I got my driver's license in 1973 during summer vacation of my freshman year in college. It was before the automatic transmission car lesson was introduced. I had to drive a manual transmission car for the lesson. At that time column shifts were not popular any more and stick shifts were more common.
When my daughter got her driver's license three years ago, she could choose either manual or automatic transmission-driving lessons. She chose automatic driving lessons and told me that driving a car was very easy. It made me wish automatic driving lessons were available when I attended the driving school.
There was no driving school in my town. I had to attend the one in the next town. The school provided a fixed route bus service, which picked up and dropped off the driving school students near their houses.
Before I started driving school, many people had told me that the driving instructors, especially the younger ones, were nasty. I was anxious about what kind of instructor would be assigned to me.
When I was introduced to my instructor, who was a middle-aged man, I felt relieved. He said that he had a daughter about my age, and that she had got her driver's license in his driving school the previous year. He was very kind. He never criticized my mistakes, but patiently explained how to improve my skills. He always praised my progress. It was very encouraging. I enjoyed my driving lessons with him very much.
At the start of every driving lesson, I had adjusted the rear-view and door mirrors before the instructor got into the car. He had often advised me that I should focus only half of my attention on the traffic ahead and focus the remaining half on the traffic behind. I still keep his advice faithfully.
This is important not only to avoid tailgating cars or possible rear end collisions, but also to pinpoint white police motorcycles or patrol cars. When I stop on a red traffic signal at the intersection, I carefully watch the cars behind in the rear-view mirror.
I don't want to be involved in a rear-end collision and suffer whiplash. I know the people who suffer from the after-effects of a whiplash injury. They complain of numbness and weakness down through the arms and hands, headaches, dizziness, hearing problems and throat pain. Oh, no! I don't want to be rear-ended and have those pains.
One more important thing a person should never forget before the start of a driving lesson is to fasten a safety belt. People say "seat belt" more often than "safety belt." At first cars were equipped only with seat belts. But by the time I attended driving school, all the cars were equipped with a combination of a seat belt and a shoulder belt. So safety belt is more appropriate naming. In an airplane you fasten a seat belt, but in a car you fasten a safety belt.
Thanks to my kind instructor, I could pass both the temporary license test and the regular driving test on the first try. Many of my classmates in the driving school failed either in the temporary license test or in the regular driving test at least once.
When I got the driver's license, my father bought me a Mitsubishi Minica 500. When the summer vacation was over, and the instruction started in September, I could commute to the campus by car. At that time, not so many students commuted by car as they do today. The campus parking was not so crowded and we were not required to have a parking permit.
My father had been a member of JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) long before I got my drivers license. I could apply for the family membership so that I didn't have to pay the membership fee. In the first two or three years, it really helped to be a JAF member. Altogether there were four occasions when I called for the JAF roadside assistance service.
When my father bought a car in the 1960s, the driver had to lock the door by inserting the key in the keyhole of the door. Therefore in order to lock the door, drivers had to get out the car with the key. However, sometime in 1970s, drivers could lock the car without using the key. If they set the door lock knob in a lock position after they got out the car, they could lock the door by lifting the door handle as they shut it.
This was very convenient on one hand, but on the other hand this lock system caused some trouble when people mistakenly locked their keys in their cars. Many drivers got out of the car leaving the key in the ignition switch and then locked the door without the key by lifting up the door handle, thereby locking the key in the car. When they are aware of that, it was too late. My father, who started to drive before this device was installed, never locked the key in the car, because he was conditioned to always get out of the car with the key.
I have locked the keys in the car twice. Each time I called for the JAF roadside assistance service. The service man told me that about forty percent of the roadside assistance service called for is by drivers in need of key retrieval. I know many friends who have had the same thing happen more than once.
However, all new cars are now supplied with a remote control locking system. A remote control chip is embedded in the plastic body of the key, and there is a tiny button sticking out of the plastic body. By just pressing the button, we can lock and unlock all the doors. It's very convenient.
Before the remote control key, if we had a passenger, we had to unlock the door of the passenger's side first, then go around to the driver's side to get in. Some passengers try to unlock the door of the driver's side by extending his or her right arm, but the arms of Japanese are not long enough to reach the lock button of the driver's side door. They have to extend their whole body to reach the button. However, many of Japanese drivers get in the car before the passenger and then unlock the door of the passenger's side. In that case, they have to extend both their left arm and their whole body. I heard that in the United States and European countries, drivers always open the passenger's door before they get into their car.
Everything has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage of a remote control key is that it is almost impossible to duplicate the key. Every remote control key is individually coded, and only the dealerships know the code. If the key smith doesn't know the code, it is impossible to duplicate the key. When you buy a new car, you are given a certain number, which identifies the code of your key. If you lose it, you will be in big trouble.
When I bought a new car in 2000, it was supplied with a remote control key. Drivers with remote control keys seldom lock their keys in the car. The statistics of JAF show that the cases of the roadside assistance service for key retrieval has been decreasing steadily these days.
The second most frequent case of roadside assistance service is for dead batteries. I also had a dead battery once. One winter morning, when I tried to start my car, the starter just made a feeble sound and couldn't start the engine. I knew it was a typical case of a dead battery.
