86% of go-kart accidents in Tokyo involve foreigners: NPA

We need more information !

How many accidents due to shells and how many due to banana peels ?

Foreign drivers were involved in 86 percent of go-kart accidents on public roads in Tokyo over an 11-month period...

i would like to know the percentage of foreigners vs ‘not-foreingers’ who are actually driving the go-karts. The headline by itself is quite incendiary.

Wow, surprise surprise. But then again, only foreign tourists are shameless enough to drive these karts around Shibuya/Roppongi like morons.

Most tourists are shocking drivers, but if these foreigners continue their terrible driving without improvement, they will have to be banned. But I have a feeling these karts will be banned sometime this year regardless

I would imagine that the majority of go-kart drivers in Tokyo are foreigners. Probably somewhere around 86%.

BTW, why is this nonsense allowed on public roadways?

from the article: "47 drivers were involved" in 50 accidents. ie: some drivers were responsible for multiple accidents!

Out of the 50 accidents, 48 resulted in property damage while two accidents left people injured.

Not sounding too serious, and not explaining or supporting the claim that "While go-kart services are expected to drive tourism across Japan, some fatal incidents have sparked safety concerns."

Were those fatalities outside of Tokyo? In other countries? If there really have been fatal accidents, would seat belts have improved the outcome?

Considering the massive numbers of people (almost entirely non-Japanese) doing this every day, I'm really surprised at the low number of accidents and to read of only 2 injuries in almost a year. I wonder what the accident rates are for bicycle tours and bicycle rentals for tourists in Tokyo.

Go-kart cars were not made for driving on the public road and the Go-Kart cars should be only allowed to drive on Go Kart track.

Go-kart car can not drive on the public road in Australia.

Why Japanese authority has allowed unsafe and unroadworthy Go-kart car to drive on the public road?

BTW, why is this nonsense allowed on public roadways?

I would agree, I've been stuck behind them as they stopped for selfies, and animated chats in their group, , scenery shots. Clearly out of their depth in traffic, selfishly jamming up traffic. Even worse, often below my sight line of my side and rear mirrors. APITA

Yeah, but, what percentage of drivers are foreigners? It’s one thing to say foreigners caused the most accidents, but it’s likeky that 80% of the drivers are foreigners. This article comes across as very biased against foreigners, as usual. TIJ!

The only thing I'll point out is that if the NPA does pass a regulation requiring them to be 1 meter off the ground, expect accidents to increase. Raising a vehicle's center of gravity means it is less stable on curves and turns. Expect go-karts that are jacked up to 1 meter tall to be flipping over on turns if taken at any type of speed.

I've been wondering why the govt. lets this nonsense continue despite the obvious risk, but "We want to prevent accidents by collaborating with (go-kart) service providers as demand from foreign visitors could increase further in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics," makes everything clear. It's all about the ¥¥¥ in the end!

The "whether the drivers are foreign" is potentially an issue because the police struggle to deal with people on international driving licenses. Basically you will get away with many driving offences, like speeding or running a red, because they can't put points on the licence and spot fines are rare. Most offences are dealt with after the fact, by which time the tourists will have gone home and its too expensive/too much trouble to chase them up.

some fatal incidents have sparked safety concerns

The story throws this sentence in and then talks about property damage and a couple of injuries. Some incidents have been "fatal"?! Does the author know what that word means?

The stats are hollow. 50 accidents out of how many contracts? I'm disappointed by all of the saloon chair critics of these karts too. Have none of you taken a tour? If you love driving (and have a sense of skill), I urge you to get on an afternoon tour before they are banned, or summer makes it unbearable to be in the costume, whichever comes first. Oh, and snavel yourself the rear-most kart ;-)

only foreign tourists are shameless enough to drive these karts around Shibuya/Roppongi like morons. I wouldn't call it shameless just not caring what people thing of what you do or how you appear, should try it some time it makes life so much less stressful instead of trying to fit in all the time. I personally think its morons that have to conform to an imaginary set of rules because society expects it from you, and no Im not talking about breaking laws, big difference.

Why are those crazy things allowed on the road ? Only idiots and maniacs would even think of driving them on the road anyway, it is asking for accidents. 

Nothing wrong with having fun with a go cart but you go to a circuit for that.  They should be forbidden, dangerous for themselves, cyclists, pedestrians.

I often wonder who thinks up Japanese road rules. Go-carts on public roads???? Can't use a cell phone, but it's OK to install and watch a TV in a car WHILE DRIVING?????

While go-kart services are expected to drive tourism across Japan, some fatal incidents have sparked safety concerns.

Since a foreigner was not named or blamed for "some fatal" accidents, is it safe to assume that 100% of the fatal accidents were caused by Japanese drivers?

But wait....

Out of the 50 accidents, 48 resulted in property damage while two accidents left people injured.

So that means there have been no fatal accidents? Once again flawed data being passed off as fact and not retracted.

Well, y’know that’s a lot of data but all involving accidents. Gimme user % data for foreigners. If that’s 87% or above, the headline will change a bit, no?

Given safety concerns, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has decided to beef up safety measures by revising the law and making seatbelt use compulsory.

Yes, that will stop people crashing into cyclists and kobans. Just ban it.

Seems to me the company is to be blamed since it is very doubtful any foreigners arrive in Japan with animation costumes and go Karts upon arrival.

It's stupid to allow these things on the streets of any country.

Hey look at me I 'm a big m***n dressed as Mario on a Go-kart, I'm probably gonna have an accident while I go inhale toxic fumes directly from the exhaust pipes...

Mass tourism is a plague. Bring in the big spenders, keep out the other ones.

What does one expect. Next to unregulated, rather out of control, bicycles, we now have go carts to add to that. Go carts being permitted to drive faster, twice the speed, than a moped is ridiculous, BTW.

i would like to know the percentage of foreigners vs ‘not-foreingers’ who are actually driving the go-karts. The headline by itself is quite incendiary.

I also wanted to know that.

I wonder if the author was intentionally deceptive or simply ... not very bright.

Let me guess....86% of people who use those things are foreigners too? (Or maybe 100%?) Stupid statistic....

Yeah, and probably more than 90% of the people driving them are foreigners. So what? Urging operators to "let" drivers we are helmets is the usual BS I expect from lip-service laws here. Make it mandatory. Make a law stating that any go-kart driver caught without a helmet will result in the company losing its license to operate for a minimum of one year. Period. Better yet, ban these things on public streets and keep them on courses like the rest of the civilized world.

That's got bad news written all over it.

What happens when you stuff one of those things into the back of a delivery truck? Decapitation, probably...

Makes a refreshing change from Elderly Drivers as being seen as the majority source of all RTA's in Japan. Ah, but wait... how many of these Go-Karters were Elderly ?

Well, duh, Japanese are not that savage to be behaving like infantile children and blocking the roads with the go-karts. They have other stuff going on.

they should allow normal drivers to legally run em over...

I only see go-kart to be allowed on public road in Japan, so far. In Canada/US, the governments won't even license them to go on a public road. They will stay inside the go-kart racing court. For foreign drivers, I can name a few countries that we should not even allow them to drive outside of their home countries.

Over the past 5 years I have seen these guys more and more. They constantly cause a nuisance in traffic. For example the back of the pack running red lights to catch up, they are cutting people off, holding people up in traffic.

Beyond that I saw one group of them hitting an uneven patch of asphalt, one by one, launching them 20-40 CM into the air. The guide did not ensure any safety and they could have easily spun off the road onto the sidewalk or into oncoming traffic.

Having said this, I have seen bicycle tours led by one guide be an even greater danger in traffic. Last weekend I saw a bunch of them and they passed a number of cars waiting to turn left with their blinkers active on the left. That is an accident waiting to happen.

Foreigners need to learn better behavior in a foreign country.

I see these guys drive all around Akihabara.

It's going to be one day when a bunch get wiped out by a truck or something before the laws change.

In the US none of these cars would be street legal.

Bicycle laws are more strict in Japan then these go-karts.

Badge213,

There are bicycle laws? In Japan? Really?

It should be noted that the bad behaviour, lack of attention or showing off may be directly linked to these accidents. Unfortunately, there are always idiots who may go too far in their ‘adventures in Japan’, that may be the obvious cause of many of these cases. So why are all the eggs put in one basket - as it appears that all foreign drivers are to blame?

So why are all the eggs put in one basket - as it appears that all foreign drivers are to blame?

It's just easier to play with the statistics and make the foreigners look like the bad guys, to keep the public feeling safe in their cocoons.

Oh and you won't read much of anything about this in the mainstream Japanese press. It's just food for discussion on boards like this.

Interesting.... please tell us, what is the overall ratio, foreigners to Japanese that drive these Go-Carts. You can site 86% foreign drivers, but if 90% of the people driving them are foreigners... you know what I mean. Also, how out of how many rentals did the 50 incidents happen. Is it 1 out of a 100 rentals that lead to an accident? Or 1 out of a 1000? The numbers given are pointless unless more information is provided.

By nationality, 15 drivers involved in accidents came from the United States 10 from South Korea,

Well probably the same crowd that have fun driving sorts of mini-bulldozers in (what is left of ) nature in Hawaii... They are also nuisances in their own countries, there are petitions to ban them everywhere but it's too good business. Japanese tourists have not adopted that trend yet, but if one day they do, that will be a massive disaster.

Out of 50 accidents between March 27 last year and February 26 this year, 43 involved foreign drivers.

I presume that all 50 accidents involved another party such as another driver, cyclist, pedestrian etc. and not just lampposts and parked cars. Therefore it could also be accurate to say 86% of these go-kart accidents involved Japanese people.

The 50 stated accidents seems to be ALL of the accidents, rather than just those where the go-karter is at fault. Of the 43 involving foreigners, it doesn't mean all were at fault. If we go by Japanese police / insurance companies methods of sorting out fault and responsibility, it's quite reasonable to guess that at least half of these accidents were the fault of the Japanese road user (who in all probability was a Japanese person).

That would be the number to expect being that 86% of the people using them are foreigners.

Just **** these toys off yesterday.

Traffic conditions are already running at the max with cars, bikes , trucks, buses & pedestrians everywhere.

Why throw a squirrel into the mix that appears to break any smidgen of common sense re road safety.

Since when have busy roads been allowed to be used as amusement parks?

And no one can convince me that dressing up in cartoon suits and driving toy cars in a chummy bunch is anything but play.

Grow a brain.

Er, it is targeted primarily at tourists, so what do they expect?

While go-kart services are expected to drive tourism across Japan, some fatal incidents have sparked safety concerns. 

Really? I'd say it's a safe bet that almost no tourists come to Japan just so they can ride go-carts. Considering the safety issues, and how strict they are about bicycles (which are much safer), I have to wonder why these carts are allowed on the streets.

Looks like the J-satsu have a title for their 2017 White Paper on Crime.

Ban the d**** thing already. It’s illegal in other countries and for a good reason...

A fairly meaningless headline!

The number of users that don't have accidents isn't reported, so what can be inferred ?

And if the number of Japanese drivers involved in shunts and bumps were published then the number would be many many times more!