Protecting rights of ourselves and others: the Japanese car ownership system

Protecting our own rights also means protecting other people’s rights. 

Back when my family lived in Japan, we experienced having a car. The cars that we had were small and used, just enough for our family members’. Buying a used car is popular with foreigners living in Japan because it is relatively cheap and they are not going to use it for a long time. While the car itself is cheap, there are several conditions that need to be fulfilled. I will only mention three requirements that I think were made by the Japanese Government to protect the rights of their citizens.

First, you have to have a driving license to get a car. It is fair enough, riding a car without a driving license in Japan is strictly prohibited, and why would you want to buy a car if you can not ride it? The government only allows those who are capable of using the car properly to be able to own it, not only because he or she has money to buy it. Bear in mind that the process of obtaining a driver’s license in Japan is a long and tedious one. So only those who really have the know how to drive a car can obtain a driver’s license. 

If the first requirement is that you have to have a driving license, the second requirement is that you need to have a parking space document which tells that your future car will have a proper parking space. This helps people to acquire something only if they are capable of the responsibility. We do not have this rule in Indonesia, and what happens is, we sometimes find people using public roads to park their cars, which can become a nuisance for other road users. 

Third, you need to apply for car insurance. And I want to highlight this requirement. While insurance is usually for protecting ourselves and our own belongings. It is different in Japan’s standard car insurance. Their policy is to protect you only if you were causing an accident. For example, you hit another car and are found guilty for it, the insurance will help you cover expenses for your medical bill and the medical bill of the people in the other car in the accident for a certain amount of money. In addition, the standard insurance will also cover repair fees for the car that we hit in the accident. So what about our own car? The standard car insurance does not protect it. You have to apply for an additional insurance option, which means you have to spend more money for the monthly insurance fee. 

The system to protect the rights of people to own a car in Japan amazes me. They make rules to force people to protect other people’s rights. And vice versa, other people are also forced to protect our rights.

-Emiria

#driverslicense #Japan #Rights #Justice #Reflection #CeritaKamiRefleksi