Japan is getting tougher on bike safety with stiffened and standardized punishments for a range of offenses, including using a phone while cycling or cycling while drunk. Under a new nationwide law, cyclists caught using their phones could face a maximum punishment of six months in prison or a $655 fine, the BBC reports. "Making a call with a smartphone in your hand while cycling, or watching the screen, is now banned and subject to punishment," a National Police Agency leaflet states, per AFP. Cyclists who cause accidents or hit pedestrians can face up to a year in prison under the new laws.
Drunk cyclists can get up to three years in prison. Using phones while cycling and cycling while drunk were already banned, but the new laws bring in a standard punishment for every prefecture and lower the alcohol threshold for cyclists, the Times of London reports. The new laws also ban using an umbrella while cycling, which carries a fine of around $32. It's also illegal to provide alcohol to cyclists—or bicycles to people who have been drinking. Cycling has surged in Japan since the pandemic. Authorities say almost a quarter of traffic accidents last year involved bicycles, and many also involved smartphones. The BBC notes that unlike in many countries, cycling on sidewalks is legal in Japan. (More Japan stories.)
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