In Japan, car companies must apologize when staff get into accidents, Toyota fires manager for drunk driving

People living outside of Japan might find this strange, but an employee of a car company in Japan is expected to live up to their employer’s responsibilities to be a good corporate citizen, and that includes operating his / her car in a safe manner. A traffic violation, even if it’s just a minor one, is not just a personal matter, but something that affects the company.

It is not uncommon for Japanese newspapers to carry ads by car companies apologizing for whenever an employee is involved in a traffic accident. Such ads are very common but it’s usually tiny, similar to bankruptcy announcements by the court, so hardly anyone pays attention to it but it’s a practice over there.

Earlier in April, Toyota dealer Corolla Tochigi (Corolla here refers to a dealer network, not the car) made an apology in local newspapers after one of their service manager collided with a train at around 11 pm on 3-April, while driving drunk.

The accident caused disruption in train services. Passengers were forced to get down on the tracks and shuttle buses had to be brought in. Train services resumed the next morning at 5.45 am, one hour later than usual.

In Japan, incidences of train delay, even if it’s just 1 minute, can become national news, and train drivers responsible for the delay can have their salaries docked.

Train operators are also obligated to make an apology and provide a slip to passengers (to show their employers) as timely departure of trains is the backbone of a Japanese salaryman’s (and woman’s) punctuality.

In response, Corolla Tochigi issued a statement to the local press saying:

“An employee of Corolla Tochigi caused an accident with a train at a railroad crossing in Utsunomiya city, Tochigi prefecture on the midnight of 3-April.

“He was arrested on suspicion of violating the Road Traffic Act for Drunk Driving. We apologize for the inconvenience. We sincerely apologize to everyone.

“As a car dealer, our employees are in a position to promote traffic safety. The accident and breach of law have caused great pain. As soon as the facts are confirmed by the police’s investigation, we will take the necessary measures.

“We will strive to improve our employee training to ensure compliance with traffic laws.”

A follow up by the local media revealed that as of 1-June, the service manager has been dismissed.

In 2012, Honda had too make a similar apology, also for an employee, when a senior researcher for their R&D division collided with another car while driving drunk, also at Utsunomiya.

Honda said, "We sincerely apologize for the fact that an employee of our subsidiary (Honda R&D Co. Ltd), who are in a position to take the lead in promoting traffic safety in the automobile industry, has caused such a legal violation and accident."

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