Driving license ... yawn

I had to renew my driving license a couple of weeks ago. In Japan that involves first a trip to the police station to fill out forms, followed a week or so later by attendance at a driving safety lecture. "Gold drivers" with no points on their license get out after 30 minutes, "regular drivers" with a single violation have to stay an hour, and "violators" with multiple or serious violations have to sit through a two-hour talk. Unfortunately, thanks to a parking ticket and a failure to come to a complete halt at a stop sign (I was too distracted by wondering what the police were pulling people over for to notice the wretched sign until I was halfway across it), I currently fall into the latter category.

The elderly volunteer teacher spent ages wittering on about how the points violation system works, traffic accident statistics in Osaka, and recent revisions to the Road Traffic Law. The last time I renewed my license I had the first-time version for "novice drivers," which told us about how to approach crossroads safely, how to tell if you're going too fast at night, and other information that was actually useful in becoming a safer driver. But this guy seemed to actually want to bore the pants off us.

It wasn't an entire waste of time. I discovered that seatbelt and drink-driving laws have been tightened up since my last license renewal - you're now liable for prosecution if you sit in the passenger seat beside a drunk driver, regardless of whether or not you've been drinking yourself, or if you lend a car to someone who then drives it drunk. But as everyone seems to ignore the laws anyway - e.g. no Japanese families I know use child seats, although they're legally required - it all seemed rather academic. I'm pretty sure the people in the back row alongside me thought the same, as by 30 minutes into the lecture they were all fast asleep.

I'm utterly determined that next time I renew my license I won't have any new violations on it, so I can be classed as a gold driver and never have to sit through something like this again. Hmm, so maybe the system does work after all...