With more foreign drivers on the road, and the number of accidents involving them also on the rise.
Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-to-raise-bar-on-foreign-drivers-license-conversion-test
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Good.
Whenever I drive in another country, I’ve done some decent research on not just the law differences but the culture difference. But it’s never enough and at the end of each day I look up the things that puzzles me on the road earlier.
You can easily be involved in an accident if you don’t know, “That’s just how they do it here.”
Some countries the standards are loose, others are very tight. Some countries have things unique to a state or region that are totally different in other parts of it. Driving around people that have transitioned from one to the other is always tense.
And at the end of the day, if you can drive how you’re supposed to in Japan, there’s nothing to worry about with the test.
I’d be in favor of upping the written test requirements, but the “practical” test is already stupid. If people drove like they have you drive on the test it would be a nightmare. For example, to make any turn you have to check two mirrors and turn to look over your shoulder, then repeat that sequence again just before the turn.
Good point.
If you drive like the test in Australia, you’ll be pretty good. If you drive like the test in Greece, you’re a rolling hazard. But also doing mandatory motorcycle tests in some SE Asian countries were insanely easy. Just demonstrating bike control and then doing a short 5 min ride around a block, literally breaking the rules to keep in flow of traffic, and they pass you. Though I’ve found in most countries that have that, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to fail, they just tell you what was wrong and have you keep doing it again until you get a tick.
So again to your point, it’d be very country-specific on whether the driving culture there makes the test an absolute nightmare or not.
I hope international driving permits will still be allowed because I’ve been planning a road trip in Japan… (I used to live and drive there, and I’m very comfortable with their laws.)
