someone who is an "expert" says it's so on Mino Monta or a quiz show, it becomes gospel.
0
illsayit
Yes well if I dont think my kids should, I also dont think parents who drive them should either. Its like saying in your housing regualtions, you have to have a door, or stairways a certain size. Its my private space, and I dont think the police or the government should step in. I think the Japanese government strongly believes this too. The hardest thing at this point is that of 2 lifestyles melding into one. Both parties need to be aware of their environment and not get too stubborn about their ideals. But while there is so musch dissent towards other parents, I believe my opinion has a place.
0
koriyamaboy
These seats, when properly installed, have been proven to help protect children.(as have seatbelts, airbags and safety glass) So I don`t really think opinion is being asked for here. what is being asked is if Japanese people are doing a good job using these devices. It does not matter what your Uncle John did in 1965 or if people obey speed limits. The question is are people making their kids use child seats. I think the answer (at least where I live) is clearly no.
0
Takuma7
I cannot believe the lack of common sense in some of these posts. We’re in the 21st century seatbelts and car seats are a must law or no law it’s just common sense. They save lives .
0
fishy
illsayit-
Sure it is our private space, but isn't it the parents' responsibility to ensure that the kids are safe in your private space? And I don't think the government of Japan believes they should not step in someone's space, IT IS A FACT that the government of Japan strongly recommend people to install car seats when having children/babies and the law requires it (although the police doesn't do a very good job of making sure they give tickets to people who don't use car seats). The important thing is to educate people and let people know why it is important to have your child in a car seat -- I personally think it would be nice if every kindergarten/hoikuen talked to parents of the kids about the car seat and safety rules while driving with kids.
Kids not sitting in a car seat, not wearing a seat belt can be very dangerous to the kids, but it is also dangerous to everyone else including a driver. If my kids were jumping around in my car while driving, I would be really distracted. I can keep driving with my little one is screaming to get out of the car seat but I CANNOT keep driving IF my little one jumped out and started playing around.
0
Maria
@Hoolie -
I know. But not enforced, which I italicised in my earlier post. No point have a law if the copperes ignore people breaking it, as posters above testify.
0
yokomoc
My apartment's my private space as well but if I was juggling knives in my kids playroom and the neighbours found out, I expect the cops might have something to say. This is pure and simply about saving children's lives, how can you possibly be against that? What's wrong with you?
0
elbudamexicano
Most Japanese are CLUELESS when it comes to the safety of their kids while driving!!! I have a friend Chinese, also clueless, his Japanese wife, ditto! They drive around town in a little crappy K car, never check if their kid is using the seat belt or not, never make sure the doors are locked etc...JUST ONE ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN!
0
elbudamexicano
Japanese police should be enforcing these laws!
0
papasmurfinjapan
I think everyone else has pretty much summed up the general state of child safety in vehicles - pretty poor.
Who is to blame? Sure we blame the cops who don't enforce their own laws, but the most blame has to lie with the parents. You don't need to take a special course in car safety to know that children should be restrained in child seats when the car is moving. It is common sense - unfortunately something many parents lack.
0
Youdontknow
I never drive anywhere until ALL passengers are wearing seat belts, whether they like it or not!
illsayit - idiots like you don't deserve to have kids or be on the roads for that matter! It's people like you that are the reason why insurance costs are so high and why parents who lose a kid because said kid went flying through the car at 80mph, blame everyone but themselves! Grow some common sense and until you do, stay off the roads and keep your kids out of your car! If you can't follow rules and regulations that are in place for your own safety, as well as that of your passengers and other road users, then you don't deserve to have the privilege of driving like the rest of us. And no, sorry, your opinion does NOT have a place - chiefly because it lacks the common sense you were born with!
0
Youdontknow
The 'most' blame? No, the 100% blame is more accurate!
0
dolphingirl
Japan is quite behind in seat belt safety. It only became mandatory for backseat passengers to buckle up in 2008! Most people wear them on the highway but few bother on local roads. So it's not that surprising that some parents don't make sure that their kids are wearing their seat belts and probably even more don't use child safety seats yet. Definitely needs to be more awareness on this issue. Seat belts save lives!
