Things you should know before they happen
Well, I got back to Japan last night, and then this morning on the way to work I had… a traffic accident.
Luckily it was a minor accident, and no one was hurt. But it got me thinking about all the things related to accidents in Japan that people really should know before they get into one.
And I have had a bunch of accidents in Japan, so I know a fair bit about them.
The accident
I was driving to work with my wife in the morning. We were on a single lane road with no pavements so going quite slowly.
There is a point where the road goes under a railway bridge so it gets a bit narrower than usual, and just at that point another car passed us going in the other direction. They were going a bit faster than us, and as they passed they hit our mirror, bits of which fell off.
I stopped, they didn’t.
I got out and picked up the bits of mirror (the housing, missing in the photo above), which didn’t seem to be broken but might not be fit for purpose any more.
My wife called the police as I drove the last couple of minutes to work. The police were nice, but wanted us to come in immediately to report the accident.
I had a class, so my wife offered to go instead, but they need the driver to make the report.
After the class I had to drive my wife to hospital (she had a minor operation today) so we agreed I would go to the police station after that.
The police station
My wife called the local police station (警察署) not 110 or the local koban (police box). Generally speaking, it is better to do that for non-emergency matters. You can Google the number for your local station easily.
When I got to the station the police wanted to see the car (they took several photographs of it), the shaken certificate and jibaiseki (mandatory insurance) receipt, and my driving license.
We have a dashcam, so they also asked to access the SD card of that.
After a few minutes they asked me to come in and view the footage. Sadly our dashcam isn’t great, so they couldn’t find a clear image of the license plate of the other car (we could just make out the large numbers, not the smaller ones). I guess for a serious incident they could have looked at nearby CCTV to find the car, but this didn’t really merit that.
It turned out our rear dashcam was pointed at the inside of the trunk, so not in the slightest bit useful. I will have to get that looked at.
The police told me if the other driver came forward they would contact me, and that was all. Took about half an hour from me arriving at the police station to me leaving.
The officers I talked to were pretty friendly and very professional. Other than the hassle, a pretty painless experience.
What I learned
Leaving the scene of an accident is a crime, but the police said they would have to interview the other driver in order to decide. Seems that claiming not to notice could get you off if you are convincing enough.
Having a dashcam is a good idea if you drive, but checking the dashcam is working properly before you need it is also a good idea.
Traffic accidents are expensive whether they are your fault or not. I don’t know how much this will cost to fix this time, but likely more than zero. It is likely not worth using our insurance for this so we’ll just have to pay out of pocket.
People not stopping after accidents seems to be a thing here. This is the third time it has happened to me.
What you need to know about traffic accidents in Japan
Any traffic accident must be reported to the police immediately. Failing to do so may be a crime in itself, but also leaves you very vulnerable if the other party takes action. This is true even if they initially tell you that everything is fine and there is no need to involve the police.
You must have insurance if you drive or ride a bicycle. The consequences of not having unlimited third party cover can be so catastrophic that it really isn’t worth taking the chance to save a few man (or for bicycle insurance, a couple of thousand yen a year).
The police write a report, and determine any criminal penalties, but the insurance companies decide who is financially reponsible for an accident. You can affect this process by communicating with your insurance company, submitting evidence, etc.
You can have your insurance company negotiate with the other party’s insurance company, ask how much your future premiums will go up, and how much the accident will cost you before deciding whether you want to use the insurance to pay or if you want to pay out of pocket.
Any time you have to deal with the police, being calm/polite/friendly/matter of fact/relaxed goes a long way towards making you the good guy. I’ve had a lot of dealings with the police here, and even if they weren’t particularly friendly at first, by the end of the interaction they always warm to me. A lot of that is just me being calm, friendly, and relaxed.
How about you? Have you every had a traffic accident in Japan? How did it go?
Don’t leave the crime scene but also leave your car where it was when the accident occured. When I had a crash about 20 years back, after the crash I moved the car to the side of the road to allow the traffic to get through – commonplace in my country. Apparently this was a big no-no here and I got a grilling about it by the police, even though I told them straight up that it was all my fault. They thought I was trying to get away with it.
Sounds like you got some grumpy cops! In almost all the accidents I have been involved with in Japan the vehicles were moved to clear the road before the police arrived, usually because the police told us to do that. Don’t remember anyone being accused of trying to destroy evidence…
Interesting to hear. Must’ve just been my guy then. My accident wasn’t very serious but I was apologetic but still, the guy told me to visit the police station a few days later and he gave me an absolute grilling. I was quite shocked. Must’ve had a chip on his shoulder about something.
Sounds like you got a bad one. I have been pretty lucky with my police interactions so far.
I think the cops here in Miyagi are pretty good. They’ve always been friendly and professional. Ishikawa not as friendly, but no complaints.