Okinawa Driving Lesson

Driving in Okinawa is nothing like driving in the states (and not just because you're driving on the wrong side of the street and your steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car).  

I decided to share just a few of the things you will need to know while driving here. 

Speed limits here are super slow.  Most roads are only 40-60 kph, which equals 25.85-37.28 mph.  The fastest you will ever see is 80 kph (49.7 mph) and that is on the expressway.  The expressway is a toll road though, so we only take it when completely necessary.  The reason they're so low is because most of the streets are tiny, with homes on both sides, lots of curves and mirrors so you can see cars coming, so you can't really drive fast anyway.  

When you are turning right with no turn arrow, you will realize you're out in the middle and the cars coming at you have stopped.  They now have a red light and you can continue....or just sit there because you're completely confused.  

No turn on red, anywhere, is a law here.

There are really no shoulders here.  Also, there are not really any parking lots here.  So, when an Okinawan needs to pull over, they do just that, pull over.  They will pull over to go into a store, to get food, to get on their phone and it will most likely be in the worst possible spot ever!  They will however put on their hazards to let you know they are stopped.  You will always have to get into the other lane, so you have to constantly be paying attention.  No playing on your phone or with the radio or turning around to kindly tell your children to stop fighting.   Not only do you have to watch for this on the left hand side, but if you are on a 4 lane road, you have to watch for those turning right in the right lane, because there are no turn lanes either.  (Well, there are some, but not always).  

It's literally a constant frogger game. 

 I was once behind an old man, who decided he need to pull over to the left, on a curve, put on his hazard, only to get out and walk across the street to a vending machine!  I guess if you're thirsty, you pull over.  

And since there are no parking lots, the sidewalks become a place to park.  Literally all of the sidewalks have flat spots in the curb, so that you can pull up onto the sidewalk to get out of the way.

Here's a good picture of a car on the sidewalk and one pulled over 

(notice the mini shoulder, which a lot of cars fit into).

There is a law that you must have your child in a car seat or seat belt, but this will never be enforced and you will see kids bouncing around the inside of a car like they're playing on a trampoline.  Also, infant car seats in the front seat is ok!

Merge.  What is that?

Okinawans do not know how to merge.  We were even told this at our drivers test.  They will come to a complete stop when they need to merge and you will be frustrated because they could have merged 10x already!

All cars make the beeping sound when backing up.

If an Okinawan turns on their headlights by the time the sun has gone down, count yourself lucky.  No cars (that I know of) have daytime running lights.  If it gets dark, you have to remember to turn your lights on.  If it's raining, they will not turn their lights on either and a friend even told me that she was flashed a couple of times to let her know her lights were on during the day.  

Like in CA, there are a lot of mopeds and motorcycles.  They will always speed up between you and another car, so you have to be paying attention.

This is a postman.  There are a lot of other businesses that use mopeds for delivery too, like Domino's down the street.  

Driving gloves are very popular here.  I will see a lot of people wearing them.  Maybe I should try them out.  Long gloves are very popular here for keeping the sun off of you.  Only women wear them and I why wouldn't you need full arm driving gloves too?!

(Photo of arm savers - I don't even know what to call them.)

You must always be looking for kids when driving.  They will just run out into the street, at crosswalks, and will let you know they're  crossing by holding up their hand.  They've been doing this since they were born, I think.  We have witnessed 3 year olds walking down the street by themselves - and I am serious about that!

Driving in Okinawa is always an experience!