My father had a booster cable in his car, but he had already left home. I called JAF for help. The man who took the call asked me where I was. Then he said he would dispatch the service man very soon. The service man arrived in half an hour. Very quick! He produced some kind of instrument and applied it to the battery of my car. It was like a medical doctor applying a stethoscope to a patient. He said the battery was very sick. Even though he boosted it, it would be dead soon.
He advised me to buy a fresh battery. He said he had the same type of battery as that of my car and would replace it with a fresh one on the spot.
I had no other choice than to accept his advice. Anyway the bill was on my father's JAF membership. So this was my second experience of getting roadside assistance by JAF. If you haven't joined JAF, I strongly recommend you become a member.
Many female drivers don't know how to change a flat tire. If they have a flat tire, they usually summon roadside assistance service. Some of them wait for a kind male driver to stop and change a flat tire.
My driving instructor at the driving school made me practice changing a tire many times, insisting it was very important in case I would have one.
These days we seldom have a flat tire. In 1970s, when I started to drive, we often had flat tires. With my first car, I had a flat tire twice. I fixed it myself both times. The first time was a little difficult, but the second time, it was much easier.
The third time I called JAF for help was when I had a left front wheel fall in the ditch. As your know, most of the roads in rural areas don't have sidewalks and there are ditches along the roads. Those ditches are usually not covered.
It was when I had to pass a big oncoming dump truck on a narrow road in a rural area. Being scared the truck might collide with my car, I moved to the left as far as I could and then I felt the left front wheel fall into the ditch. The truck driver, not noticing my car was stuck in the ditch, just went on.
That was my first time to have the wheel stuck in the ditch. I was kind of panicking. A few cars passed by, but not one of them stopped to help me. It was long before cell phones became a commodity. Fortunately I found a pay phone about hundred meters away from the site of the accident. I walked to the pay phone and called JAF. The man who took the phone asked where my car was and what make it was. I told him it was Mitsubishi Minica 500. He said the crew would come in less than an hour.
I went back to my car and waited for the JAF service car. Normally one service man comes to the site of the roadside assistance. That time two of them came.
I wondered why, but soon I realized why. I expected that a big tow truck would come to pull my car out of the ditch. But they came in a standard JAF service car.
I wondered how they would pull out my car. They got out of the car and went to the front of my car. Then they held the front bumper together and pulled my car out of the ditch. So simple! That was why the man asked for the make of my car. They judged my car was light enough for the two people to lift up from the ditch. Anyway I was very thankful to them. The JAF people were a godsend.
I had all these accidents during the first four years of driving, which coincided with my college days. I haven't called for any JAF roadside assistance since my last ditch accident.
However, I have remained a member of JAF, though I am no longer a family member on my father's membership. My membership is automatically renewed every year and the membership fee is deducted automatically from my bank account. JAF sends me a new membership card every year. I always keep it in my purse just in case I need it.
Fortunately I haven't caused any traffic accidents since I got my driver's license. I haven't been involved in any traffic accidents, either.
However, I have gotten three traffic tickets so far, twice for speeding and once for illegal parking.
When I was cited for speeding for the first time, I was driving on a two lane prefectural road. A long stretch of straight road was ahead of me. I was not alone. My nephew was in the passenger seat. We were having a nice chat. Then I noticed a truck coming toward us from the opposite direction flashed its high beams. I thought the driver was signaling that my headlights were on. I checked them, but they were off. I wondered why he flashed his brights and drove on for a while.
Then a policeman in uniform jumped out onto the road from nowhere with a flag. He signaled me to stop. I slowed down, pulled off to the side of the road and stopped the engine. The policeman came to the driver's side of my car. He was young and good-looking.
I opened the window, wondering what he would want from me. He said cheerfully, "Hi, good day! Will you show me your driver's license?" I fumbled through my purse and produced my driver's license and gave it to him.
Then he asked, still very politely, "What speed do you think you were driving at?" I said, "Sorry, I don't know."
Then he said, "The speed limit on this part of the road is 40 kilometers per hour. You were driving at the speed of 60 kilometers per hour. You exceeded the speed limit by twenty kilometers."
Saying this, he looked very pleased. I should have hated him, but somehow I couldn't. Then he asked me to park my car in a small vacant lot by the roadside ahead of us. I parked my car and got out, leaving my nephew in the car.
A black big police wagon with two rows of rear seats was parked there. Another policeman was sitting in the first rear seat. He beckoned me into the wagon. I climbed into the seat next to him. He said, "I'm sorry, but I have to give you a speeding ticket." Then on a long slip of red paper, he filled in the location, time, and date of the speeding violation and my driver's license number. I don't remember whether he filled in the license plate number of my car. After having filled up the form, he asked if I had my seal. Very few people carry their seal with them. I said, "No, I don't."
"In that case, I have to take your fingerprint impressions." He produced an inkpad from his briefcase and asked me to press my index finger onto the inkpad.
Then he showed a certain place on the form and asked me to press the inked finger there. When I did so, he took out a few pieces of tissue paper and told me to wipe off the ink. I wondered if I should have thanked him for that.
That was my first time I had ever got a ticket for a traffic violation. I started to feel worried about how much of a fine I had to pay and how many traffic violation points would be assessed on my license.
I asked the policeman about that.
Since I did 60 kilometers per hour in a 40 zone, it was the speeding violation of 20 kph over the posted speed limit, for which the fine was 12,000 yen and I would be assessed two violation points on my license. It was much less than I had feared. I felt a little relieved.
