Japanese driver know the way (2004-03-09)
You need to have a certain degree of forgivingness
and tolerance to drive on Tokyo roads. Many streets are so narrow that
they are barely wide enough for one vehicle to pass through; how they
then pass as a two-way street I'll never know. I guess in this city
where land is scarce, they just can't afford to waste too much surface
area on roads. As a result drivers have learned to go out of their way
to co-exist on the roads in harmony, and they seem to achieve this with
no sweat.
I once saw two cars from opposite directions coming face to face on
the same stretch of road. Once they "met", one of the drivers had to
back up quite a bit to a side street to reverse his car so that the
other driver could drive past. There was never an argument as to whom
would be shown the right of way. Both drivers inevitably bowed and
apologized to each other, one for blocking the road and the other for
being given the right of way. It's an operation executed in methodical
perfection by two total strangers. Amazing.
I can't imagine two Sydney drivers in the same situation. They would
probably end up storming out of their cars and going at each other's
throat in two seconds straight. And that's why Sydney's roads are much
wider.
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