Tokyo, 13 June, /AJMEDIA/
If you’ve ever visited Tokyo, you may have seen fleets of go-karts pass by you on the roads. These go-kart tours are so popular with overseas tourists that one of the companies that ran them almost went out of business when inbound travellers were banned during the pandemic, but now that foreign visitors are back in bigger numbers than ever before, the go-karts have returned to the roads, much to the chagrin of locals.
While visitors on holiday might view the go-karts as a bit of fun, many local drivers and residents see them as a nuisance, with the Metropolitan Police Department receiving over 100 complaints about them last year. In addition to the 12 accidents that were reported, there were numerous complaints related to noise and traffic violations, with many pointing out that go-kart riders often ignore road rules.
This disregard for road rules appears to be an ongoing concern, because on June 4, a foreign go-kart driver collided with a taxi on Hibiya-dori in Tokyo’s Minato Ward. According to the taxi driver, the accident occurred along the three-lane road when the go-kart came flying out of a side street, obviously ignoring the stop sign that was placed there.
The kart that caused the accident appeared to have been trailing late behind the group, because it flew out after around five go-karts exited the side street, crashing into the taxi, which was driving along the middle lane of the road.
