Ever seen a car accident on Okinawa...

[retributionnk]

without an American invovled?!

I sure haven't. Every accident I've not only involved a Y-plate, but judging from the appearance, they all seemed to be the fault of the Y-platers. A friend told me recently that he saw a cab rear-end a Y-plate car, but I'm skeptical. Post your Japanese v. Japanese car accidents here! :w00t:

[TheLastDon]

I have seen quite a few especially when it rains.

[Muku]

Actually I can not remember the last time I saw an accident with a "Y" plate involved in it.

That should tell you something about the distance that I live from the bases:-| :D

[retributionnk]

Actually I can not remember the last time I saw an accident with a "Y" plate involved in it.

That should tell you something about the distance that I live from the bases:-| :D

That's true, once you get 30 minutes or so North or South of the Foster/Kadena area you see very few Y-plates. however, I haven't been fortunate enough to see any accidents other than those near base or on base.

[Bones]

Yep, Cape Zanpa a while ago. No Y-Plate involved, just a sugar cane farmer furious about some Japanese tourist taking out a whole row of his sugar cane.

What's really funny is when someone makes a lot of noise, and they blame you for it. Only two Americans living in our building, and I'm one of them. The guy living next door to me, never heard a peep out of him, and he lives next door.

Someone complained about the noise yesterday, and the person lives on the third floor. Two floors up from where we live, on the other side of the building.

He's moving out this afternoon, he's a local, and not one person accused me of making the noise. So perhaps there is some justice after all.:D

NBTP

[okisteve]

Not only have I never seen any accidents here at all except for one really small fender-bender, but the behavior of the drivers in that case was so totally consistent with Okinawa: not one harsh word uttered. Shoganai.

[socalheart]

I've seen more car accidents here NOT involving Y-plates. I saw one old lady parallel park her k-car in between two trees on the sidewalk on top of some shrubbery. Most accidents are doosies during rain storms and involve kanji plate k-cars. I do 95% of my driving between Foster and Kadena.

[dk]

I see them all the time. People suck at driving in my area.

Wait, what am I saying. People suck at driving everywhere on this island. Especially when it's sprinkling.

[P_chan]

Of course I've seen one's that were only hiragana plates! I saw this lady in a kei car that wasn't paying attention! She ran up the curb and hit a tree, flipping her car!

[Muku]

The funniest one I ever saw here was during the middle of a rather nasty typhoon some years ago, this idiot of a guy was driving his 50cc scooter on Hwy 329 when out of nowhere:eek: :rolleyes: this gust of wind knocks the guy over like 90 degrees to his left.

I was driving behind the guy about 50 meters or so and saw the whole thing, I stopped and checked on him, he was ok, but it was funnier than hell, like WHAM and over he went.:D

[dk]

That's funny Muku. I've driven through some hellish typhoons and have been scared in a car. There's no way I'd ever want to try driving in a typhoon on a scooter...

[retributionnk]

Maybe I should've titled this thread "Has any actually seen an American in an accident here?" I guess I'm the only one that ever sees accidents involving Americans!

[dk]

I see plenty of Y-plates in accidents.

[DoctorP]

Maybe I should've titled this thread "Has any actually seen an American in an accident here?" I guess I'm the only one that ever sees accidents involving Americans!

Everyone has seen them. Just the OP wanted to go in a different direction.

I saw a car 2 weeks ago? Had jumped the curb and took out a light pole and a small tree. Evidently happened early in the a.m. and he/she ran off. Car stayed like that for 3 days before the JP's had it towed. I'm sure that driver was drunk...and didnt' want a dui!

[Tanimaga]

I watched a Japanese lady die two years ago from an car accident near Katsuren. Head on collision as she pulled out of her driveway. No Y-plates.

