Did you know that Japanese taxis have an SOS button?
Jerrica · Oct 2, 2021 03:40 PM
0
0
An accident involving a Japanese taxi has been the talk of the Japanese social media verse lately. But it wasn’t the accident that caught attention, it was the taxi’s LED sign displaying the letters SOS that became the hot topic.
Apparently, it is a novel concept even to the Japanese as most have never seen the SOS letters displayed on the LED sign, never mind that the board can display those letters. The LED sign is usually used to display the status of the taxi, whether it is available for hire or occupied.
The accident that sparked interest. Image credit: Kyodo News
The topic first came to light when photos of an accident where a taxi crashed into a tree and killed both the driver and the 73-year-old female pedestrian went viral. Social media took interest when someone pointed out that the LED display board showed the letters SOS in red.
This roused the curiosity and discussions started circulating across the internet on whether the driver had pushed an emergency button or does the SOS sign only turn on when the car registers a massive impact.
According to Kuruma-news, the SOS display has always been programmed into a taxi or a bus ever since companies started installing LED display boards in vehicles.
When drivers press the emergency button, not only will this activate the SOS sign on the LED display, the lantern on the roof of the car will also glow red.
Note the lantern glowing red on the taxi. Image credit: The Asahi Shinbun
Other than that, the vehicle’s telematics system will send a distress call to the taxi or bus operator the vehicle is registered under.
The emergency button is mainly to alert those around the vehicle if it is being robbed. The sign and red lantern colour are means for the driver to discreetly call for help.
However, drivers can also press the button if there is a problem with the passengers. Pedestrians are also encouraged to take action by either calling the police or provide assistance if they see a driver in distress.
In 2017, a Japanese taxi company, Kumamoto Taxi Co Ltd even posted on its social media page asking the public to keep a lookout for the SOS sign and help keep their crew safe.
There isn’t a time in memory that doesn’t involve staring at cars. After discovering the excitement of watching Schumacher vs Hakkinen, Formula 1 became a major part of life. The love for cars and F1 ultimately led to a job with CAR Magazine. The untimely death of the magazine meant a hiatus from cars at lifestyle women’s magazine Marie Claire before another opportunity came knocking again.
