YouTube Video Leads To Arrest For Speeding 39
JoshuaInNippon writes "A 42-year old man was arrested outside of Osaka, Japan in connection with a YouTube video of him going more than 130km/h (80mph) over the speed limit on his 1300cc motorcycle. The man reportedly borrowed his friend's camera and videotaped himself speeding at well over 180km/h in a 50km/h zone, illegally passing cars multiple times in the process. The man's friend then distributed the video online. Local police say they received an anonymous tip about the YouTube video and investigated. It then took them nearly half a year before making the arrest, but the motorcyclist, who apparently admitted guilt, is now likely facing both multiple fines and jail time. Japanese police say it is the first time they've used evidence from the internet to pursue such traffic violations. With a multitude of similar speed enthusiast home videos on YouTube and other sites, might more careless braggers start facing legal problems?"
Re:Dumbass cops (Score:5, Insightful)
So wait........that's ~112MPH in a 30.....ok, 80 over, goodbye license, but HALF A FUCKING YEAR? Don't you guys have you know, real police things to do?
30 mph zones are generally ones with high congestion, lots of pedestrians, and not necessarily a lot of room to mess up. Imagine if this was in a car rather than a motorcycle (to my knowledge, the laws and penalties are generally the same for both). That's a lot of potential for death and destruction (and they'd be lucky if they didn't have an accident). Admittedly, a motorcycle has less potential for destruction but it's still potent at those speeds (especially since sidewalks in Japan are often crowded).
Someone who commits this sort of recklessness needs to be made aware it is not acceptable. Revoking their license isn't enough to do that; they'll just ride without one.
Dumbass system (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem is not the police, hands down. They are there to apply the law, whenever they can.
Frankly, the *last* thing I want to see, is a state where the police do not apply the law, because they don't feel like it. That's damned dangerous, in terms of the stability of the state.
Regardless, again, the problem is the way wacky speeding laws are passed. Here in Canada, we have new, moronic laws which (in some Provinces) can cause an automatic suspension of a license, if you are doing more than 50km/hr (30mph) over the limit.
This law includes towing of the vehicle, and entire families have been left at the side of the road -- with no way to get help.
Now, this sort of law makes sense in a 30km/hr zone. After all, generally all 30km/hr zones (here) are school zones. I don't care what your opinion is, screw you -- if you want to drive over 2 1/2 times the allotted speed, where children are running and playing.
However, we also have roads where the speed limit is 100km/hr, and where the *normal* traffic flow is 130km/hr. So, that means if you deviate by 20km/hr over the flow of traffic, you get your car impounded, and lose your license for a week?!
Absurd!
Back to other absurdities.
Take a look at this road:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=45.453542,-75.925224&spn=0,359.996063&t=k&z=19&layer=c&cbll=45.453619,-75.925304&panoid=qZDB8JSv42kTdg16DizW5g&cbp=12,146.26,,0,1.87 [google.ca]
Proceed up the hill, and notice what you see. That's right, driveways hidden from view on both sides of the road. Now, the speed limit on this road is 90km/hr. Frankly, that's fine! You need to be aware of your surroundings, and provide additional awareness around such corners.
However, if a road like the above is 90km/hr (and trust me, that's a MILD example in this area), why is this road only 100km/hr?:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=44.888004,-75.567334&spn=0,359.992125&t=k&z=18&layer=c&cbll=44.888031,-75.568744&panoid=0gn7kAXFZ5xIKPY5t7SANQ&cbp=12,349.6,,0,2.61 [google.ca]
This is on of the '400' series of highways in Ontario. The speed limit on ALL of them, is 100km/hr. In the above shot, you can see in the distance a mild corner and incline. These roads are all built and designed for speed.
Yet, 100km/hr?!
These roads should be set to 160km/hr at a bare minimum. Or, the 90km/hr road should be set to 40km/hr.
Either way, it makes absolutely no sense.
Further, speed limit should vary defendant upon road conditions, the tires you have, etc.
For example, I live in Quebec, and have spiked tires. I can on icy roads, safely, at a significantly higher speed than people without spikes on their tires.
Why are speed limits so absurd? Well, frankly, it's because most legislators are from a time, when cars were designed quite differently than now.
Have you ever seen someone that is 70 drive a car? Yes, some of that is indeed age, but other parts of it are how the cars were designed, when they were young!
Anyhow... bah.
(sorry about the formatting -- for some reason, my input box is a mere 40 chars wide... someone at /. mangled something)