A dumb-ass traffic arrangement

We were driving out from Oita-city, car filled with four passengers. It was an ordinary weekend and we were heading to climb the Mt. Mimata.

Seatbelt-check. Driving according to speed limit-check. Mirrors-check. Everything seems to be normal while we drive into a tunnel (location here).

No!! something is wrong!! A car is coming towards us driving the same lane! Everybody screams their lungs out and trembles in a panic! Car honks, but neither we or the car in the front is slowing down. Two guys in the back-seat think their day has come.

There is a lane on the left side. Although it's full of cars all the way until the end I manage to swift in, avoiding a terrible crash only narrowly. Puh!

But how could that happen? I've driven the exact same road before along with other traffic so how come there was a car in our lane?

After some investigation the truth came out. There is a tunnel in Oita-city where lanes change according to time of day! At one time the traffic can be reverse. And that's only on Oita! A real trap for foreign drivers, or what? If I just had had time to read the kanji before entering this tunnel.

It was no surprise that according to Traffic Safety Organization of Japan, Oomichi-tunnel has especially high accident rates. Click here for graphs.

Well, we survived. But anyone out there planning to drive in Oita, be aware of the Oomichi-tunnel at road 210 south of the city center!

UPDATE (May 16, 2010) A photo of the wicked tunnel:

Notice in Japanese.


Notice in English. So traffic is reverse from 7:00 am to 8:30 am (from Monday to Saturday).