10/07/07 20:24:44
Nothing gets your day off to a good start like an altercation with a traffic cop. I was cycling along my usual route
to work recently, and stopped to make a right turn at a crossroads, only to find myself caught in the sights of
an over-zealous (or possibly just bored) police officer. With stern whistle toots and increasingly vexed shouts of
“Dame!” he sought to convey that I should actually be using the pedestrian crossing if I wanted to attempt such a risky maneuver.
Now, I’m not riding a mama-chari. I’ve overtaken ambulances on my trusty steed, and I wasn’t about to be told
to act like an octogenarian toddling off on the way to the grocery store. Still, even as I bellowed back that the guy
didn’t know what the hell he was talking about and rode swiftly forth, the inevitable doubt began to set in.
Surely, surely a cop would be right about something like this?
“Oh, the police don’t really understand themselves,” says Shinichi Maniwa when I recount the story to him.
“The beat cops don’t have that detailed an understanding of the traffic laws.”
よろしくお願いします。