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Y Plate Drivers Are Rude, Dangerous

Date Posted: 2000-10-21

When I started living in Okinawa eight months ago my friends told me to be careful of Okinawan drivers. I was warned they had bad driving manners. However I have found I have to be careful of American military Y number plated cars. I do not come from Okinawa. I am from the mainland and when I came here I did not have bad feelings for the American military, as many Okinawans do. But since I started driving here I have been angry at the bad manners of American drivers. When driving everybody thinks about dangerous situations that can happen. Now I pay a lot of attention to Y plate cars because they drive very carelessly. For example recently I was driving on a highway when I saw some roadworks ahead. I immediately had to change lanes fast. In this situation it is normal for other drivers to make space. Everybody knows what you have to do. But a Y plate driver suddenly accelerated and prevented me from changing lanes. This is very unfriendly behavior and also dangerous.

Another situation I have been in several times is driving along a street while a car at an intersection is waiting to pull into the traffic. Cars driven by Americans will cut ahead without enough space, forcing me to brake suddenly. They do this even if there are no cars behind me, which they can very well see. How rude and unnecessary.

I know Okinawan drivers do not have the best road manners, but American drivers should not complain because some of you also have terrible road manners. Improve your own habits before pointing the finger at others. This is not America. It is Japan. Also you do not pay Japanese road taxes or buy Japanese gasoline. You should show more consideration when using public facilities that are not your own.

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