The policeman handed me the speeding ticket and a money transfer form for the fine. He then instructed me how to pay the fine at the bank with the money transfer form. I got out of the wagon and returned to my car. My nephew was fast asleep in the passenger seat. I climbed into my driver's seat and woke him up. He asked what had happened. I told him not to tell anything to his mother.
When I was going to leave the spot, the young policeman who had stopped me was sitting on the chair by the roadside and waved me goodbye with a broad smile. After all that I still couldn't hate him.
It was some time later that I discovered that flashing the headlights is to warn the oncoming drivers of a radar trap ahead. From then on, when I found a radar trap on the other side of the lane, I myself flashed my headlights to warn the oncoming drivers of a radar trap ahead. And I knew that a radar trap detector is on the market, and that quite a few drivers have the detector installed in their cars.
The second time I got a speeding ticket was on the Higashimeihan Expressway. As you may know the speed limit on Meishin Expressway and Tomei Expressway is 100 khp. However on most of the Japan's expressways the speed limit is 80 kph. Few drivers keep to the speed limit of 80 kph on HigashiMeihan Expressway. My daughter was with me. It was a nice day.
We were enjoying our drive and chatting merrily. Suddenly my daughter said, "Mother, someone is calling for our car to stop."
I looked in the rearview mirror. There was a black car behind us and a red light was revolving on its roof. I wasn't aware at all when they had turned the revolving light on.
I cried to my daughter, "It is an unmarked patrol car. We were trapped." I could see two policemen in the unmarked car. They were using a loud speaker and told me to stop on the shoulder lane of the road, calling out the make of my car.
I slowed down and pulled off to the shoulder lane. The unmarked patrol car parked right behind my car. One of the police officers, who was sitting in the passenger seat, got out and came to the driver's side of my car. He asked me to come to the patrol car.
Since this was the second time I was cited for speeding, I knew what I was asked to do. It was good I had my seal with me at that time. I didn't have to have fingerprint impressions taken. But it was humiliating to sit in the patrol car during the procedure of issuing a traffic citation.
The third time I was cited for a traffic violation was for illegal parking.
I was to dine for lunch at an Italian restaurant with some friends from my college days. The restaurant was in the residential area in the suburb of Gifu City. I went there with one of my friends.
I stopped my car in front of the restaurant and asked my friend to go in to ask about where the parking was. She went in and returned soon. She was told that the restaurant didn't have its own parking and that it was safe at those hours of the day to park on the street in front of the restaurant, though it was a no parking area.
Though I felt very apprehensive, I had to believe what my friend had been told by the restaurant manager, since we were going to be late for the party.
We had a nice chat and a good lunch for about two hours. When I came back to my car with happy feelings, I found a red slip of paper stuck under the windshield wiper of my car. I instantly realized it was a parking ticket. I peeled it off and read the notice for the illegal parking on the paper.
I went back to the restaurant and showed the parking ticket to the manager. He was very sorry, but he couldn't do anything about it. However, he offered to pay back half of my bill to compensate my fine."
That was kind of him. All of my friends were also very sorry and all of them donated 1,000 yen each to compensate for my fine. Yet they couldn't compensate for the demerit points assessed on my driver's license.
This experience taught me a good lesson. Since then, I have never parked my car on the streets, where parking is prohibited. When I park on the street, I park in a metered parking space. However, all the meters take only 100-yen coins. The charge is usually 300 yen per thirty minutes. If my parking time exceeds thirty minutes, I will be fined. In that case I need to come back to the meter and refill it with more 100-yen coins. Therefore when I am going to park for more than an hour, I use a parking garage. These days there are many automatic car parks without any attendants. You can park your car and pay when you leave. The automatic car parks are equipped with a barrier in each parking space, and the barrier is released only when you pay the parking fee with the automatic ticket machine. It is very convenient.
Most of the parking garages are multi-leveled. When there is no parking space available on the ground floor, I have to drive up to the upper level, making many winding turns round narrow corners. I don't like that."
Some multi-level parking garages reserve the ground parking spaces for ladies. I like that kind of parking garage. Parking garages are equipped with an entry/exit barrier gate. To open the entry gate, I have to pick up the ticket from the window of my car. If I don't stop at the gate close enough to the ticket machine, I can't pick up the ticket from the car window. In that case I have to get out the car to take the ticket. I hate that.
The same thing happens when I leave the garage. I have to insert the ticket in the slot of the ticket machine to pay the parking fee. To do that, I have to stop my car close enough to the ticket machine. It requires a difficult maneuver.
At almost every parking garage you are required to back into the space. You are not allowed to park head first. I wonder why. Many Japanese drivers prefer to back in when they park their car so that they can leave head first. I myself always prefer to park head first. I hear that in the United States, back-in parking is illegal in most states. I found this to be an interesting phenomenon. Somehow at the convenience stores, most drivers park head first. I believe it may be because a convenience store is originated in the United States. Do you agree?"
When I park my car in the garage at home, I always back in to the garage. As you know, almost all the Japanese houses don't have a driveway to the garage from the street, but the garage faces the street. If you park your car in the garage head first, you have to back out when you leave the garage. You can't see the oncoming cars. It is very dangerous. When I leave the garage, I turn on the hazard lights so that the oncoming cars from either direction can see them. Then I stick out the front of the hood from the garage as much as I can to see both ways. Only after I am certain there aren't any oncoming cars from either way, I drive onto the street.
