The blogging lay magistrate of The Law West of Ealing Broadway reported a couple of weeks ago on dealing with a speeding summons with a Japanese defendant. The only reason he was in court was because his licence was not an EU one. I can’t imagine anything but justice was done. But I think it’s a good illustration of life with non-English-speaking defendants. Getting a Japanese-language interpreter seems out of proportion. Was the driving licence genuine? Who knows?
Of course, it’s easy to make fun of Japanese English, and I try not to do it.
Bei Bußgeldsachen wegen Überschreitung der zulässigen Geschwindigkeit müssen Fahrer ohne EU-Führerschein persönlich vor Gericht erscheinen. Ein Japaner wurde ohne Dolmetscher zu seinem Einkommen gehört, und sein Führerschein wurde überprüft. Wahrscheinlich ist alles gutgegangen, aber völlige Klarheit herrschte nicht.
Zumindest fahren Japaner nicht auf der falschen Straßenseite (Linksfahren in den blau markierten Ländern unten).
From Wikipedia (countries marked blue drive on the left):
I didn’t realise so many countries drove on the left. Interesting.
The Falkland Islands appear to be missing from the map, Margaret. Admittedly, most of the roads there are single-track and if you drive into the drainage ditch, you’ll need a tracked vehicle to pull you out. Apparently the Argentinean military decided to move the FI to driving on the right back in 1982. Didn’t really help them much, did it..
If you look at the Wikipedia article and scroll down, there’s a list of 75 countries, including the Falkland Islands. Many of them are too small to show up on the map.
What one learns on a war studies course?!
It was new to me that Sweden had always had left-hand-drive cars, and that they’re also popular in Japan.
I only looked at the map. Sorry..
Actually, young son was posted to the FI last year during the southern hemisphere winter with the one company in his battalion not rotating to Iraq. Not his favourite place, he says.
Wasn’t there a joke about the Swedish changeover? Something like it would be done in stages, starting with trucks…
Oh dear – difficult choice there. Still, it may be useful as a conversation piece. Did he learn to yomp?
The Wikipedia has a wonderful photograph of the changeover in Sweden. I imagine traffic had to stand still and then change sides at midnight.
So Alan Partridge’s idea for a TV show is a bit of a non-runner?
“Hello, Lynn, message from Alan. Idea for a television programme based on Michael Palin?s
?Pole To Pole?. Except I circumnavigate the globe only driving through countries where they
drive on the left. And I do it in a lovely old Bullnose Morris. We could call it ?Around The
World With Alan Partridge In A Bullnose On The Left?. Oh, I?m sorry, Lynn. I think that is
possibly the worst idea I have ever had.”
I suppose he shouldn’t start in Britain, anyway.
Whether it’s the worst idea Alan Partridge has ever had is probably more difficult to answer.