After coming to Japan for more than two years, I will experience various "firsts", such as the first time I went shopping, the first time I went to the city office, the first time I went to the doctor, the first time I opened a bank account, and the first time that my children went to school independently.
So many "firsts", basically every time is a good experience and result, not only can you do things well, but also accumulate experience, over time, everything in life will become smooth, and the feeling of helplessness and confusion when you encounter things will gradually disappear. However, it may be this gradual "familiarization" that has made me slacken, and I have unconsciously become a little "old fritter".
Of all the "firsts" that could be experienced, there was one experience I didn't want to try, and that was dealing with the police. Just because you don't want to experience it doesn't mean you won't experience it! Just yesterday, the "first time" in this regard really happened!
Here's the thing, yesterday afternoon, there was a big thing to do, in fact, it was not in a hurry to do it yesterday, and it was OK to do it in a few days, I struggled for a while, I thought about it or a run, the place is not far, the bicycle can be reached, I was entangled for a while, and the ghost made a small pedal (small motorcycle). So, start, turn the throttle, and go......
As the saying goes, if you don't die, you won't die. I chose the wrong option for two questions in a row, and the results can be imagined. When I passed a small road that I had walked N times, I turned a corner and jumped out from behind a tree on the side of the road, and he motioned for me to slow down, followed him and drove forward for a short time, and pulled over on a safe section!
When I followed him, I was a little confused, I didn't know if it was a routine inspection or a violation, in short, I was very nervous, after all, I got my driver's license here for two years, and it was the first time I was stopped by the police.
It was a relatively young policeman who stopped me, so let's call him Xiao Wang. He said that you didn't see the stop sign at the intersection just now, you didn't stop at all, and you turned around all of a sudden! This is a violation and requires penalties.
There are a few issues involved, so I'll start with a brief science popularization.
First, there's the issue of the stop sign:
According to statistics, 80% of the roads in Japan are small roads under 4 meters, and many intersections do not have a large number of vehicles passing every day, perhaps due to cost considerations or driving efficiency considerations, and many intersections do not have traffic lights. They relied on this traffic sign to control the traffic order.
As you can see in the picture below, you can see this red triangle sign at many intersections, which says "止まれ", and the same word is written on the ground, which means stop! Once you see this sign, motorized vehicles, even bicycles and pedestrians, must stop and check the conditions on the left and right sides of the intersection before passing. The "stop" here is not to slow down or pass slowly, it is necessary to stop, and the speed is in a state of zero, even if there is no one at the intersection, it is necessary to stop and continue to pass after confirming the completion.
This sign can be seen almost everywhere in Japan and is one of the most important traffic signs, not only for drivers, but also for children who receive traffic safety education in kindergartens to instill the importance of obeying this signal, so the Japanese people's perception of this sign is as ingrained as we are for "stop at a red light, go at a green light".
Once, a TV program in Japan broadcast that the police drove the bikers, the gangsters fled in modified cars, and the police chased behind, at that moment, when passing through an intersection with a stop sign, the gangsters' cars turned on the brake lights, and after a pause, they continued to accelerate and escape, and the police did the same, playing police lights, sounding sirens, and when they arrived at the intersection, they also braked, and then continued to chase......
Of course, I know this sign, and I have always followed it strictly when driving for the past few years. On the one hand, this is indeed a very important security guarantee, on the other hand, the Japanese police are also very strong in investigating and dealing with violations of this sign, and it is often seen that police cats are in a corner of the intersection to catch this kind of violation.
However, whenever I ride a small motorcycle, the tendon in my brain will unconsciously relax, it may be that I used to be used to "rampage" in the domestic battery car, although I have converged a lot here, and the speed also abides by the speed limit, but it is different from driving a car, and occasionally there is no complete stop to pass. This time, I was caught by Xiao Wang!
The second problem to talk about here is that the Japanese police catch violations, many times they don't rely on cameras and recorders, they basically rely on the police to watch at the scene, and he sees that you are violating the rules, including speeding and changing lanes across solid lines, and you don't need to argue, if you are not satisfied, you can appeal, but basically it is useless, because the police will not frame you.
Sometimes they can "cat" squat in one place for a long time, or even "no gain" for a day, but they will never put a trumped-up charge on your head, so generally when you are stopped by the police in Japan, you can basically only obediently admit the punishment, and the most you can do is to urge the police to write the ticket quickly and then continue on the road.
It's a bit of a stretch, back to the "crime scene".
Xiao Wang pointed out my violation, and I admitted it, because I really didn't stop just now, and then he asked me to show my driver's license. This is embarrassing again, I said that I didn't have a driver's license, maybe it was a problem with the language, he thought I said I didn't have a driver's license, and his eyes widened and he confirmed it repeatedly.
At this time, there was an older policeman in the police car not far away, who should be Xiao Wang's boss, call him Lao Zhang.
