Huge difference in views on alcohol

Press, 1 March 1984, Page 20

Huge difference in views on alcohol

A thought-provoking sidelight on the almost universal drink-drive problem is contained in an article comparing the attitudes towards the car and motoring practices in West Germany and Japan. In the Toyota Motor Corporation’s quarterly review, “The Wheel Extended,” Tachishige Hirose, an associate professor specialising in elementary particle physics at Tokyo Metropolitan University, suggests that the West Germans’ attitude towards driving in connection with drinking alcohol is relaxed compared with that of the Japanese. In the course of postgraduate studies at Heidelberg University from 1972 to 1974, the author, who had undergone a course at a Japanese driver training school 20 years earlier, decided to take a West German course to find out how the German driving method differed from the Japanese method and how it affected West Germans’ attitude towards traffic regulations. The drink-drive subject was raised after Professor Hirose told his instructor, that he drank coffee to perk himself up before his driver training session. The instructor replied that coffee was not good because it made people nervous at a time when one should be driving with a more relaxed feeling. The professor would have been better to drink a little beer instead, although whisky was really best, advised the instructor.

While conceding that he did not know if his instructor had been representative of all West German driving instructors, the professor said that he had observed that West German restrictions on drinking and driving were not as severe as in Japan, where driving after drinking any alcoholic

BEHIND the WHEEL with

Peter Greenslade

beverage was strictly forbidden.

In West Germany at many roadside rest stops beer was sold quite openly and the professor said he suspected that many of the roadside restaurants remained in business mainly through their beer sales. However, the professor went on to point out that in West Germany the privately owned car was practically the only form of transportation available. There were no bus or train services provided late at night and therd were few taxis available. Thus, especially in winter, few West Germans would venture out on cold evenings to enjoy a glass of wine with friends if they had to depend upon public transportation to return home.

“In Japan, on the other hand, the police occasionally stop motorists for roadside tests, in which they use special alcohol-detection equipment to determine whether a driver has been drinking. If any alcohol is detected, the penalty is very

severe,” Professor Hirose said.

The Japanese use a numerical point system in assessing traffic law violations and a driver’s licence can be suspended or revoked upon reaching certain point levels. Traffic signal or parking violations result in two negative points and a fine of several thousand yen. In the case of driving under the influence of any alcohol, the result is six negative points and automatic licence suspension for a month. If, however, the offender takes a one-day course and then passes a test covering regulations and driving techniques, the driving privilege will be regained the following day. However, the penalty is much more severe if an accident results from driving while under the influence of alcohol. When people in Japan intend to drink until late at night, they invariably use the subway or a taxi for transport home. In large cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, municipal trains and subways run at frequent intervals, even after midnight. Also, there are usually taxis waiting at subway and railway stations to take the late-night drinkers home.

Japanese taxi drivers are very understanding, according to Professor Hirose, who suggested that perhaps it was the sense of security about getting home safely that allowed the Japanese to stay out late at night drinking.

“And while the Japanese are riding trains and taxis to get home late at night, the Germans are driving — very slowly. I observed that after a German has drunk any alcoholic beverage in almost any quantity, he becomes almost too cautious and drives very slowly. The cars that are crawling along in the low-speed lane on a winter’s night in West Germany are being driven mostly by people who have had one drink,” the professor said.