Police issued 33 "red tickets" to bicyclists during May, in a bid to punish traffic violations after the National Police Agency (NPA) decided in the previous month to step up measures against bicyclists' bad manners.
Violations during May included one for a 70-year-old man who rode a bicycle while drunk and scraped a parked vehicle in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture.
Another violator was a 16-year-old high school boy, who continued to ride double on a bicycle despite being warned by a police officer in Shijonawate, Osaka Prefecture.
Police issued a total of 146,877 warning tickets of various types in that month, for bad bicycling manners such as double riding and riding without lights at night.
Meanwhile, the number of traffic accidents involving bicycles reached 15,181 in May, 859 less compared to the same month last year. But the number of bicyclists' deaths was 65, nine more than May 2005.
"Bicyclists' bad manners are a social problem. We will regulate them severely," an NPA official said.
i like the mental picture i have of a little old drunk japanese guy riding his bicycle into parked cars....jackie chan should add it to his next movie
ReplyDeleteI love the way the Japanese say Bicyclists , not cyclists or bike riders , it's just cute.
ReplyDeleteThat would be such a funny image JS.
BRB phoning Jackie Chan ~~~~~>