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The story
Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has settled on a policy to mandate that new vehicle models be equipped with a “driver monitoring system” that detects and warns drivers who are operating a smartphone or dozing off while driving, starting in 2031. Existing models will also be required to comply by 2033.
On the thread, users debated the resulting rise in vehicle prices from the mandatory equipment, how the rollout compares to the EU, the US, and other countries, the emergence of workaround devices like limiter-removers, and the impact on auto repair shops.
8/24 (Mon) 14:27 — Jiji Press
MLIT has settled on a policy to mandate, for both domestic and imported vehicles, the installation of a “Driver Monitoring System (DMS)” that detects and warns drivers who are looking away or dozing off while operating their smartphone.
This was learned from an interview with the ministry on the 24th. The ministry will revise the relevant ministerial ordinance in September, applying the requirement to new models from 2031, and mandating installation on existing models still in production by 2033.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
And if it's broken at your next shaken (mandatory vehicle inspection), that's another ¥500,000 down the drain.
Prices just keep climbing because of idiots.
What about the cars that went touchscreen-crazy to cut costs, forcing you to fumble with a screen just to do anything?
Those cars are a hazard in themselves.
Slap on a new feature and now they've got an excuse to sell a kei car for ¥3 million.
Honestly I want it to give you an electric shock or something.
If you keep ignoring it, shouldn't it just report you to the police?
Europe's already made it mandatory and the US is working toward requiring it too, so Japan's just falling in line.
METI will obviously try hard to dodge that framing.
And what does "adopted at the forum" mentioned in the article have to do with it becoming mandatory anyway?
Do it starting today.
Do you even drive normally, Koro-neko? (a poster's screen name)
That's some foul language for a cat lol
Also, honking the horn should automatically alert the police too.
So if some idiot pulls out of a convenience store without checking either side and you honk, the cops show up every single time?
Think about the hassle for both sides, genius.
But you only honk after the other guy's already noticed you — it's basically spite at that point, right?
If it looks like they're about to pull out, just slow down or stop. What a pain.
The lady who caused that rear-end collision that burst into flames was watching a cooking video, apparently.
Probably some boring YouTube video.
There are still idiots out there mounting their phone on the steering wheel to watch stuff.
Same thing you're doing browsing 5ch right now.
These days the smartphone IS humanity's main body — everything else is just an accessory.
Scanners break down easily.
Fine if you're okay with suddenly being told "you can't drive" because of that.
That's what happened in the US.
If your gaze isn't steady it'll cut the engine or set off an alarm on its own — it's got a terrible reputation.
Probably will happen — in the form of your insurance going up if you don't have it.
We'll lose in global competition too.
It's being mandated in the EU and the US too, so how would we lose lol
The world's largest auto market is China.
Even ordinary Europeans are starting to buckle under rising car prices.
Only people with access to a company-car scheme can afford a new Western European brand.
For everyone else, a new Western European car is completely out of reach.
If they scrape the money together at all, it's for an Eastern European or Chinese car.
It'll be mandatory for Chinese self-driving cars too, and since it's an international standard adopted by the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP29), it's being rolled out across EU countries, including Eastern Europe.
China will probably pull it off cheap with their own tech. My next car might just be Chinese.
Well, it's very clear your Japanese isn't very good.
Give it a few days and a limiter-removal device will show up.
Things like that deserve harsh punishment.
Honestly, attempted murder charges would be fine too.
Yeah, it'll show up. Similar devices, like idling-stop cancelers, are already common.
Does the car just stop suddenly?
Subaru's had it for 5 years already and no canceler device has shown up, right?
The 90-series Noah/Voxy has it too, and I don't think there's a canceler for that either.
Re: #222
Some systems sound the horn, turn on the hazards, and bring the car to a stop.
Probably depends on the car.
Home appliances used to be repairable too, but then it became "swap the whole assembly," and eventually it turned into "just throw it out and buy a new one."
Is that the "aiming" calibration thing?
This is an interior-facing monitor though — is that kind of work even necessary for it?
Background and Key Points
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) is Japan’s equivalent of a combined transportation/infrastructure department, and it regulates vehicle type approval through ministerial ordinances rather than standalone legislation — hence the plan to “revise the ordinance” in September rather than pass a new law. The requirement stems from a UN regulation adopted by the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP29), the body that sets international vehicle standards Japan is a signatory to; the EU already mandates comparable driver-monitoring and drowsiness-warning systems under its General Safety Regulation, which is why posters framed Japan as “just falling in line” rather than innovating. The 2031/2033 split (new models vs. models still in production) is standard MLIT practice for phasing in equipment mandates without forcing an abrupt halt to existing production lines.
The thread’s real fault line wasn’t safety versus surveillance — it was cost. Posters largely accepted the technology’s premise but argued past each other on whether Japan is uniquely burdened (ignoring that the EU and US face the same mandate) or whether China’s cheaper implementation will undercut everyone regardless of the rule.
What’s likely to be missed: driver-monitoring cameras aren’t new technology being introduced from scratch — Subaru’s DriverFocus and Toyota’s systems on the Noah/Voxy have shipped for roughly five years already, cited by one poster as evidence that “limiter-removal” workaround devices, unlike speed limiters, haven’t materialized for these systems. The article also doesn’t mention what specifically triggers a stop versus just a warning, which varies by manufacturer and remains undefined by MLIT at this stage.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “Distracted and Drowsy Driving Detection to Become Mandatory — Applies to New Cars from 2031, MLIT Policy.”
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