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The story
It has emerged that a driver for the Tokyo Metropolitan Bus service was referred to prosecutors last October on suspicion of violating the Road Traffic Act (obstructive driving/tailgating) after aggressively tailgating a private vehicle while operating an out-of-service bus. The dashcam also recorded the driver shouting “You idiot!” The case was reported as unusual, since it’s rare for a public transit driver to face charges over aggressive driving that could lead to a serious accident. On 5ch, discussion ranged widely — from speculation about the driver’s employment status and the bus system’s operating structure, to how dashcam footage is handled, and on to the working conditions of route bus drivers and the reality of trouble with passengers.
It has been learned, through reporting to the Metropolitan Police Department and other sources, that a driver for the Tokyo Metropolitan Bus service was referred to prosecutors this past autumn on suspicion of violating the Road Traffic Act (obstructive driving) after tailgating a private vehicle while driving an out-of-service bus. With tailgating that can lead to serious accidents now subject to tougher penalties, it is said to be unusual for a public transit driver to be charged. (By Ayana Ebisuno)
◆ Industry group: “Never heard of a case like this anywhere in the country”
According to Komagome Police Station, the man referred to prosecutors was a Tokyo Metropolitan Bus driver in his 30s at the time. Last October, while driving an out-of-service bus between Shinobazu-dori and JR Komagome Station in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward, he is alleged to have committed violations such as unnecessarily honking his horn and flashing his headlights at a private vehicle. The dashcam recorded the driver’s voice shouting “You idiot!” The case came to light after a 110 emergency call, believed to be from the victim who was tailgated.
Source: tokyo-np.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
I don't think he's a city employee.
Toei Bus routes are outsourced now.
I recall it's under the Tokyu Bus group, if I remember right.
(Not Tokyu Bus itself, though.)
They're not just letting those slide, right?
Even ambulances tell people to get out of the way.
An ambulance and a city bus.
Explain exactly how they're different.
An ambulance and a city bus.
Explain exactly how they're different.
In that case the guy who got tailgated is probably mostly at fault, then.
You know what a dashcam is, right? lol
A lot of Tokyo's embarrassing stuff only ever gets reported by Tokyo Shimbun —
like the homeless population numbers or the Metropolitan Police overstepping.
I talk to myself a lot and curse under my breath, lol.
That'd be rough if I ever had to submit it as evidence for something.
I keep the mic off.
Guys who lose their temper and tailgate will do it whether there's a dashcam or not,
and guys who wouldn't do it, wouldn't do it even without one.
He should've gone to work for Tobu Bus instead.
Just an average day for Kyoto buses —
they tailgate even during regular service.
If anywhere, it'd be Kanto Bus.
Isn't he liable to get disciplined if the arrival time is off by even a minute?
Because there are a lot of passengers who yell at them.
When passengers put up with lateness thinking 'well, it can't be helped,' the drivers just get more and more full of themselves.
Sotetsu Bus is like that too. But since it's my local line, I don't want neighbors seeing me arguing with the driver,
so I just file complaints through the inquiry form whenever it happens.
No idea if anyone actually reads them, though.
That's exactly why they're running self-driving bus trials.
Self-driving on bus routes in places like Tokyo or Yokohama is probably a long way off.
Might not happen in our lifetimes.
It's not fair to judge from just one side.
There's got to be more to the story.
Obviously they checked the bus's own dashcam before handing down the punishment.
Didn't you learn that tailgating is wrong no matter the cause?
Under the agreement with the labor union, Toei Bus normally doesn't review dashcam footage.
I remember a past case, not a traffic incident but a dispute over how a driver treated a passenger, that turned into a he-said-she-said.
This time it might have only come out because the police got involved and forced disclosure.
Yeah, ever since everyone started talking about 'customer harassment,' it's swung back that way again.
Station staff too — lately some of them have worse attitudes than bad civil servants. I don't think passengers yelling at them is good either,
but once passengers stop complaining at all, public transit just gets sloppier and sloppier — I can feel it happening.
No matter how much you complain, service quality across the board just keeps declining.
That's what a labor shortage means.
Without enough people, there's no way to guarantee quality.
There's never a sensible middle ground — the pendulum just swings reactively from one extreme to the other.
They're pretty much always irritated.
Well, that can't be helped —
for us drivers, running on schedule is the job.
There are probably a lot of terrible drivers out there.
I see plenty who really shouldn't have been given a license in the first place.
Most of them tend to be older, but surprisingly some young ones too.
Background and Key Points of This Story
Aggressive tailgating (the offense of “obstructive driving”) is a relatively new violation category, created under the 2020 revision of the Road Traffic Act, and it carries harsher administrative penalties and criminal punishment than ordinary traffic violations. What made this case “unusual” is that the offender was a public transit driver — the industry association says it isn’t aware of any comparable case being prosecuted before. Where opinions in the thread diverged was mainly over whether the driver was a city employee or worked for a subcontracted company; the article itself doesn’t specify this, so it remains pure speculation on 5ch. Comments claiming there’s “an arrangement with the labor union not to review dashcam footage” are likewise unverified personal opinion and shouldn’t be taken as fact. That said, it’s worth noting how the discussion expanded beyond this single incident into structural issues facing the industry — staff shortages on bus routes, customer harassment, and pressure to keep to schedule.
※This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Breaking News Plus) thread “[Toei Bus] Tailgating… Driver Shouts “You Idiot!” on Dashcam — License of Man in His 30s Revoked.”
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