[DocTurtle]

I've seen more "non-Y" plate accidents than Y plate involved accidents.
I saw 3 accidents...well...2 1/2 in one night driving back from CoCo's over by the Smoker Shop in Naha. We were sitting at a light and this scooter come turning in, loses control some how, it was not raining so I don't know how it slipped on the crosswalk paint or what, but the guy went down. He got right back up. He seemed more embarrassed than hurt.
Next one happened when we were under the bridge and the crosswalk had the right of way and this an old man was riding his bike across and was 2/3's of the way there when this car comes out of no where, slams on the breaks and hit the guy! Lucky the guy in the car wasn't going very fast. It seemed more like if you pushed someone then hit with a car. He seemed to be ok as well. The 1/2 was when a car that was weaving in and out of traffic almost weaved into us! We weren't in thier blind spot or anything. We were right next to them! I hit the horn and they got back into their lane. They had a terrified look on their face when they realized what alomst just happened. All of these, not Y plates.

[Muku]

I watched a Japanese lady die two years ago from an car accident near Katsuren. Head on collision as she pulled out of her driveway. No Y-plates.
About two years ago there were a couple of accidents near my house where people died from their serious brain farts.

One guy drove his car through a red light, swerved to avoid a pedestrian and drove his k-car through the front window of a small mom and pop store.

The other one that comes to mind was two "oba's" that were driving down the road during rush hour, evidently doing the usually chatting between the two and not paying attention to the road, and she drove her car into the back of a bus parked at a bus stop.

[Muku]

The 1/2 was when a car that was weaving in and out of traffic almost weaved into us! We weren't in thier blind spot or anything. We were right next to them! I hit the horn and they got back into their lane. They had a terrified look on their face when they realized what alomst just happened.
I've been seeing this more and more recently too, as it seems that people are leaning over to change the channel on their TV's or reaching to answer their cell phones and fail to realize that they are drifting over into the other lane. :cursing:

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

As US forces and dependants only make up 50,000 out of 1.35 million people on Okinawa. Naturally, you'll see far more accidents involving locals, given the sheer volume in difference. It would be far more interesting to see stats for accident rate per captia, for both local residents and Y-plate holders.

[socalheart]

Sure we've seen car accidents involving Y plates, but that wasn't your question. You were gunning for talk about Y plate drivers getting into car accidents, as if you have something against them just because of their license plates.
Ever seen a car accident on Okinawa... without an American invovled?!

Anyhow, sure we've seen car accidents involving Y plates. duh. We've probably seen more non-Y though due to simple ratios as mentioned by whats-his-name previously.

I typically see these types of accidents around the military bases:
1. A non-Y hits a Y while merging. I've found that over seven years of personally driving here and seventeen years of being a passenger, the majority of local drivers here do NOT know how to merge well if at all. :rolleyes:
2. A Y hits another Y while exiting Kadena gate 1 when merging onto hwy 58, because the guy behind is watching the traffic on the hwy rather than the car in front of him.
3. An OV truck jack-knifes on the turn exiting Kadena gate 1, because the usually local driver doesn't know how to negotiate the turn.
4. A Y has decorated a road pole or divider with his car, probably due to driving too fast. :thumbdown:

Y drivers are typically the better drivers as they say (heh), but other than single car accidents, most car accidents I've seen are the fault of non-Y drivers. It seems odd, since they're required to take a class and test for which foreigners are consistently failed.

[DoctorP]

I saw three Y-plate accidents in the past two days, and no rain in sight! That doesn't mean that they are all Y-plates though.

[swindland]

So far i have not seen any accidents involving Y-plates. Couple of days ago I saw a motorcyclist put his bike down. I have a question, If your an american buying a motorcycle what kind of plates do you get. Is it also a Y-plate or hiragana plates.

[socalheart]

If your an american buying a motorcycle what kind of plates do you get. Is it also a Y-plate or hiragana plates.

You get a B plate.

[Tanimaga]

Speaking of bikes, I saw a fellow lay his bike down in the middle of the Hobby shop. He started yelling at the staff at the top of his lungs for them to help him lift it up off the floor,　like it was their fault.