Now I am forty-nine years old. Since I got my driver's license when I was eighteen years old, I've been driving for more than thirty years. Although I got three traffic tickets, I have never had my driver's license suspended or revoked.
As you know, if you haven't had any traffic tickets for one year since you got your last ticket, the penalty points assessed on your license are removed from your license record. Currently we have to renew our driver's license every three years on our birthday.
However, if we don't get any traffic tickets during this three-year renewal period, the renewal period is extended to five years and we get a gold license. The gold license has a gold stripe across the valid period field on the license. The stripe is about five millimeters thick and five centimeters long. Now I have a gold license for two consecutive renewal periods, or for more than ten years.
I'm always very concerned about driving safety. Do you think I am a good driver?
Now I'd like to discuss other safety measures I take.
First of all I always check the fuel gauge and go to the service station while the needle is well above the E line. These days more and more service stations have become self-service stations. I hate to fill the tank by myself. I prefer to have the attendants fill the tank. They also clean the windshield and check the engine oil level. I like that kind of service.
There are many drivers who don't pay much attention to the windshield visibility. In wintertime, if the temperature in the car is very warm, the inside vapor makes the windshield foggy, making visibility worse. In that case I never fail to turn on the air-conditioner to the DEF position."
Recently most cars have the icon designating either defogger or defroster instead of the letters DEF. By the way do you know the DEF on the air-conditioner panel means both defogger and defroster?
When it is very cold in wintertime, frost may form on the windshield. In that case, I turn on the heater to the DEF position. The warm air from the defroster duct will melt the frost stuck on the windshield.
In the late afternoons when you are driving toward the setting sun, sunlight shines in driver's eyes and blinds the driver. In that case, I never fail to put down the sun visor and avoid a bright light from hitting me in the eyes.
When I drive at night, I always try not to blind oncoming drivers with my high beam headlights. I dim my lights to low beams within 200 meters of a vehicle coming towards me.
I don't "get back" at the other driver by keeping my bright lights on, even in case the oncoming driver doesn't dim his or her lights. If an oncoming drivers lights blind me, I look to the left edge of the road and avoid the bright lights.
For some reason, Japanese drivers are very slow in turning on their headlights when it is getting dark.
There are many cars traveling on the road without headlights on even when it is fairly dark. I always try to turn on mine well before it gets dark. Many oncoming drivers flash their headlights to signal that my lights are on. I don't like that. However, recently more and more taxis, buses and trucks have started to drive with their headlights on even during bright daylight.
Statistics show that the use of headlights during the day reduces traffic accidents dramatically. Daytime headlights are mandatory in most northern European countries.
Do you know why Shinkansen bullet trains travel with their headlights on even during the daytime? The reason is that railroad maintenance crews are more aware of approaching bullet trains with their bright lights on.
If they have to rely on the sound of an approaching train to warn them, it would be too late to jump to safety and avoid getting hit by the train. Light is faster than sound.
It is interesting to note that the first generation Shinkansen Super Express trains had a faster and slower model that used the names of light and sound and were called Hikari and Kodama. The Hikari train (meaning light) is faster than the Kodama (echo, which is sound).
So today, traffic experts recommend that headlights be used not only for illuminating the road ahead, but also to allow other drivers and pedestrians to be aware of approaching vehicles.
Even during daylight, people can be aware of oncoming vehicles better by headlights than by sounds. So driving with your headlights on during the day increases driving safety.
In driving schools, we were instructed to seldom use the horn, to use it only in emergency. However, I honk the horn whenever I feel the need to warn the other drivers, though I try not to honk too loud.
Last, but not least about safety driving is drunken driving. On June 1st, 2002, the traffic law was revised and the punishment for drunken driving was strengthened.
The maximum fine for the driving under the influence of alcohol was raised from 50,000 to 300,000 yen, and the demerit points were raised from 6 points to 13 points. In case of imprisonment, the maximum length was raised from three months to one year.
If you are found too drunken to drive, the maximum fine is 500,000 yen, the maximum period of imprisonment is three years, and the points are 25. And not only the drivers but also the passengers are also fined or punished.
If the driver drinks in restaurants, bars, or izakaya, the managers or the owners of those places are also fined or punished. This law must be the most severe in the world.
The effects of the revision have been dramatic. The cases of drunken driving have diminished drastically.
I myself have never driven after drinking. Sometimes it is very inconvenient. When I go to a party where the alcoholic beverages are served, I have to go by train or by taxi. It takes more time and money, but it's safer. As a safety driver and also as a good citizen, I must observe the law.
During my thirty years of driving, I have driven five cars, or a new one every six years. The first was a Mitsubishi Minica, then I had two sedans, a recreational vehicle and my current one, a Toyota Harrier, which is a one box wagon.
I have always wanted to drive a two-seater sports car. But I haven't been able to own one because I have had to give a ride to my daughter and son. Now my daughter is twenty-four and my son is going to graduate from high school next year. So, soon I will be able to have a two-seater sports car. I hope my daughter will get married in a few years and have a baby, giving me a grandchild.
My dream is to drive a red, two-seater sports car with my grandchild in the passenger seat with the top down on the expressway, going over 100 kph! I'm sure he or she will be fascinated with my driving. Can you imagine a young-looking old lady in her sixties cruising on the expressway in a sports car with the top down at the speed of 100 kph? If you happen to see one, it will be me.
When my daughter got her driver's license three years ago, she could choose either manual or automatic transmission-driving lessons. She chose automatic driving lessons and told me that driving a car was very easy. It made me wish automatic driving lessons were available when I attended the driving school.
There was no driving school in my town. I had to attend the one in the next town. The school provided a fixed route bus service, which picked up and dropped off the driving school students near their houses.
Before I started driving school, many people had told me that the driving instructors, especially the younger ones, were nasty. I was anxious about what kind of instructor would be assigned to me.
When I was introduced to my instructor, who was a middle-aged man, I felt relieved. He said that he had a daughter about my age, and that she had got her driver's license in his driving school the previous year. He was very kind. He never criticized my mistakes, but patiently explained how to improve my skills. He always praised my progress. It was very encouraging. I enjoyed my driving lessons with him very much.
At the start of every driving lesson, I had adjusted the rear-view and door mirrors before the instructor got into the car. He had often advised me that I should focus only half of my attention on the traffic ahead and focus the remaining half on the traffic behind. I still keep his advice faithfully.
This is important not only to avoid tailgating cars or possible rear end collisions, but also to pinpoint white police motorcycles or patrol cars. When I stop on a red traffic signal at the intersection, I carefully watch the cars behind in the rear-view mirror.
I don't want to be involved in a rear-end collision and suffer whiplash. I know the people who suffer from the after-effects of a whiplash injury. They complain of numbness and weakness down through the arms and hands, headaches, dizziness, hearing problems and throat pain. Oh, no! I don't want to be rear-ended and have those pains.
One more important thing a person should never forget before the start of a driving lesson is to fasten a safety belt. People say "seat belt" more often than "safety belt." At first cars were equipped only with seat belts. But by the time I attended driving school, all the cars were equipped with a combination of a seat belt and a shoulder belt. So safety belt is more appropriate naming. In an airplane you fasten a seat belt, but in a car you fasten a safety belt.
Thanks to my kind instructor, I could pass both the temporary license test and the regular driving test on the first try. Many of my classmates in the driving school failed either in the temporary license test or in the regular driving test at least once.
When I got the driver's license, my father bought me a Mitsubishi Minica 500. When the summer vacation was over, and the instruction started in September, I could commute to the campus by car. At that time, not so many students commuted by car as they do today. The campus parking was not so crowded and we were not required to have a parking permit.
My father had been a member of JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) long before I got my drivers license. I could apply for the family membership so that I didn't have to pay the membership fee. In the first two or three years, it really helped to be a JAF member. Altogether there were four occasions when I called for the JAF roadside assistance service.
When my father bought a car in the 1960s, the driver had to lock the door by inserting the key in the keyhole of the door. Therefore in order to lock the door, drivers had to get out the car with the key. However, sometime in 1970s, drivers could lock the car without using the key. If they set the door lock knob in a lock position after they got out the car, they could lock the door by lifting the door handle as they shut it.
This was very convenient on one hand, but on the other hand this lock system caused some trouble when people mistakenly locked their keys in their cars. Many drivers got out of the car leaving the key in the ignition switch and then locked the door without the key by lifting up the door handle, thereby locking the key in the car. When they are aware of that, it was too late. My father, who started to drive before this device was installed, never locked the key in the car, because he was conditioned to always get out of the car with the key.
I have locked the keys in the car twice. Each time I called for the JAF roadside assistance service. The service man told me that about forty percent of the roadside assistance service called for is by drivers in need of key retrieval. I know many friends who have had the same thing happen more than once.
However, all new cars are now supplied with a remote control locking system. A remote control chip is embedded in the plastic body of the key, and there is a tiny button sticking out of the plastic body. By just pressing the button, we can lock and unlock all the doors. It's very convenient.
Before the remote control key, if we had a passenger, we had to unlock the door of the passenger's side first, then go around to the driver's side to get in. Some passengers try to unlock the door of the driver's side by extending his or her right arm, but the arms of Japanese are not long enough to reach the lock button of the driver's side door. They have to extend their whole body to reach the button. However, many of Japanese drivers get in the car before the passenger and then unlock the door of the passenger's side. In that case, they have to extend both their left arm and their whole body. I heard that in the United States and European countries, drivers always open the passenger's door before they get into their car.
Everything has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage of a remote control key is that it is almost impossible to duplicate the key. Every remote control key is individually coded, and only the dealerships know the code. If the key smith doesn't know the code, it is impossible to duplicate the key. When you buy a new car, you are given a certain number, which identifies the code of your key. If you lose it, you will be in big trouble.
When I bought a new car in 2000, it was supplied with a remote control key. Drivers with remote control keys seldom lock their keys in the car. The statistics of JAF show that the cases of the roadside assistance service for key retrieval has been decreasing steadily these days.
The second most frequent case of roadside assistance service is for dead batteries. I also had a dead battery once. One winter morning, when I tried to start my car, the starter just made a feeble sound and couldn't start the engine. I knew it was a typical case of a dead battery.
My father had a booster cable in his car, but he had already left home. I called JAF for help. The man who took the call asked me where I was. Then he said he would dispatch the service man very soon. The service man arrived in half an hour. Very quick! He produced some kind of instrument and applied it to the battery of my car. It was like a medical doctor applying a stethoscope to a patient. He said the battery was very sick. Even though he boosted it, it would be dead soon.
He advised me to buy a fresh battery. He said he had the same type of battery as that of my car and would replace it with a fresh one on the spot.
I had no other choice than to accept his advice. Anyway the bill was on my father's JAF membership. So this was my second experience of getting roadside assistance by JAF. If you haven't joined JAF, I strongly recommend you become a member.
Many female drivers don't know how to change a flat tire. If they have a flat tire, they usually summon roadside assistance service. Some of them wait for a kind male driver to stop and change a flat tire.
My driving instructor at the driving school made me practice changing a tire many times, insisting it was very important in case I would have one.
These days we seldom have a flat tire. In 1970s, when I started to drive, we often had flat tires. With my first car, I had a flat tire twice. I fixed it myself both times. The first time was a little difficult, but the second time, it was much easier.
The third time I called JAF for help was when I had a left front wheel fall in the ditch. As your know, most of the roads in rural areas don't have sidewalks and there are ditches along the roads. Those ditches are usually not covered.
It was when I had to pass a big oncoming dump truck on a narrow road in a rural area. Being scared the truck might collide with my car, I moved to the left as far as I could and then I felt the left front wheel fall into the ditch. The truck driver, not noticing my car was stuck in the ditch, just went on.
That was my first time to have the wheel stuck in the ditch. I was kind of panicking. A few cars passed by, but not one of them stopped to help me. It was long before cell phones became a commodity. Fortunately I found a pay phone about hundred meters away from the site of the accident. I walked to the pay phone and called JAF. The man who took the phone asked where my car was and what make it was. I told him it was Mitsubishi Minica 500. He said the crew would come in less than an hour.
I went back to my car and waited for the JAF service car. Normally one service man comes to the site of the roadside assistance. That time two of them came.
I wondered why, but soon I realized why. I expected that a big tow truck would come to pull my car out of the ditch. But they came in a standard JAF service car.
I wondered how they would pull out my car. They got out of the car and went to the front of my car. Then they held the front bumper together and pulled my car out of the ditch. So simple! That was why the man asked for the make of my car. They judged my car was light enough for the two people to lift up from the ditch. Anyway I was very thankful to them. The JAF people were a godsend.
I had all these accidents during the first four years of driving, which coincided with my college days. I haven't called for any JAF roadside assistance since my last ditch accident.
However, I have remained a member of JAF, though I am no longer a family member on my father's membership. My membership is automatically renewed every year and the membership fee is deducted automatically from my bank account. JAF sends me a new membership card every year. I always keep it in my purse just in case I need it.
Fortunately I haven't caused any traffic accidents since I got my driver's license. I haven't been involved in any traffic accidents, either.
However, I have gotten three traffic tickets so far, twice for speeding and once for illegal parking.
When I was cited for speeding for the first time, I was driving on a two lane prefectural road. A long stretch of straight road was ahead of me. I was not alone. My nephew was in the passenger seat. We were having a nice chat. Then I noticed a truck coming toward us from the opposite direction flashed its high beams. I thought the driver was signaling that my headlights were on. I checked them, but they were off. I wondered why he flashed his brights and drove on for a while.
Then a policeman in uniform jumped out onto the road from nowhere with a flag. He signaled me to stop. I slowed down, pulled off to the side of the road and stopped the engine. The policeman came to the driver's side of my car. He was young and good-looking.
I opened the window, wondering what he would want from me. He said cheerfully, "Hi, good day! Will you show me your driver's license?" I fumbled through my purse and produced my driver's license and gave it to him.
Then he asked, still very politely, "What speed do you think you were driving at?" I said, "Sorry, I don't know."
Then he said, "The speed limit on this part of the road is 40 kilometers per hour. You were driving at the speed of 60 kilometers per hour. You exceeded the speed limit by twenty kilometers."
Saying this, he looked very pleased. I should have hated him, but somehow I couldn't. Then he asked me to park my car in a small vacant lot by the roadside ahead of us. I parked my car and got out, leaving my nephew in the car.
A black big police wagon with two rows of rear seats was parked there. Another policeman was sitting in the first rear seat. He beckoned me into the wagon. I climbed into the seat next to him. He said, "I'm sorry, but I have to give you a speeding ticket." Then on a long slip of red paper, he filled in the location, time, and date of the speeding violation and my driver's license number. I don't remember whether he filled in the license plate number of my car. After having filled up the form, he asked if I had my seal. Very few people carry their seal with them. I said, "No, I don't."
"In that case, I have to take your fingerprint impressions." He produced an inkpad from his briefcase and asked me to press my index finger onto the inkpad.
Then he showed a certain place on the form and asked me to press the inked finger there. When I did so, he took out a few pieces of tissue paper and told me to wipe off the ink. I wondered if I should have thanked him for that.
That was my first time I had ever got a ticket for a traffic violation. I started to feel worried about how much of a fine I had to pay and how many traffic violation points would be assessed on my license.
I asked the policeman about that.
Since I did 60 kilometers per hour in a 40 zone, it was the speeding violation of 20 kph over the posted speed limit, for which the fine was 12,000 yen and I would be assessed two violation points on my license. It was much less than I had feared. I felt a little relieved.
The policeman handed me the speeding ticket and a money transfer form for the fine. He then instructed me how to pay the fine at the bank with the money transfer form. I got out of the wagon and returned to my car. My nephew was fast asleep in the passenger seat. I climbed into my driver's seat and woke him up. He asked what had happened. I told him not to tell anything to his mother.
When I was going to leave the spot, the young policeman who had stopped me was sitting on the chair by the roadside and waved me goodbye with a broad smile. After all that I still couldn't hate him.
It was some time later that I discovered that flashing the headlights is to warn the oncoming drivers of a radar trap ahead. From then on, when I found a radar trap on the other side of the lane, I myself flashed my headlights to warn the oncoming drivers of a radar trap ahead. And I knew that a radar trap detector is on the market, and that quite a few drivers have the detector installed in their cars.
The second time I got a speeding ticket was on the Higashimeihan Expressway. As you may know the speed limit on Meishin Expressway and Tomei Expressway is 100 khp. However on most of the Japan's expressways the speed limit is 80 kph. Few drivers keep to the speed limit of 80 kph on HigashiMeihan Expressway. My daughter was with me. It was a nice day.
We were enjoying our drive and chatting merrily. Suddenly my daughter said, "Mother, someone is calling for our car to stop."
I looked in the rearview mirror. There was a black car behind us and a red light was revolving on its roof. I wasn't aware at all when they had turned the revolving light on.
I cried to my daughter, "It is an unmarked patrol car. We were trapped." I could see two policemen in the unmarked car. They were using a loud speaker and told me to stop on the shoulder lane of the road, calling out the make of my car.
I slowed down and pulled off to the shoulder lane. The unmarked patrol car parked right behind my car. One of the police officers, who was sitting in the passenger seat, got out and came to the driver's side of my car. He asked me to come to the patrol car.
Since this was the second time I was cited for speeding, I knew what I was asked to do. It was good I had my seal with me at that time. I didn't have to have fingerprint impressions taken. But it was humiliating to sit in the patrol car during the procedure of issuing a traffic citation.
The third time I was cited for a traffic violation was for illegal parking.
I was to dine for lunch at an Italian restaurant with some friends from my college days. The restaurant was in the residential area in the suburb of Gifu City. I went there with one of my friends.
I stopped my car in front of the restaurant and asked my friend to go in to ask about where the parking was. She went in and returned soon. She was told that the restaurant didn't have its own parking and that it was safe at those hours of the day to park on the street in front of the restaurant, though it was a no parking area.
Though I felt very apprehensive, I had to believe what my friend had been told by the restaurant manager, since we were going to be late for the party.
We had a nice chat and a good lunch for about two hours. When I came back to my car with happy feelings, I found a red slip of paper stuck under the windshield wiper of my car. I instantly realized it was a parking ticket. I peeled it off and read the notice for the illegal parking on the paper.
I went back to the restaurant and showed the parking ticket to the manager. He was very sorry, but he couldn't do anything about it. However, he offered to pay back half of my bill to compensate my fine."
That was kind of him. All of my friends were also very sorry and all of them donated 1,000 yen each to compensate for my fine. Yet they couldn't compensate for the demerit points assessed on my driver's license.
This experience taught me a good lesson. Since then, I have never parked my car on the streets, where parking is prohibited. When I park on the street, I park in a metered parking space. However, all the meters take only 100-yen coins. The charge is usually 300 yen per thirty minutes. If my parking time exceeds thirty minutes, I will be fined. In that case I need to come back to the meter and refill it with more 100-yen coins. Therefore when I am going to park for more than an hour, I use a parking garage. These days there are many automatic car parks without any attendants. You can park your car and pay when you leave. The automatic car parks are equipped with a barrier in each parking space, and the barrier is released only when you pay the parking fee with the automatic ticket machine. It is very convenient.
Most of the parking garages are multi-leveled. When there is no parking space available on the ground floor, I have to drive up to the upper level, making many winding turns round narrow corners. I don't like that."
Some multi-level parking garages reserve the ground parking spaces for ladies. I like that kind of parking garage. Parking garages are equipped with an entry/exit barrier gate. To open the entry gate, I have to pick up the ticket from the window of my car. If I don't stop at the gate close enough to the ticket machine, I can't pick up the ticket from the car window. In that case I have to get out the car to take the ticket. I hate that.
The same thing happens when I leave the garage. I have to insert the ticket in the slot of the ticket machine to pay the parking fee. To do that, I have to stop my car close enough to the ticket machine. It requires a difficult maneuver.
At almost every parking garage you are required to back into the space. You are not allowed to park head first. I wonder why. Many Japanese drivers prefer to back in when they park their car so that they can leave head first. I myself always prefer to park head first. I hear that in the United States, back-in parking is illegal in most states. I found this to be an interesting phenomenon. Somehow at the convenience stores, most drivers park head first. I believe it may be because a convenience store is originated in the United States. Do you agree?"
When I park my car in the garage at home, I always back in to the garage. As you know, almost all the Japanese houses don't have a driveway to the garage from the street, but the garage faces the street. If you park your car in the garage head first, you have to back out when you leave the garage. You can't see the oncoming cars. It is very dangerous. When I leave the garage, I turn on the hazard lights so that the oncoming cars from either direction can see them. Then I stick out the front of the hood from the garage as much as I can to see both ways. Only after I am certain there aren't any oncoming cars from either way, I drive onto the street.
Now I am forty-nine years old. Since I got my driver's license when I was eighteen years old, I've been driving for more than thirty years. Although I got three traffic tickets, I have never had my driver's license suspended or revoked.
As you know, if you haven't had any traffic tickets for one year since you got your last ticket, the penalty points assessed on your license are removed from your license record. Currently we have to renew our driver's license every three years on our birthday.
However, if we don't get any traffic tickets during this three-year renewal period, the renewal period is extended to five years and we get a gold license. The gold license has a gold stripe across the valid period field on the license. The stripe is about five millimeters thick and five centimeters long. Now I have a gold license for two consecutive renewal periods, or for more than ten years.
I'm always very concerned about driving safety. Do you think I am a good driver?
Now I'd like to discuss other safety measures I take.
First of all I always check the fuel gauge and go to the service station while the needle is well above the E line. These days more and more service stations have become self-service stations. I hate to fill the tank by myself. I prefer to have the attendants fill the tank. They also clean the windshield and check the engine oil level. I like that kind of service.
There are many drivers who don't pay much attention to the windshield visibility. In wintertime, if the temperature in the car is very warm, the inside vapor makes the windshield foggy, making visibility worse. In that case I never fail to turn on the air-conditioner to the DEF position."
Recently most cars have the icon designating either defogger or defroster instead of the letters DEF. By the way do you know the DEF on the air-conditioner panel means both defogger and defroster?
When it is very cold in wintertime, frost may form on the windshield. In that case, I turn on the heater to the DEF position. The warm air from the defroster duct will melt the frost stuck on the windshield.
In the late afternoons when you are driving toward the setting sun, sunlight shines in driver's eyes and blinds the driver. In that case, I never fail to put down the sun visor and avoid a bright light from hitting me in the eyes.
When I drive at night, I always try not to blind oncoming drivers with my high beam headlights. I dim my lights to low beams within 200 meters of a vehicle coming towards me.
I don't "get back" at the other driver by keeping my bright lights on, even in case the oncoming driver doesn't dim his or her lights. If an oncoming drivers lights blind me, I look to the left edge of the road and avoid the bright lights.
For some reason, Japanese drivers are very slow in turning on their headlights when it is getting dark.
There are many cars traveling on the road without headlights on even when it is fairly dark. I always try to turn on mine well before it gets dark. Many oncoming drivers flash their headlights to signal that my lights are on. I don't like that. However, recently more and more taxis, buses and trucks have started to drive with their headlights on even during bright daylight.
Statistics show that the use of headlights during the day reduces traffic accidents dramatically. Daytime headlights are mandatory in most northern European countries.
Do you know why Shinkansen bullet trains travel with their headlights on even during the daytime? The reason is that railroad maintenance crews are more aware of approaching bullet trains with their bright lights on.
If they have to rely on the sound of an approaching train to warn them, it would be too late to jump to safety and avoid getting hit by the train. Light is faster than sound.
It is interesting to note that the first generation Shinkansen Super Express trains had a faster and slower model that used the names of light and sound and were called Hikari and Kodama. The Hikari train (meaning light) is faster than the Kodama (echo, which is sound).
So today, traffic experts recommend that headlights be used not only for illuminating the road ahead, but also to allow other drivers and pedestrians to be aware of approaching vehicles.
Even during daylight, people can be aware of oncoming vehicles better by headlights than by sounds. So driving with your headlights on during the day increases driving safety.
In driving schools, we were instructed to seldom use the horn, to use it only in emergency. However, I honk the horn whenever I feel the need to warn the other drivers, though I try not to honk too loud.
Last, but not least about safety driving is drunken driving. On June 1st, 2002, the traffic law was revised and the punishment for drunken driving was strengthened.
The maximum fine for the driving under the influence of alcohol was raised from 50,000 to 300,000 yen, and the demerit points were raised from 6 points to 13 points. In case of imprisonment, the maximum length was raised from three months to one year.
If you are found too drunken to drive, the maximum fine is 500,000 yen, the maximum period of imprisonment is three years, and the points are 25. And not only the drivers but also the passengers are also fined or punished.
If the driver drinks in restaurants, bars, or izakaya, the managers or the owners of those places are also fined or punished. This law must be the most severe in the world.
The effects of the revision have been dramatic. The cases of drunken driving have diminished drastically.
I myself have never driven after drinking. Sometimes it is very inconvenient. When I go to a party where the alcoholic beverages are served, I have to go by train or by taxi. It takes more time and money, but it's safer. As a safety driver and also as a good citizen, I must observe the law.
During my thirty years of driving, I have driven five cars, or a new one every six years. The first was a Mitsubishi Minica, then I had two sedans, a recreational vehicle and my current one, a Toyota Harrier, which is a one box wagon.
I have always wanted to drive a two-seater sports car. But I haven't been able to own one because I have had to give a ride to my daughter and son. Now my daughter is twenty-four and my son is going to graduate from high school next year. So, soon I will be able to have a two-seater sports car. I hope my daughter will get married in a few years and have a baby, giving me a grandchild.
My dream is to drive a red, two-seater sports car with my grandchild in the passenger seat with the top down on the expressway, going over 100 kph! I'm sure he or she will be fascinated with my driving. Can you imagine a young-looking old lady in her sixties cruising on the expressway in a sports car with the top down at the speed of 100 kph? If you happen to see one, it will be me.
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