The Dark side of Japan Tourism.

[drron]

300,000 Yen is a bit over 3000 bucks. A hefty fine for a minor traffic accident

As I felt at the time - the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

 

[GarrettM]

What an outrageous ordeal for you to have endured @drron and I am glad to hear you came out the other side, albeit somewhat scathed. I'm very sure I could not have remained as calm as you in such a circumstance. Hope you and @mrs.dr.ron are working your way back to recovery and justice.

 

[JohnM]

I'm sure there's someone in the media around here that knows someone in the media who might wish to take up this story if @drron wished it.

 

[Pushka]

I didn't think at the beginning, but do now, that people must be made aware of your horrible situation. It could happen to ANYONE! I had no idea that the justice system in Japan was anything like this and we need to be made aware of it.

Could you bear dealing with this more publically? At the very least there needs to be some kind of warning on the Government Travel advisory. Ok there's a generic one I guess about obeying laws yada, but this was a relatively simple accident to make.

How would you describe the assistance provided by the Embassy?

 

[kookaburra75]

I too have only just seen this thread - and I'm sitting here dumbfounded that anything like this could happen in this age. I have never been to Japan, but know many who have been there to live, study or travel, and they have mentioned the two sets of rules that apply to locals and non-locals.
I'm just glad that you and Mrs Ron are now ok.

 

[UP4014]

As Pushka points out, this could have been anyone of us.

I'll be sure to share you story with others.

If I run into you anywhere (no pun intended) I'll be sure to ‘buy the man a beer’.

 

[Daver6]

Woah! Just catching up on this. What a ridiculous ordeal for you. I'm lost for words but glad you're presumably back home now.

 

[QF WP]

As I felt at the time - the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

I'm thinking about the Court costs plus the cost of the medical expenses given to the person you hit and think it sounds reasonable. When looking at it in an Australian context (if the roles were reversed), it would depend if he had medical insurance et al.

I'll bet you ate up big at dinner at a reasonable local restaurant. The sad part was the loss of time and your plans that you or @mrs.dr.ron had to cancel. Getting home would have been a joyous occasion - did yo have any issues with changing flights or Australian Customs?

I'll bet your usual restaurants on the Sunshine Coast are getting a work out as well.

 

[ketsuzei]

There's been a lot of talk about different treatment due to being a foreigner and I'm not seeing it.

They classified it as a two-month injury, and the standard fine for an injury that is classified as requiring between 30 days and three months is 300,000 yen to 500,000 yen. So the fine ended up as the minimum.

Locals get imprisoned for serious accidents and detained for more minor ones while they are processed.

 

[GarrettM]

I'm sure there's someone in the media around here that knows someone in the media who might wish to take up this story if @drron wished it.

No doubt, but as suggested, never without express and willing consent.

 

[Denali]

Considering I teared up when I read your update and pics, I cant imagine how Mrs DrRon held up when she saw you, or you once you got to the hotel room for that matter. Horrible experience

I'm sure there's someone in the media around here that knows someone in the media who might wish to take up this story if @drron wished it.

Considering the cess pool the internet is these days, I can only imagine the negative comments towards Dr Ron will be made by random keyboard warriors so if he chooses to do this, dont read the comments

 

[ellen10]

I must admit I shed a tear for you and Mrs Dr Ron when you finally got to see each other in that room, after all that time of worrying about each other and not knowing how each of you were coping. The relief must have been enormous. And was so glad to hear that your release was quick after that. What composure you showed to endure the daily ongoings and procedures that happened to you.

What I also felt, that you had very little rights and compassion showed to you in a very traumatic situation.
I am just so glad that you and @mrs.dr.ron are ok.

 

[RooFlyer]

There's been a lot of talk about different treatment due to being a foreigner and I'm not seeing it.

They classified it as a two-month injury, and the standard fine for an injury that is classified as requiring between 30 days and three months is 300,000 yen to 500,000 yen. So the fine ended up as the minimum.

Locals get imprisoned for serious accidents and detained for more minor ones while they are processed.