Xiao Wang reported the situation to Lao Zhang, and at this time I also made it clear that I didn't have a driver's license, not without a driver's license.
Lao Zhang's face was serious, and his attitude was not as friendly as Xiao Wang, saying how can you go on the road without a driver's license, are you sure you really have a driver's license?! His output made me even more nervous, and I hurriedly rummaged through the photo of my driver's license from my mobile phone, but in a hurry, I couldn't find it for a while.
Lao Zhang said don't look for it, we want to see the real thing, and it's useless to find it! So he began to ask where my family lived, and when he checked the navigation and said that it was not far away, he asked if there was anyone in your house, and could you ask your family to send it. I said that there is no one at home now, and my driver's license is usually placed in the car, and I forgot to take it out and carry it with me when I went out today. Lao Zhang still insisted on checking the physical documents, I said that I should park the small motorcycle here, take a taxi back to get it, Lao Zhang said no, they want to take me to the house to check the documents!
Well, it's come to this, I can only cooperate obediently, who let himself be at fault first. So, I'm about to get into a police car like never before! This is an experience that has never been experienced in China before. Since coming to Japan, I've always felt that their crown police car is quite powerful and domineering, and I always want to see it up close, okay, now I'm going straight in!
There is also a process for entering the police car, Xiao Wang will first conduct a simple "body search" on me, and the things in the pocket must be taken out to show him to confirm that there is no "lethal weapon", and then Xiao Wang will enter the back seat first, I will follow in, and the two of us will sit in the back row, Xiao Wang is equivalent to "supervising" me, and Lao Zhang will finally enter the driver's seat and be responsible for driving.
The interior of the police car is not as complicated as imagined, and it is even like an ordinary family car, except that there are more equipment such as walkie-talkies and cameras, unlike American police cars, which also have rifle configurations, and Japanese police officers generally carry a pistol pinned to their waists.
On the road, Lao Zhang continued his "admonition", he said that one of you is not stopping when you see the signs, and the other is not carrying documents, which are two "crimes"! Xiao Wang was relatively polite, and simply asked some questions, such as how long he has been in Japan, how did he get his driver's license, and have you ever violated the rules before...... I sat in the back row like I had nothing to do, worried about the punishment I was going to face, regretting my violations, and feeling home.
The house arrived in a while, at this time my daughter had already gone home, the flashing police lights attracted her to the door, and I was shocked to see me coming out of the police car, I could only smile bitterly to comfort her, and then took out the documents from my car to Lao Zhang.
The two sir checked it, motioned me back to the police car, and then the two of them sat in the police car and began to write a list, two violations, one for each of them, and just wrote for a while, only the "tick" sound of double flashing lights in the quiet carriage, no wonder there are often videos showing the parties who are too impatient and scolding the police to write the list.
I couldn't help it, because I heard some Chinese in Japan say that I could plead with the police, so I asked them if they could spare me once, or give me a lighter punishment, after all, I was a first-time offender. Lao Zhang shook his head and said, you are only the first time we have been caught, and it is hard to say whether it is a first offense (I have to say that ginger is still old and spicy).
I asked Xiao Wang how much he would be fined, and he said while writing a list: The intersection does not stop, 5,000 yen plus 2 points, without documents, 3,000 yen, no deduction points. After speaking, the two of them gave me two fresh and hot tickets, and Xiao Wang also introduced some operational rules on how to pay the fine, mainly to take it to the post office or some designated banks to pay in cash, and be sure to complete the payment before the deadline and so on.
The authentic works of Lao Zhang and Xiao Wang
Then the police lights came on, and they wanted to take me back to the "crime scene" just now. This time, Lao Zhang didn't say anything more, and Xiao Wang didn't sit in the back seat, but returned to the co-pilot. From time to time, there were some police reports on the intercom, and I looked at the penalty sheet in my hand, with mixed feelings.
Back to the place where the incident occurred, there is also a process for getting out of the police car, and the police must get off first, and they can only go down after they help you open the car door. In the end, Lao Zhang told me that it would be dealt with today, and that you should pay attention to obeying traffic laws in the future. No one said "goodbye", and I got on my scooter and drove home.
I went to the post office this morning, and obediently paid 8,000 oceans, and the whole thing came to an end.
The reason why I "exposed my own ugliness" and shared this experience was to give myself a solemn warning.
It is true that when walking on the road, we can sometimes see all kinds of illegal or low-quality behaviors, such as smoking while walking, littering, pedestrians running red lights, etc., and there are Japanese and foreigners who do these things, but this should not be a reason for us to follow suit. Because no matter where we are, we are always invisibly linked to the "Chinese image", and it is our responsibility to maintain this image!
In the words of a friend, in a place where rules are spoken, you have to be a person who follows the rules.