When Ayumi and I go on adventures, there is always at least one memorable event during the journey that will outshine many aspects of the destination. This is one of the many things that I look forward to while on the road with the puppy dog. Today, however, was a first in terms of dread.
The day's journey started out well enough. We went for a walk in the park we had camped at around 7:30 in the morning and explored the green spaces with the help of sunlight. An hour later we were on the road to a coffee shop where I hoped to "borrow" a power outlet to recharge the Anker portable batteries, which had been depleted the day before. The coffee was plentiful, but the outlets were all in use by people who looked like they were avoiding their office. From there we enjoyed a meandering trek through the mountains and valleys of southern Kōchi Prefecture. Everywhere we looked there was green, green, and more green. Why does anyone move away from here?
After a short stop to stretch our legs, we continued towards Sukumo, a tiny fishing village with an Eneos gas station1. As we travelled on a coastal road overlooking the ocean, I looked in the rearview mirror and spotted a police motorcycle passing the vehicles behind me with his lights on then matching my speed once behind me.
Uh oh.
The road was clearly marked as 50km/h and I was doing about sixty-five on account of not paying attention to the speedometer. There was no shoulder to pull over to, so I kept going to the first intersection, where I expected to be told some instructions about where to stop so the traffic behind could continue. Instead I heard this:
この道路は時速50キロゾーンです。 減速してください！2
The traffic cop had said this over his speaker so that every car behind me could hear it, too.
I apologised for driving too quickly and he turned his bike around to repeat the expectation to every car in earshot.
減速してください！
He drove off and a few seconds later we all started driving again … not exceeding 50 kilometres per hour.
This is the first time that I've been stopped by the police anywhere and it had me cursing my lack of attention given that I usually play a game called "Cops and Copens" while driving, where I keep my eyes open for any cops and any Copens3 and count them. Sure, I've been paying more attention to the natural beauty of Japan's southern prefectures these past few days, but it does not excuse the lack of attention. Not just with the lapse in playing the silly game, but in breaking my own rule of not exceeding the posted speed limit by 10kph. As this is the first year I've had a license in the country, I need to be extra careful to not get any speeding tickets, parking tickets, or worse. If my driving record does not appear spotless to the police for the first year, license renewals become much more complicated and tedious.
Attention is key.
After the traffic stop, Ayumi and I continued towards the gas station. We passed two more speed traps along the way without any complications and upset more than a handful of drivers behind us who did not know there were police on the roads ahead.
Hopefully there won't be any repeats of this in the near future. I don't speed excessively very often, but it's always the time when you're not paying attention that a cop – or one of those automated photo radar stations – will levy a fine to remind us that limits exist.
I only use Eneos if it's at all possible. Gasoline from the other places does not seem to be as effective as the regular stuff from Eneos.
This road is a 50km/h zone. Please slow down.
The model of Daihatsu car that I drive.