Mario motorists

The best road safety campaign!

Watch out for those nasty blue shells ;)

A refreshing change to the insecure narekin in gas guzzlers

Where are their licence plates?

And what would happen if they caused an accident? All it takes is one banana peel and they're spinning all over the place.

Where are their licence plates?

On the back, like a motorbike, they are registered as mini cars (under 50cc), perfectly legal, you can registered anything under 50cc as a mini car as long as it has 4 wheels, a headlight, break light, indicators and reverse gear

I think I ran over one

Between seeing these things and soon Toyota's i-Road electric vehicles, the streets of Tokyo could suddenly get a lot more interesting in terms of vehicle watching.

They're legally classified as motorized bicycles so no seat belts are required. Watch out for the banana peels.

CrazyJoe: They are classed as mini cars, anything with that can stand up by itself (including those 3 wheel delivery bikes) can get this dark blue plate. The benefit is that you don't have the limits of a 50cc bike, meaning you can actually legally turn right in the right hand lane and you don't need a helmet or seat belt (not sure if that is a benefit).

@gogogo

ミニカーとは、道路交通法令において総排気量20ccを超え50cc以下又は定格出力0.25kWを超え0.6kW以下の原動機を有する普通自動車をいう。しかし、道路運送車両法においては自動車でなく原動機付自転車として扱われる。

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9F%E3%83%8B%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC_(%E8%BB%8A%E4%B8%A1)

原動機付自転車　is a motorized bicycle.

So long as they travel in packs like this it's relatively safe and good fun, but I definitely wouldn't recommend 'driving' one around downtown Tokyo as a regular means of transportation, like in the Photo of the Day some time back where a person was riding something similar by his/herself in the midst of much larger vehicles. Doesn't matter how legal it is or whose fault it would be, the slightest accident and you'd be toast. Won't catch me doing it, but it might be fun to see these guys/gals driving around.

Anyway, last night I rode the train back from Osaka City after a concert and saw two teenage girls riding the train dressed in the same get-ups; one Mario, one Luigi -- full costume. Seeing this picture of the day to add to that, I'm curious if there was a new game release or anniversary or something I may have missed (I don't play or follow Mario Bros, nor have I since the Atari version).

Only in Japan! Saw them some days ago cruising in Akihabara.

Yep. Remi Gaillard. Very funny and very disrespectful of law and order.

Not for the strait-laced, though. ; )

CrazyJoe: Its not, I own one myself, I know what I am talking about, if you ever see a gaijin on an ATV driving around tokyo it is me

" Good Luck with THAT Spongebob ".

@gogogo

Since there are two different laws involved, in a sense we're both right.

CrazyJoe: There are no two laws, the plates are minicars not bikes.

Read this article and take a look at the plates: http://www.accessj.com/2012/01/minicars.html