Notorious ‘Okegawa pop-out guy’ is first in Japan charged under new road rage law

A 33-year-old part-time labourer was charged with repeatedly swerving across a road, coming close to colliding with oncoming cars

Other cyclists condemned the man for his action, with one saying, ‘I hope they really throw the book at this guy’

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A cyclist in Tokyo. Japan recently enacted a law on dangerous cycling. Photo: B.S.P.I./Corbis

Published: 3:06pm, 27 Oct 2020Updated: 3:17pm, 27 Oct 2020

Police in Saitama Prefecture have made the first bicycle “road rage” arrest in Japan after a new law on dangerous cycling went into effect in June.

Akihiko Narushima, 33, was served an arrest warrant on Monday while still in detention on a separate charge of assaulting a man in the city of Okegawa, just north of Tokyo. Narushima, a part-time labourer, is accused of contravening an updated section of the Road Traffic Act stating that operating a vehicle in a manner which prevents other road users from travelling safely constitutes “obstructive driving”.

The case against Narushima is fairly water tight, as he was caught on the dashboard camera of another vehicle repeatedly swerving across the road in the early afternoon of October 5. The footage shows a black-clad Narushima deliberately crossing the median line of the road and coming close to colliding with cars before turning away at the last moment.

The suspect carries out the manoeuvre at least four times in the footage, forcing the drivers of the oncoming vehicles to apply the brakes and steer out of his way. Narushima does not appear to communicate with the other road users at any point in the footage.

Jiji Press reported that Narushima has denied the charges against him, claiming that he was merely warning another driver who he felt displayed “bad manners”.

Narushima was already in police custody on suspicion of assault after he seized the collar of a 70-year-old local resident who remonstrated with him about the danger he was causing to other drivers.