＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
1. The amendment to the Road Traffic Act that allows smartphones to be used during self-driving cars is questionable
On December 20th, it was reported that a bill to amend the Road Traffic Act had been finalized, which would allow smartphones to be used during autonomous driving, provided that Level 3 is required when experiencing traffic jams on highways.
A “Level 3” autonomous vehicle is one in which the system recognizes traffic conditions and performs all driving-related operations in specific locations such as highways, but the driver takes over in emergencies or when the system has difficulty operating.
This “partial reduction in drivers’ safety obligations” means that “it is OK to make calls, send and receive emails, and watch videos on your smartphone,” but is this okay?
2. Self-driving cars are at high risk of causing unforeseen incidents
I believe that this kind of relaxation of safety obligations poses a huge risk, especially with self-driving cars, because it is entirely possible to predict situations in which they will be unable to operate due to emergencies or GPS failures.
Recently, there have been concerns about the threat of cyber attacks being used to illegally intrude into traffic information network systems and spread false information, disrupting autonomous driving.
It seems that the driver must be “ready to immediately and appropriately respond” in case he takes over driving, but I don’t think anyone can do that skillfully. I feel like it could lead to “panic” and a major accident.
For the time being, the law is intended to be in place when driving at low speeds on highways in traffic jams, but it seems like a step backwards from the current trend of “eradicating driving while doing other things,” which will see “stricter penalties for driving while doing other things, including imprisonment even if no accident occurs” starting next year. This is especially true when we consider the threat of “cyberterrorist attacks.”
3. Talking on smartphones while driving is on the rise
Recently, when watching cars driving on Midosuji, I often see people talking on their smartphones while driving. This is backed up by the fact that the number of accidents caused by using smartphones to text or play games while driving is on the rise. In 2017, there were 2,832 accidents resulting in deaths and injuries, of which 40 were fatal.
In 2016, a fourth-grade elementary school student was struck and killed by a truck in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture. The driver of this truck was driving while playing “Pokemon Go,” a smartphone game.
The bereaved family has just requested “stricter penalties.
Even if the smartphone is “hands-free,” talking on it can make it difficult for the driver to concentrate on driving. This is especially true when the topic becomes complicated.
Previously, when I was taking practical lessons at a driving school, the instructor spoke to me, gave me a “calculation problem” to think about, and suddenly instructed me to “turn right.” Naturally, I couldn’t react immediately and panicked. If it had been on a public road, it would have definitely caused an accident.
4. It is extremely dangerous to allow smartphones under any automated driving conditions
Since this is the state of affairs even in normal conversations, I think it would be extremely dangerous to allow people to use their smartphones. What reason did the people involved in the revision of the law have for making such a revision (which I would call a “deterioration”)? How do they intend to take responsibility if an accident occurs? Will they respond by saying it was “unanticipated”?
This amendment to the law seems like a “incentive” to promote “automated driving,” but I am against it. I would like to ask the National Police Agency to “reconsider.”