Cyclists using phones to be fined up to Y50,000

Authorities in Osaka Prefecture have finally put their foot down on cyclists who yap while they pedal. Tokyo Shimbun (Dec 1) reports that effective Monday, people in the prefecture caught using cell phones while riding a bicycle could be fined up to 50,000 yen.

In 2007, 18,500 bicycle accidents were reported in Osaka Prefecture and in many cases, the cause was found to be people steering with one hand or distracted while using a cell phone.

Over three-day periods in July and August, prefectural police in Osaka and Sakai cities observed that of 1,380 passing cyclists, 214, (15.5%), were listening to music players and 50 (3.6%) were using mobile phones.

In addition to banning talking on cell phones while cycling, Osaka’s new law applies to cyclists who use the phones to send messages or play games while in motion.

Laws prohibiting such activities are already in force in Akita, Hyogo and Tokushima Prefectures.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 42 Total Comments Show All

bdiego at 05:00 AM JST - 3rd December

gogogo, you probably don't see bikes often enough. I've seen over a dozen but they were all minor (i.e. all of the injuries sustained by a poor pedestrian jabbed by a bike handle or elbow, foot run over by bike tire, etc..). One was a car accident where the biker fell sideways onto the car and blamed the car. None of them were reported though.
ahar at 06:14 AM JST - 3rd December

borscht, You've assumed that the 3.6% rate of phone usage observed by the cops in July & August must have been the same amongst the cyclists involved in the accidents in 2007. You can't make that assumption. If the cops didn't witness any cyclists having an accident during the 3-day observation periods, would you conclude that no cyclist ever has an accident?
tmarie at 09:40 AM JST - 3rd December

Could someone give me a link to where it says bikes should be on the street? I've been told by everyone they need to be on the sidewalk.
cleo at 10:29 AM JST - 3rd December

Dunno about laws, but in my town the pedestrian crossings have the ordinary stripey bit for pedestrians, and a bit with a picture of a bicycle for bicycles - both coming straight off the pavement (sidewalk), which tells me that in my town at least bicycles are expected to be on the pavement with the pedestrians, not on the road with the cars.
gogogo at 12:49 PM JST - 3rd December

tmarie: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ek20070123wh.html
tmarie at 01:44 PM JST - 3rd December

Same as the are in my city. Sidewalk is cut in half - walkers AND bikers. However, the walkers don't pay attention and walk in the bike zone.
tmarie at 01:48 PM JST - 3rd December

And that link doesn't say it is "law" to bike on sidewalks. If anything, it says it is ok when there is a sign - my city as signs. Sorry gogogo but you don't seem to be correct on the issue. Seems like no one knows - even the government. If they said streets, I would be happy as that is where I bike because I find those walking on sidewalks much more dangerous than the cars! If they said sidewalks so be it but then they need to have bike paths - and make people be aware of them! I'm up for giving fines to walkers using bike paths! Would probably help!

Mind you, Osaka.... Midosuji is supposed to be "smoke free" and I can tell you that certainly isn't the case!
gogogo at 05:50 PM JST - 3rd December

Yeah it's against the law in non bike areas, if you check most areas do not have these signs as no one is going to enforce the rule anyway, I've never seen one in minato-ku ever.

It's the main reason that if a bike hits someone walking the bike no matter what happened is always at fault. Same as a car...
Orchid64 at 07:15 PM JST - 3rd December

It's not illegal to bike on the sidewalk if there are signs saying it is okay to bike on the sidewalk.

The laws regarding cycling in the street or sidewalk are purposefully ambiguous so that the police have the latitude to act as they please. In some places, being in the street is illegal. In some places, being on the sidewalk is illegal. In some both are okay. The police in my area are always on the sidewalks (and I'm near a main ward station and see lots of them all the time), so I'm guessing it's okay to be on the sidewalk in my area.
ca1ic0cat at 03:48 AM JST - 4th December

In the US the bicycles are supposed to be on the streets but many aren't. There are a lot of idiots who walk in the bike lanes on the sidewalk in a lot of countries. But if you're in the Netherlands in the bike lane and you hear a bell - it's probably too late and you're at fault.

I love that.
Smythe at 06:17 AM JST - 4th December

I had a chat with the RCMP in my town over a scooter being riden on the sidewalk right at the exit/entrance of the Post Office. Some years previously I had the same problem with bicycle riders & especially teeners only the latter is bicycle riders must be on the roads.

So according to law a scooter has to be on the road as does a BICYCLE & only thing propelled by electricity is an invalid three or four wheeled vehicle for those that have trouble in walking. We have a fair number of them as so many people come to retire in this area & same town. Obviously Osaka is pretty well the same.

So the cellular would be subject to the same as car/truck drivers.
Speed at 09:16 AM JST - 4th December

The problem is that most violations are not enforced/ticketed.
Just like the previous poster wrote, Midosuji is supposed to be smoke-free, but it's definitely not.

Near my house trucks and cars are ILLEGALLY parked on the side of the road so a busy two-lane road suddenly becomes one causing all kinds of dangerous situations. If the keystones were to ticket these approximately 20 cars, that would at least be 400,000 yen in our prefectural coffers every hour (and there are dozens of cars parked like this all day w/ the keystones doing nothing about this). These laws get passed with no action taken by these worthless "law enforcers".

As for bikes on sidewalks or streets, it's stated that bikes are to be ridden on streets except for sidewalks marked for both pedestrians and bikes. ALSO bikes are allowed on sidewalks where it is "deemed dangerous" to be on the street. Yes, it is very ambiguous and up to the keystones' interpretation - this is why no one seems to really know the rules concerning this.
ultradodgy at 02:11 PM JST - 4th December

What this country REALLY needs is a law banning cyclists from riding bicycles.
mindovermatter at 03:40 PM JST - 4th December

What a waste.....

Oh... Ok, let's crack down on those bicycle riders...

We all know they're the root of all evil...

Mean-while you've got these bozo's with the 1500cc moped's blowing through red lights, running people off the road... and recklessly riding these 1000 lbs motor vehicle's capable of killing someone....

I'd like to see the statistics of actual injuries caused by bicycle riders and then compare that with other forms of transportation like walking, driving, riding the train and riding the elevator for that matter....

This looks like one of those ridiculous fictitious research studies... Like the "Crimes Committed by Foreigners"... Where they count every person the police ever talked to, as a crime committed statistic....
bdiego at 11:08 AM JST - 16th December

Actually, here they're severely under-counting accidents caused by bicyclists. Most simply aren't reported and I see them regularly - why would reporting your foot getting run over make any difference?