Happy to take your word for it, but presumably the locals can read the documents thrust in front of them and told to sign. And equally presumably understand what’s been read out in court.

Not all the penalties are monetary.

 

[UP4014]

There's been a lot of talk about different treatment due to being a foreigner and I'm not seeing it.

They classified it as a two-month injury, and the standard fine for an injury that is classified as requiring between 30 days and three months is 300,000 yen to 500,000 yen. So the fine ended up as the minimum.

Locals get imprisoned for serious accidents and detained for more minor ones while they are processed.

Maybe not, but what I’m hearing from your post is they treat nationals equally as poorly and over a traffic accident. A sign of not being as civilised as the shiny outside might suggest.

 

[Pushka]

There's been a lot of talk about different treatment due to being a foreigner and I'm not seeing it.

They classified it as a two-month injury, and the standard fine for an injury that is classified as requiring between 30 days and three months is 300,000 yen to 500,000 yen. So the fine ended up as the minimum.

Locals get imprisoned for serious accidents and detained for more minor ones while they are processed.

Then this treatment is awful for everyone. It did sound like one of the citizens had access to their partner whilst Drron did not and that would have contributed greatly to his stress. And mrrdron who was not advised of anything happening to her husband. The language barrier can't be underestimated.

 

[Quickstatus]

There's been a lot of talk about different treatment due to being a foreigner and I'm not seeing it.

Foreigners are treated differently as per my posts (and others). However i dont believe anyone mentioned that foreigners are treated differently before the law.

The treatment that @drron received cannot just be distilled into a ¥300k fine. His punishment was much more than a fine. As there was no bail, the punishment was also jail time. Who knows what it may have been if he was a local - maybe none, maybe more, maybe less. If there was no difference, then the Japanese criminal system is still brutal. Maybe that is why crime is considered to be low in Japan. That the fine fell within a fine schedule does not remove the fact that foreigners are treated very differently in Japanese society.

@drron , did you have to formally plead guilty?

 

[TheRealTMA]

Terrible experience @drron. For the “offence”, from what I understand, given the bike passed a turning vehicle, were you actually in the wrong according to the Japanese highway code? Presumably that may have been a defence but does it matter?

 

[jkbaus]

Horrified and devastated for you both.

 

[Tiki]

Wouldn't the injuries of the other person be covered by travel insurance or the insurance that comes with a rental car?

I don't see how this is a "crime". It was an accident. Dr Ron was not drunk, behaving recklessly or trying to hurt anyone. If it was his fault, then sure, have the insurance pay out to the other party. I was in a fender-bender in a parking garage, no one was injured. I was deemed at fault for not giving right of way (I didn't see the approaching car coming from the left). All that happened was we exchanged details, made reports to the insurance companies, I filled out all the papers they asked for and that was it. They paid everything except the excess.

We've all seen the news stories of young people in Bali getting in strife with scooters or drunk behavior or even worse drugs but we don't feel threatened because we don't behave like that. But small traffic accidents really can happen to anyone and other countries don't deal with them the same way as Australia, probably NZ, USA, Canada, etc.

 

[drron]

There's been a lot of talk about different treatment due to being a foreigner and I'm not seeing it.

They classified it as a two-month injury, and the standard fine for an injury that is classified as requiring between 30 days and three months is 300,000 yen to 500,000 yen. So the fine ended up as the minimum.

Locals get imprisoned for serious accidents and detained for more minor ones while they are processed.

I’m sorry but a fractured clavicle is not a 2 month injury. Requires an outpatient visit and probably a sling fitted plus pain medication. It was obvious that the fracture was not displaced when I saw him immediately after the accident. The ambulance didn’t think it necessary to take him straight to a hospital. He would have needed to be followed up with 1 or 2 X rays. This was not a serious accident.
Besides I was told by a member of the first Judge’s staff that the usual fine in this situation was 100-150000 yen.
As well none of the Japanese detainees had a condition imposed that they could only be visited by their lawyers and not be allowed to have outside food and drinks delivered.

As well the motor cycle rider obviously broke 2 Japanese laws.