0
ambrosia
Illsayit: Personally, if you have no concern for your own safety, I don't care. What I do care about though is my safety. Were you to be driving behind me while not wearing a seatbelt and were you to get hit from behind, the odds of you maintaining control of your car and not ramming into mine are going to drastically decrease if you head is through your windshield. Not to mention how hard it's going to be for you to help your kids, or heaven forbid, find them if they've been thrown from the car. Add to that, the cost. Even if you have insurance, the cost isn't your burden alone, it's shared by all tax payers. That includes the costs of any emergency services that were called to help you. Keep stomping your feet and whining that it's your private space, whatever that means, but your children are not your private possessions to do with as you please and the roads are not yours alone.
0
fishy
dolphingirl-
That's exactly my point, too!! Japanese people need to be more aware as it is relatively NEW to Japan/Japanese. They're not trying to put their kids in danger on purpose, many people are just NOT aware, and while some people say it is common sense (yes, it actually IS common sense, but when older people even didn't know what car seat was or had never used it before, it is not so surprising why they don't use them), so it'd be nice to see J-government to REALLY try to educate its citizens and make sure that everyone is aware of the safety issues and what child car seat CAN do to protect our own children!!
0
papasmurfinjapan
As a parent I find this hard to believe though. Can Japanese parents really be that stupid???
But yes, I agree, there should be some sort of education through commercials or oyako clubs or whatever, including strict enforcement with FINES by police. I guarantee once the cops start pulling over mums and fining them 7000 yen for not restraining their children properly, you'll see every child strapped down so tight they can't move a muscle.
0
fishy
Agree.. Actually, when you renew your driver's license (if you don't have a gold license), I thought you'd have to see a safety video and that actually include a video of car seat and seat belt safety.. My license has a blue line on it :( and I had to see the safety video...
and they DO actually give out tickets if you are not wearing a seat belt and you are also supposed to get a ticket if your small child isn't in a car seat. The problem is ---- POLICE OFFICERS DO NOT STOP THEM TO GIVE TICKETS --- Instead of stopping bicycles, they should stop more CARS randomely to inspect to see whether there are kids in the car and whether car seats are installed and etc..
I would love to see police officers stopping cars with kids to ensure the safety of the kids (and the driver), and No, not 7000yen, I'd personally think it is an EXCELLENT idea to fine people who don't put their kids in a car seat like 20,000yen per child/baby or could be more.. I would like to see the current government suggest THAT and see how people would react to it.
Educate people and then fine/punish them if they can't follow the rule. Number of drunk drivers have significantly dropped once the J-government decided to give them more strict punishment (more money from them), so why not give people more strict punishment if they can't put kids in car seat??
Someone mentioned the price of car seat... but actually, if you bring the receipt to your local ward/city office, you can get some of the money reinbursed. so.. J-government IS doing something to help people make sure their kids are safe, but THEY NEED TO DO MORE!!
0
ambrosia
Papasmurf: They should be made to watch that scene in Fearless where Jeff Bridges' character is trying to show Rosie Perez's character how she could never have maintained her grip on her child during the plane crash. He has her grip a tool box which is about the same size and weight as her child while he drives the car really fast towards a brick wall. She's terrified, of course, and when he slams on the brakes, the toolbox goes flying through the windshield, proving his point. Of course a tool box is not a child but the laws of physics remain the same. A body in motion will stay in motion until it meets an equal or greater force to stop it. So, in a car crash that force is either a seatbelt or the windshield.
0
iceshoecream
I don't like to generalize but let's say like 0%!! Or at least that's what parents with one hand on the wheel and the other one holding a baby make me think.
0
limboinjapan
illsayit: " Its like saying in your housing regualtions, you have to have a door, or stairways a certain size. Its my private space, and I dont think the police or the government should step in."
You equate your "personal space"in a very strange way.
Well you should read your lease which in Japan have regulation limiting what you do and even how many people can live in said apartment, also the government does regulate safety in the construction of home and building every thing from door size to earthquake standards, not to mention condo regulations.
As for your speeding remark and old ladies I think I gave a good example of a slow crash due to error that resulted in the death of a child and I can give plenty more, but I will just give you one from Japan.
Several years ago in my neighborhood on a small street at a slow speed an unrestrained child opened the door of her mothers moving car fell out and was run over by the back wheels of her mothers car, this happened at perhaps 10 k/hr (the street is to harrow to go much faster than perhaps 20K/hr and even then risky) the girl luckily did not die but she is a paraplegic today, and no I'm not making this up her elder sister is a classmate of my son, so I know the story and family well.
It is also quite hypocritical of you on you "personal space" that you talk about speed limits (something the government imposes) as acceptable (I'm guessing you do because you mentioned it often) but that seatbelts and child seats are interference. you seem to pick and chose what regulations you like and disregard the rest as "personal space".
The facts are that seatbelts and child seats are the law the same as speed limits and if you think so strongly about enforcing or keeping to the speed limit then you should follow the law on the rest and wear your seatbelt and have children in safety seats and booster seat as the law requires in JAPAN.
0
sakurala
I know that all children aren't the same but I think one's that aren't strapped in sometimes bounce around a little too much. Now this, I do think is a safety hazard to everyone ... the kid could easily knock the drivers arm or steering wheel.
0
Tahoochi
Why ask questions you already know the answer to?
0
Disillusioned
Ah, there it is! I was waiting for someone to post this comment. There is one in every crowd. I suppose the fact that 'back then' cars didn't go from 0-60 in under 6 seconds is irrelevant and the fact there are possibly 20 times more cars on the road these days is irrelevant too. - Saw one this afternoon. An idiot (I won't say human) had her 2y/o son placed in his car seat in the front seat right in front of the airbag in her shiny new black SUV and the kid was not strapped in. He was standing on the seat leaning up against the windscreen as she was screaming down the road at around 80kph in a 40k zone. Just idiots!
0
cleo
Those who didn't, of course, cannot avail themselves of the opportunity that JT offers to tell their tale. Dead fingers don't bash keyboards.
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IfeelImust
Well my kids are always in car seats! I would not even start the car unless everyone was strapped in. Unfortunately I see kids in cars every time I go out not restrained, no excuse! The baby won't wear it the toddler gets out, yup heard them all and there all nonsense! Police please enforce the law or kids will die!
0
Mittsu
Not much.
0
Pukey2
I've seen drivers (eg mothers) who let their children (including babies) sit on their laps while they're driving. Unbelievable! I've seen kids' and dogs' heads sticking out of windows when the cars are doing over 40mph. Not kawaii, but more like abunai! Frankly, I don't care whether these 'adults' kill themselves, but leave everyone else out of it, including the children.
0
Antonios_M
It depends. Comparing on what??? I think most of the comments here come from Western European/Australian/ American/ Canadian people who compare the situation in Japan with the one back home. Well, having travelled in many countries abroad because of my job, i can say that although many Japanese drivers don't pay too much attention to child safety seats, still many of them DO pay attention. Its a 50-50 situation, depending on where they live (countryside vs big cities), personality, and so on. Still, Japan is centuries ahead on driving safely (even though i almost had an accident driving to Osaka) comparing with ANY middle-eastern country, south Europe, Africa, Latin America, India, Pakistan, Russia and China. Just try driving any Turkish or Egyptian highway and you will know what i mean...
0
Pukey2
You noticed the sort of countries you mentioned? The Japanese do NOT take kindly to being compared with developing nations. They see themselves as part of the developed world (ie western). Sorry, but 50-50 is not good enough. It's like saying you have a 50-50 chance of being involved in a car accident. Being 'centuries ahead' of, say China, in terms of car safety, is NOT saying much. As for cars (which are turning left or right) stopping for pedestrians or cyclists crossing the road when the pedestrian lights are green - now that really is 50-50. I've already crashed into a car - I was already on the crossing and the car was INITIALLY stationary, but still refused to let me cross. And as for cars letting pedestrians cross at crossings without traffic lights - now that is WORSE than 50-50 - absolutely no point in making these crossings - and just as bad as China.
0
Weasel
In a word: none
0
Antonios_M
If we focus strictly on the western world, then yes, there are problems. (even though i still think that the situation is not really that bad as many people claim). In my view, the worst things on the Japanese roads are two: a. the behavior of the cyclists and b. the extremely narrow roads in parts of the country.
Some years ago, we were driving with an American friend to a suburban area of Hyogo ken and he just couldn't believe how narrow the street was. The car could literally just fit in and to make things worse, there was a wide gap (for the rain, i suppose) next to the so-called street, which was becoming further narrow ahead(!!!) because of a street lamp. And like it was not enough, there was an annoying obaasan right behind us on her bicycle using her bell to make us more furious. Finally, i had to leave from the passenger's seat in order to handle the driving -we couldn't open the door, so we had to change seats in a weird way..well, you got the point - and using my Greek experience to just barely manage and turn in the next road. It was a very surreal experience overall. However, this one and the almost crashing with a truck case in Osaka were my only extreme situations in Japan.
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ambrosia
Antonios: While I'm sure everyone appreciates what you're trying to say, the issue isn't your driving experience. It's whether or not there's a problem with the safety of children when it comes to cars / drivers / parents in Japan. Regardless of what the situation is like in other countries, one can safely say that there is indeed a problem here. Whether or not children in India, Chile, Botswana, etc. are buckled up properly is going to be completely irrelevant to the Japanese parent who is grieving the loss of their child or the child who is going to grow up in a wheel chair or worse because his or her parent couldn't be bothered to --- follow the Japanese law. If there were a little bit of poison in your country's water would you still drink it because the amount was higher in another country's water supply or would you pay a little extra and go to the trouble of buying - available, safe - water?
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elbudamexicano
The other day I had to take a refresher course in Tokyo to renew my Japanese drivers license got to see and hear some real horrible accidents from the police, one of a young mother, driving in the passenger seat while her husband drove, she thought holding her new born baby in her arms, instead of a BABY CARSEAT would be safest for her baby, WRONG, her idiot husband slammed on the breaks for not keeping enough distance from the car ahead, they crashed, the young mother KILLED her little newborn with the weight of her own body with no seatbelt against the little body of her baby being smashed against the inside of their car. This is why here in California, if you do not put your baby or small children in the special car seats you will get a $500 traffic ticket, maybe Japan should think about not just tickets, but an educational campaign E=MC2, Einstein car goes fast down road, moving car crashes, but things inside car continue to go at same speed, this means US in car, and if we do not have seatbelts, we be dead or wishing we was dead, because the rest of your lives in a wheelchair or worse is no fun. Merry Christmas and get your loved ones decent child saftety car seats for the winter holidays.
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Antonios_M
Ambrosia (nice nickname, by the way) i see your point. However, generally speaking, driving behaviour and awareness of the parents regarding their children's safety are usually connected. You are right that i shouldn't have made the comparison of driving experience in Japan vs in any Developing country, but i tend to believe that there is always a matter of comparison, (even if this discussion is not about driving behaviour overall, but about parents awareness).
Personally, i can't understand why wouldn't somebody use a safety seat or a seat belt especially for his/her kids regardless of the country he/she comes from. If you can increase the percentage of safety even for 1%...why not?
As i said, i admit that there are problems regarding safety seats and seat belts in Japan. However, it would be wise not to overgeneralize, since Japan is not the typical free-for-all country regarding driving laws. Yes, there are people who ignore the safety rules and you can see children literally dancing inside the car, but there are also people who care about their kids, use safety seats and fast their seat belts. To an extent, it depends also on the region you are in and its up to the police to enforce the law, if the parent is ignorant or an idiot.
I think it would be wise for the Japanese government to do a tv campaign regarding driving rules and safety. Since many Japanese tend to take the advertisements very seriously i think it would be succesful to some extent.
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ambrosia
Antonios: I fully agree that a Public Service Announcement or series of them would be a great idea and I fully agree that the police should be enforcing the child-seat law. What's always baffled me about Japan is that in this country, where the majority of people are educated, literate and generally obsessed with "obunai" and "kowai", so many people show little to no common sense and a complete disregard for danger when it comes to the safety of children in automobiles and bicycle safety. I know that you may feel it's a generalization to say such a thing, but I've lived in a few cities and regions of this country and have lived here for quite some time and from place to place I've seen the same dangerous behaviour in cars and on bicycles. I'm not saying that people are bad drivers, bad cyclists yes, drivers not necessarily, but that child safety seems to be of little concern. I'm on the roads every day and have to say, in all honesty, that from what I see, it's a minority of drivers who employ child safety seats correctly or have their children buckle up. Yes, a PSA would definitely be in order. After that maybe they can do one for cyclists!
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Antonios_M
Exactly, my friend! I remember back in my country and many years ago, there was a serious problem with accidents of cars in railroad crossings, and many people perished because of that. So, the government hired famous comedians and did tv, radio and press advertisement on a huge campaign for safety. The result was very much encouraging and the accidents on level crossing completely disappeared. I have to mention that most of them were not the dull ads, but very funny and intriguing.
So, just imagine famous Japanese "tarento" on a huge campaign for Japanese driving safety. I am sure it will increase the awareness to some extent.
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Hawkeye
None
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sharpie
in my estimation, seatbelt and child safety seat practices here are not much different from anywhere else i've been. so yes, you do see kids flying around inside the cars while on the road, but no more or less than any place i've been.
this doesnt go to say that it shouldnt be enforced. thats not the issue here. of course it should be enforced.
"Absolutely zero" ?!? Posts like this should be stricken just for pure ignorance.
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bicultural
I suggested buying a car to my wife and she responded with "do you know how much a good child seat costs these days?" So I wouldn't say all Japanese mothers pay zero attention to this kind of stuff.
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koriyamaboy
As I said, I see about 50 kindergarten and elementary school kids in my school every week and I see them all off in the parking lot. Not one of them gets into a child seat or puts on a seatbelt. I think the number is far from 50-50.
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fishy
koriyamaboy-
Every day I go drop off and pick up my little one at a local daycare and I have never seen a car with no car seat. I HAVE seen car seats installed in the passenger seat (sigh..) and I HAVE seen older kids jumping around in a big van, but it is just so hard to believe you have not seen ANY child being put in a car seat or using seat belt? Most of my mama-friends drive and I don't know anyone with small kids and have no car seats installed... Again, I DO know some people who don't always use car seat, though... Just trying to say that NONE sounds hard to believe as I'm in the same country as you are...
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fishy
bicultural-
I agree.. there ARE lots of responsible parents here and they make sure that their kids are safe in their cars. It's just that whenever we see those who don't use car seats or don't buckle their kids up stand out and gives us an impression that no Japanese parents pay any attention to child safety while driving... but then again, good/responsible parents do not stand out.. so.
I've handed down a used car seat (infant car seat) to one of my co-workers last year as my little one doesn't fit in the infant car seat anymore.. Now I see every day that the infant car seat is in my co-worker's car and when I see her with her baby, the baby is always in the car seat (Zzzzz... comfortably sleeping :) And just FYI, this co-worker is Japanese.
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patjs
Out in the inaka I think it's worse. People just don't seem to be educated. I see a lot of little kids in the front seat jumping around, or worse mothers sitting in the front holding infants instead of placing them in a seat.
The adults here are terrible about safety belts. Everyone in the front seat buckles up but almost everyone I've ever gotten in a car with in 3 years here has not buckled up in the back. They often make a big fuss about how I'm so erai for buckling up. Their justification is that you only have to wear a belt in the back when you are on the highway.... genius.
