I drive a car every day for work, and I inevitably witness aggressive driving somewhere along the way.
Sometimes the car in front of me is tailgating, and sometimes I'm the one being tailgated.
It's an infuriating act, but one wrong step and you yourself could get involved in an accident and suffer losses.
Therefore, I installed stickers and a dummy camera to deter aggressive driving, and I'd like to explain in detail.
Put a sticker on the back.
Since it's dangerous to overtly provoke the other person's emotions, I chose a sticker like the one below.
You can buy it on Amazon for around 500 yen.
However, I'm starting to think that people who engage in road rage are so stupid they probably can't even read this English, so I feel like I made a mistake in choosing the design.
For starters, I figured that overly flashy stickers wouldn't look good, so I went with a more understated design.
Since it's a sticker, it's easy to apply.
Attach a dummy camera
Our company cars have a dashcam installed in the front, but not in the rear.
I thought that if I only put a REC sticker on the back and didn't have a camera lens, it would be obvious that I was just bluffing, so I decided to put a dummy camera on as well.
However, upon further reflection, it seems unlikely that someone stupid enough to engage in aggressive driving would logically conclude, "There's only a sticker, and no camera, so it's okay to drive aggressively!"
Even cheap dummy cameras cost around 2000 yen, which is expensive.
However, I found a real dashcam being sold for just 1000 yen, which is even cheaper than the dummy one.
It appears to be a very cheap product made in China, and judging from the Amazon reviews, everyone seems to be using it as a dummy camera.
Since it was shipped from overseas, it took about 10 days to arrive.
Since it's inexpensive, a crushed outer box is to be expected.
The package contains the camera body, a stand with a suction cup, and a power cord that connects to the car's cigarette lighter socket.
Since it will be attached to the inside of the rear window glass as a dummy, the key point is whether it can be securely fixed with suction cups.
Since it's not my car, I could just secure it with duct tape or something so it's not visible from the outside.
Diagram of the actual installation
I attached it to the inside of the rear window of the car, like this.
I was worried about the suction cup's adhesive strength, but it was stronger than I expected.
It's firmly attached and secured, so it doesn't seem like it will wobble.
However, because my company car had a dark film on the rear window, it was difficult to see the camera from the outside.
Even if a black dummy camera is installed inside the dark glass, it's almost invisible.
From the perspective of a car following behind, it probably just looks like a sticker has been plastered on it.
I briefly considered attaching it to the outside, but I was worried about it getting dirty in the rain or damaged by stones.
Of course, it's also possible that it could be stolen as a prank.
I felt like this was a bit of a failure.
Regarding the effects after installation
I've been using it for about a week, but I haven't noticed any significant improvement.
However, I do feel like I'm being provoked less often these days.
These days, videos of serious road rage incidents are quickly exposed on Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms.
Drivers who don't tailgate cars that are recording their rear view can be considered to be relatively sensible.
However, even with all the emphasis on recording, any driver who still tailgates you is clearly a very dangerous individual.
Drivers who don't consider the pros and cons, even though there's nothing good to be gained from provoking others, are truly dangerous.
Furthermore, drivers who don't see the stickers or lack the imagination to realize that they might be exposed if they provoke someone are still a cause for concern.
I think there's a point to putting stickers on cars, especially in terms of identifying these kinds of drivers.
In recent years, the police have shown a firm stance towards taking stricter penalties for aggressive driving.
In addition to various road traffic laws, assault charges under the Penal Code may also apply.
Even if you get into trouble such as having your car stopped, absolutely do not get out of the car.
It's important to immediately call 110 (the Japanese emergency number) without hesitation, and to record the other driver's license plate number using your smartphone or dashcam.
You can find similar advice on how to deal with aggressive driving on the websites of various prefectural police departments.
I hope that even a small reduction in aggressive driving will lead to a decrease in traffic accidents caused by it.
