Cosmic Hawk

Received a check for 500,000 yen today since BMC Japan doesn't sell my size frame in Japan. Bought an aluminum frame bike to keep getting around and I might as well send my Time Machine out to see if repair is possible. If not, well no big deal since it has been written off. That's my update!

no lawyer needed, and time was quick considering past week had three holidays in Japan.

SloButWide 

Glad to hear it was resolved quickly and with minimum drama. An accident is like a divorce: the winner isn't the one who pisses off the other party the most, it's the one who gets on with their life the quickest.

KonAaron Snake 

If it was here in the US the guy may not have stopped. If he had stopped, the insurance company would offer an obscenely low ball number, you'd have to get a lawyer, wait 2 years, your hospital/doctor would take a large piece of whatever you settle on for their hour of work and the attorney would get 30% - 40% of whatever was left.

If you go to trial and get a judgement, have fun collecting on anything beyond the insured amount. Interesting fact - credit card company debt is usually bankrupt proof now, but your judgement isn't. So a credit card company - that had the option of extending credit, and which charges extra points for risk, gets more protection than a victim who goes through the court system and who likely didn't have a say in what happened.

I like our system better than most, but it is still not ideal (mostly because the doctors are allowed to gouge on testimony, it's a major profit center for them, and the insurance company tactic is to hold the money as long as possible). They do not negotiate in good faith until the day before a scheduled trial.

baron von trail 

Glad to hear you are OK. Now, I'm hoping you get 100% reimbursed for the trashed frame.

Daniel4

Yes, check the news for the nearest collision that took place that same day and argue you could have been there but by being here, you saved them thousands of dollars more.

noglider 

500,000¥ is almost $42,000, so it sounds like you got what you deserve. Actually, I have no idea what you deserve, but it's a lot of money, and I'm glad you're satisfied.

Stories like these make me wish we had the Japanese legal system. It's amazing how few civil law suits ever happen there. People just don't sue very much.

kcm5

I think it's almost $4,200 - still a tidy sum that the OP doesn't have to share with a lawyer.

noglider 

Oops, you're right. That makes much more sense!

2wheelCambria

Somewhat off-topic, but this thread brought to mind an article I read recently, though it was about China, not Japan: Why drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit: China?s laws have encouraged the hit to kill phenomenon.

Article TL;DR: In China, it is less economically damaging for someone to KILL a pedestrian than to simply injure them, so people involved in accidents sometimes run over their victims on purpose after the initial hit, to make sure the person is dead.

San Pedro

Thanks for posting the story, I'm also in Japan so I found the info very useful.

To let others know, it's very common for motorists to drive away in such instances here in Japan. I was cut off and went over the bars four years ago, and the guy just made sure I could stand up before driving off (I ended up with broken cartilage in my elbow). Earlier this year I ran into a car that turned with no warning and went down, the car never bothered to stop, but luckily I was fine. Also, as the op stated foreigners are not treated equally here, especially if you don't speak Japanese well. Almost every time the police will side with Japanese person. The OP was very lucky (except about the initial accident) in the matter.