[Bones]

Nothing is more satisfying than seeing one of the local scooters, slam into the side of an Okinawan Police car, while doing better than 100 kph. while running a red light.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

NBTP

[slickmetal]

Nothing is more satisfying than seeing one of the local scooters, slam into the side of an Okinawan Police car, while doing better than 100 kph. while running a red light.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

NBTP

wow, that would have been a nice sight...but in reality, no...its funny how the scooters and bikes dont weave or wizz by you from the right or left when a cop is sitting in the traffic with you..

just go check out ihateyplate.com thats where some guy rags on Y plates for our bad driving...i just wish I had a vid camera in my car running 24/7...

I just dont understand why the concept of safe following distance is neglected, especially when someone takes it away from you trying to get in front of you...and crossing over Zebra stripes in a merge lane before the car ahead of you.

[P_chan]

You think the scooters are bad in okinawa. Come over here to thailand and take a tuk tuk, fun ride. Just don't get him to race your buddies in their tuk tuk.

[FDokinawa]

geez where do I start...

was on gate gard duty right after Sep 11th and an american was rubber-necking for some reason and slamed into the back of a car stoped at the stoplight. no one was seriously hurt.

Was on 58 one day right outside of the Kinser gate next to Pizza house when this drunk old guy driving his kei van drove into on comming traffic and hit this chick next to me.. wasnt bad at all, more of a big bump. I got out of my car and ran over and turned his car off before he could back up and give it another go. he got out of the car and walked around for a bit.

Seen a couple scooters wipe out running from cops.. saw a bosozuhu hit a scooter on kokusai street.. the kids dumped the bike and ran. Then this old man walks out and starts yelling at the bike on thr ground.. was pretty funny.

saw a old japanese lady put the front half of her car up under a bus.

came upon a nasty accident, the car had taken out 4 palm trees.. no one was there and the cops had no idea untill we called them.

Ex-girl freind took out 2 of the concret pillers on KAB near gate 5.. she was makeing the turn towards gate 2 to meet me. I got a call from her and rushed over.. no one had stoped to help her for about 5 min, finally 2 americans stoped and helped her.

Was driving down 330 one night I was behind car A(lets call it) and there was a car next to it in the right hand lane, we'll call it car B. When this assclown in a big black van gets on my ass. I decided I didnt want anything to do with him, so I moved the right hand lane and got behind car B, he the shoots up and started riding car A's ass. by this time I had slowed down some and so did car B, so the van was boxed in, car A in front and car B to his right. Eventually he thought he had room to cut over infront of car B.. he was wrong. He ended up tagging car A in the back right bumper and car B in the front left bumper . Well the van and car B both slamed into the medium, car A ended up running over the scooter that was in front of him and then ran over the curb and down a hill. I got lucky that I had slowed down some a long time ago because I knew the guy in the van was going to cause an accident..

And people want to point fingers at american drivers all the time..

Ive seen a lot more, but I think I'll leave you with those foir right now.

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

It's likely that proportionally Americans do have more accidents than local drivers. A good many of them are in the 18-22 year-old age bracket, statistically one of the highest risk groups for accidents. They are not used to driving on the left side of the road, the extra slippery road surfaces, the narrowness of the streets, and the island style driving pace, and the local driving style. I would further imagine that the longer Americans stay here, the more likely it is that their accident rate would drop to more closely match the local one.

[slickmetal]

was a big accident right near the #4 IC enterance....American in green van hit headon with a medium sized work truck...green van front end was wrecked bad....dont know who was at fault .. anyone know about this accident?

[doubleu]

was a big accident right near the #4 IC enterance....American in green van hit headon with a medium sized work truck...green van front end was wrecked bad....dont know who was at fault .. anyone know about this accident?

I would like to get more information about this accident on Friday, Jan 28 around 1pm. If anybody has witnessed it or knows of a witness, please let me know. Thanks.