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koriyamaboy
fishy. I wish I was exaggerating. Sorry. It is true. I make a point of looking because I am a bit of a child seat Nazi with my son.
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koriyamaboy
Actually there is one mother who has 2 child seats (both in the back seat) The kids sit in them but are not made to do up the belts. Does this count?
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j4p4nFTW
Japanese drivers are definitely the safest in the world in this regard.
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browny1
Yesterday in my prefecture was the festive season drive safely campaign. It involved drivers randomly being given a "present" from a clown santa-san and asked to drive carefully with the obligatory deep bow.
Geeeezzzz!!!
Neeed some real life shock therapy CMs to jolt these grossly negligent parent/carer drivers.
Like pizza faced 2yr olds after being launched into the windscreen.
Or shots of a hospital wards juvenile cranio-facial department (where my friend worked) and see the joyous results of unrestrained child passengers.
And I'm NOT joking and I mean it.
They just don't get it.
Stupefying!
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yasukuni
Disillusioned, you jumped on my one sentence "And most of us got through unscathed." and somehow missed the rest of what I said. Read after the fifth line!
I always use seat belts. I always insist on my kids being in baby car seats. I have had fight after fight getting my Japanese wife and in laws to abide by the law. And I convinced them. I am probably overboard with safety in cars.
I was simply stating that one of the MISTAKES that people make is that of not realizing the danger or necessity of seat belts because they got through unscathed. But I was saying that 99% of the time people CAN get away with stuff, but that doesn't make it right.
And that's why education is important. Because there are lots of people out there who didn't use seat belts who never had an accident, so they MISTAKENLY think that their life experience shows them that they don't have to worry about it.
Read my post again and you might understand.
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yasukuni
Disillusioned and Cleo, if you read my post again, you will see that I was arguing FOR the use of seat belts.
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cleo
Sorry yasukuni, I think I must have been responding to Disillusion's quoting you - just the "And most of us got through unscathed" bit. Having gone back and read the whole post, I'm feeling a bit red-faced....
I suppose one problem is that everyone now deciding whether or not they ought to strap junior down despite the tears and tantrums is a person who did in fact come through unscathed, regardless of whether they themselves were securely strapped in or left to run round lose in the back of a pick-up truck.
So yes, 99 times out of a 100 it'll be OK even if the kids aren't strapped in. It's the one time when it isn't OK that means the tantrums have to be ignored.
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888naff
i always make sure my goats are safe in the car
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Pukey2
You're 'kidding', right?
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miamum
I'm sure there are many Japanese who do take child safety seriously and strap their kids in their car seats, and install their car seats correctly. However, I rarely see them, and am considered a troublemaker in our family for refusing to go to an onsen in a borrowed car because it had no car seats thereby "ruining everyones holiday".
I am flexible on many things but some are just not up for discussion and this is one of them.
I think a LOT more needs to be done on spreading public awareness and enforcement - but I think that for most Japanese laws.
Even 2 lawyers in my building never strapped their daughter in safely - I would often see them pull out of the car park with her perched on the platform between the two front seats FFS!
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funkyfresh
Simple, When I get in I ask everyone to put on their belts front and rear, if someone doesn't, first 2/3 corners I throw the car around and brake heavier but not to injure or hurt them, then the message gets to them and they quickly buckle up and then i drive miss daisy.
Just asking isn't enough for my Japanese friends, my American/Australian/European/ friends have no trouble understanding and buckle up without me asking them. There are many countries that require belts and a lot that don't, however Japan is a developed nation, it should act like one.
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limboinjapan
miamum:"am considered a troublemaker in our family for refusing to go to an onsen in a borrowed car because it had no car seats thereby "ruining everyones holiday"."
I was just like you and that was quite a number of years ago so even more difficult than today seeing that child seats were not law and hard to find.
I did find them and I also found here in Japan and overseas (now with the Internet even easier) lightweight net type child restraints I would not recommend them for long drive but they are great for taxies and in a pinch rental cars, they hook into the regular seatbelt but are only good for toddlers and up, a;so most rental car agencies now offer child seats if you request ahead of time (yes they charge).
Look around and you will find that there are choices other than just staying home or fighting with the in-laws.
I am a big supporter of child seats and have always used them so I know what you are going through and feel for your situation but you can look for the travel type I just mentioned BTW they are also great for the plane keeps the kids tied in safely.
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Takuma7
dude get some common sense.
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onewrldoneppl
driving while drinking (alchohol or non)/smoking/texting/calling. tail-gating. sudden lane changes without signalling. never checking the blind spots. ignoring pedestrians in the crosswalks. driving the wrong way on one-way streets. breaking suddenly. parking on curbs/in prohibited areas. sleeping and idling with the hazard lights on. ignoring child safety seat laws designed to protect children from head trauma.
if i were a traffic cop, i could stand on any corner in a japanese, urban area and write 3 dozen tickets before midday, take a ramen break and come back and write 4 dozen more before the end of my shift. i'd probably get a gold shield. be made captain in no time. given the key to the city.
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CrazyJoe
I've seen kids sticking out their heads from the moon roof while the
car was moving. Hey parents, are you stupid?
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browny1
CrazyJoe - seen that on 3 occasions.
Kids standing on the rear seats, heads out of the vehicles.
Breathtakingly moronic parents.
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jforce
Overall I think the child safety in cars is pretty mediocre at best. Itwas terrible 10 years ago, but now the younger parents seem to be a bit more in tune (from what I see on the roads everyday). But, parents get lazy and they keep their kids strapped on their backs or let them jump around in the car for short journeys.
I see this stuff daily.
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papasmurfinjapan
Driving on the expressway yesterday at 120km/h I could see a little kid standing in the back seat of a Suzuki Wagon R - while dad was tailgating a semi-trailer. Absolutely crazy...
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YongYang
@Pukey, kids = goats. Human offspring are called children. The idiocy you see with children scrambling all over the interior of cars makes me shake my head often.
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Takuma7
the goats around here are at least tied to the k-truck and in a cage. so i guess they have their seatbelts on. the goats kids did not. i guess the goats are worth more then the farms kids. so wrong..
dude get some common sense!
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the_sicilian
I will tell you what I see in Okinawa:
All of the Americans that are base dwellers / here with the military: 99/100 have belts on
Okinawans: 1/10 wear them. And for kids, it's even less.
The feeling here, I get from the locals, is that traffic here is very slow, so there is no need. But boy, I get irate when I see a 3 year old standing on the front passenger side seat. Or two kids looking out the same window, hands grabbing the glass. The parents are just oblivious. And there are plenty of car seats to be had. Just pop into San-A, Jusco, or Toys-R-Us (Babies-R-Us too) and there they are.
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Takuma7
@ sicilian right! the seats are everywhere. When my wife and pickup our son from Chubu he went right in the car seat in front of the NICU. He even tells grandmother to put her seatbelt on or the police are going to get her.
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YongYang
Kindergartern buses. The young children, 3, 4, 5, NO seat belts. WTF?????
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arrestpaul
As I understand the schoolbus seatbelt issue, because the drivers are required to follow more stringent rules than the average driver plus the flashing lights and traffic gates, the children are safer on the school bus than they are in the family car.
Manditory seatbelt use would require that the driver be responsible for releasing 66 plus, screaming, disorientated children as quickly as possible. In cases of fire or submersion in water, the kiddies could exit the bus quicker if they don't have to fumble with seatbelts or have to be cut out of the belt. It's suppose to be the lesser of two evils.
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the_sicilian
The reason I always strap my kids in (and myself for that matter) is not because of my driving abilities. It's because everyone else can't drive.
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yasukuni
@Cleo, thanks.
@the Sicilian, You have the right idea. That's a good thing to teach young drivers. Assume there are bad drivers, or good drivers not paying attention all around you.
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YongYang
@arrestpaul,
and there, Paul, is the rub. From what I see, not all do. Again, no seat belts, WTF!
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Mark_McCracken
Some.
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