A Recent Rise in Go-Kart Accidents Causing Concern Among Tokyo Police
There’s been a rash of go-kart accidents in Tokyo that has the local Metropolitan Police department rather concerned. It seems people, specifically tourists, are driving these karts in an unsafe manner. While wearing outfits resembling characters from a Mario game.
The Kart racing is part of a series of driving tours one can take through Japan. Tokyo’s Metro Police department has approached five different kart rental companies to help improve the safety conditions in and around the karts. One of these proposed measures is to ban the use of smartphones while driving. The law may only apply to full-sized vehicles, but using your phone while driving anything is a dangerous, problematic activity.
There have already been 12 accidents involving the karts since local police started tracking them. Of those 12, 10 were tourists. Thankfully, there have been no injuries up to this point. The karts are either minicars or mopeds, depending on who you talk to. Either way, they’re not the sort of machines you want on the road during a traffic jam.. There’s no law regarding seatbelts in karts just yet, although given the relative size of the vehicles, one would think them essential for surviving any crashes with other cars. The police are investigating further security measures to ensure no loss of life occurs, whether you’re driving a moped or a mack truck. As cool as it looks to drive a go-kart in the manner made famous by Mario, no one wants their innards ribboned across the blacktop in a horrific car/kart crash.