[Muku]

I would like to get more information about this accident on Friday, Jan 28 around 1pm. If anybody has witnessed it or knows of a witness, please let me know. Thanks.

Were you the one in the accident?

[pnayangel]

I've seen Japanese car accidents as well as SOFA car accidents...I was in one last year...another Y-plate rear-ended my car and the force was so great that it hit a kanji plate car in front of me...needless to say, though, the Y-plate behind me got the most damage out of the three cars...

[-Rudel-]

Latest I've seen was just a couple week ago on 75 It's about 4 am, a very small white car hit a taxi going the otherway.

3 JPs, and an ambulance. I passed close enough to see it was a female with EMTs checking out her vital signs while still in the car. Probably a very serious injury.

[P_chan]

You think people drive bad on this island. Go visit thailand!

[-Rudel-]

lol....don't get me started! Freakin Bus drivers man.

[nohohonzokuman]

Sure we've seen car accidents involving Y plates, but that wasn't your question. You were gunning for talk about Y plate drivers getting into car accidents, as if you have something against them just because of their license plates.


Anyhow, sure we've seen car accidents involving Y plates. duh. We've probably seen more non-Y though due to simple ratios as mentioned by whats-his-name previously.

I typically see these types of accidents around the military bases:
1. A non-Y hits a Y while merging. I've found that over seven years of personally driving here and seventeen years of being a passenger, the majority of local drivers here do NOT know how to merge well if at all. :rolleyes:
2. A Y hits another Y while exiting Kadena gate 1 when merging onto hwy 58, because the guy behind is watching the traffic on the hwy rather than the car in front of him.
3. An OV truck jack-knifes on the turn exiting Kadena gate 1, because the usually local driver doesn't know how to negotiate the turn.
4. A Y has decorated a road pole or divider with his car, probably due to driving too fast. :thumbdown:

Y drivers are typically the better drivers as they say (heh), but other than single car accidents, most car accidents I've seen are the fault of non-Y drivers. It seems odd, since they're required to take a class and test for which foreigners are consistently failed.

How about the one where a kanji plate with a first year driver sticker on it hits a Y-plate and the Y-plate is at fault because they weren't careful enough.

[hankypanky]

i forgot all about this. driving down 58 south about 6 pm around isa in ginowan, traffic was kinda heavy fri or sat night. a van in the opposite lane traveling north hit the medium. i was in the right late. this van did a half roll and flew by my truck a couple of feet and landing behind me upside down. It was like slow motion. saw him flying, i swerved left and just kept on going. Kinda chalked it up to a busy 58 on a friday night. kinda funny now that i think about it!

[Tempestuous]

Wouldn't of been too funny had he hit you!!! Crazy men!!! :)

[hankypanky]

yeah, if he would of, wonder what percent would of been my fault......driving in the other lane, medium between us. just eating a taco and listening to the radio......bam!

[Tempestuous]

No kidding. Don't ya LOVE how that works?!?!?!

What ya get for being a licensed "professional" driver :) All that responsibility. :D

[Boost]

No kidding. Don't ya LOVE how that works?!?!?!

What ya get for being a licensed "professional" driver :) All that responsibility. :D

What really sucks is you get a cool title like "professional driver" and added responsibility, but no added benefits that normally come with such a "promotion" in status.

[socalheart]

my mother isn't a very good driver. she isn't bad, but she's hardly good. in the first week of having her new car, she had three accidents. one was with a parked car. the woman has a GOLD driver's license. she drives a sports car, but has never had it above 60kph, except on the expressway when she had it at 80kph. but if she rearends me, it's my fault. :rolleyes:

[Boost]

my mother isn't a very good driver. she isn't bad, but she's hardly good.

in the first week of having her new car, she had three accidents.

I dunno Socal...I think 3 accidents within the first week of owning the car qualifies as BAD!

If it were Temp...I'd be buying her a nice pair of walking shoes :w00t: