A VERY JAPANESE TRAFFIC JAM

Driving on Japan’s expressways can be challenging at times.

There is speeding.

There is frequent undertaking.

Many drivers appear to believe the fast lane is a perfectly acceptable place to live permanently.

And tailgating is apparently a favourite pastime. I experienced the consequences of that last year, when the driver behind me failed to stop in backed-up traffic and crashed into my then three-week-old car.

Two months of chiropractic treatment and three months of negotiations with insurance companies followed. I wouldn’t recommend it.

The only time everybody suddenly behaves impeccably is when a police car appears.

Not only do they keep everyone in check, but their presence can occasionally produce some rather strange results.

The other day, driving home on the expressway, I noticed a police car ahead.

Its lights were flashing.

No siren.

Just flashing lights.

The speed limit on this section is 80 km/h.

The police car was travelling at around 80.

Then slightly below.

Then around 75.

And so began the procession.

Despite there being multiple lanes and perfectly legal opportunities to pass, nobody did.

The police car continued.

Seventy-five.

Flashing.

Everybody followed obediently behind.

After several kilometres of this, I began wondering whether the police car itself realised what was happening behind it.

Because by now, it had accidentally – or deliberately – created its own moving traffic jam.

After a bus eventually overtook both of us at a speed only marginally faster than we were travelling, I finally gave in.

I checked my mirrors.

Indicated.

Pulled out.

And overtook.

This felt mildly criminal despite being entirely legal.

Passing a police car with flashing lights creates a surprisingly strong feeling that somebody, somewhere, will disapprove.

A few kilometres later, I took my exit.

Then noticed something.

The police car was behind me.

Still flashing.

Still without siren.

After the toll booth, the mystery finally solved itself.

Three cars had crashed into each other.

That, it turned out, was where they had been going.

Which immediately raised another question.

Why were they driving so slowly?

Back in Switzerland, my expectation would have been rather different.

Lights.

Sirens.

A noticeable sense of urgency.

In Britain, I imagine police cars zipping past at breakneck speed while motorists desperately try to get out of the way.

In Japan, however, emergency vehicles operate differently.

Ambulances move cautiously across intersections.

Police cars frequently use flashing lights without demanding that the entire world immediately clear a path.

Curious, I looked up the reasons afterwards. The explanations I found were, at best, somewhat vague.

Part of this appears to be for legal reasons: even emergency vehicles are expected to adhere to the speed limits.

Part cultural.

Partly because causing another accident while responding to the first would rather defeat the purpose.

And perhaps that philosophy also explains what happened behind that police car.

Nothing controls Japanese traffic better than a police car with absolutely no sense of urgency – even when rushing to the site of an accident.