By YUTA KAYABA/ Staff Writer
December 5, 2019 at 14:20 JST
OKAYAMA--Prefectural police in western Japan issued their first traffic ticket based on video posted to a special site set up in November to crack down on reckless driving.
The website was opened on Nov. 21 to allow drivers to submit video taken from camcorders in their vehicles of driving habits deemed to be dangerous.
It is the first police website in Japan dedicated to reckless driving.
On Dec. 4, a truck driver in his 40s was given the traffic ticket for abruptly changing lanes in front of a minicar driven by a man who had his camcorder turned on and captured the entire sequence.
The incident occurred around 4 p.m. on Nov. 16 along a two-lane national road in Kurashiki. The video shows a large truck changing lanes from the right without first signaling its intention to do so nor waiting until it was adequately in front of the minicar.
After the video was submitted to the Okayama prefectural police website, investigators tracked down the vehicle in question and handed out the ticket under the Road Traffic Law, citing reckless driving for changing lanes illegally.
The driver admitted to changing lanes without first adequately checking if any vehicles were approaching in the left lane.
Since the website opened Nov. 21, Okayama prefectural police have been tipped off about 31 incidents.
Police nationwide have been instructed to clamp down on road rage incidents in light of incidents that led to fatalities.
In a widely reported incident in Kanagawa Prefecture, a driver tailgated a vehicle carrying a family of four on the Tomei Expressway in 2017. After the car was forced to stop due to the obstructive driving, the father and mother confronted the driver, only to be struck from behind by another vehicle and killed.
The driver was handed an 18-year prison sentence for reckless driving.
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A large truck cuts in front of a minicar on a two-lane national road in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, on Nov. 16. (Provided by Okayama prefectural police)
