Samurai road rage as man attacks motorist with replica samurai sword on Japanese expressway

Tailgating incident isn’t exactly the sort of duel of honor told about in tales of yore.

Japan’s expressways are often clogged with traffic, but if you’re driving in the middle of the night, you usually won’t run into too much congestion. Even still, an incident that occurred in Aichi Prefecture before dawn on Wednesday shows that having to share the road with even one other vehicle is too much for some drivers to calmly deal with.

According to the Aichi Prefectural Police, at around 2 a.m. in a westbound section of the Tomei Expressway, which connects Tokyo and Nagoya, a 43-year-old truck driver from a delivery company based in Ibaraki Prefecture moved into the passing lane to overtake a passenger car in front of him. However, after the pass was completed, the driver of the car began aggressively tailgating the truck.

The truck driver then pulled over onto the shoulder of the expressway in Nisshin City. The driver of the car did likewise, and as the motorists exited their vehicles, the car’s driver began shouting “Why don’t you get out of the damn way! I’m in a hurry!”

Despite his self-professed lack of time, the driver of the car still had enough time in his schedule to then brandish an approximately 60-centimeter (two-foot) replica katana, which he then attacked the truck driver with. Specifically, the police report says the car driver “pounded on” the truck driver with the weapon, suggesting that its blade was not sharpened. Even without a cutting edge, though, the assailant managed to break the truck driver’s right knee after landing multiple blows. The driver of the car then got back in his vehicle and drove off, either because he realized the logical fallacy of spending time beating on someone when you’ve presumably got preexisting pressing appointments, complaining about someone being in your way after they’ve already pulled over to let you pass, or because he feared the imminent arrival of the authorities.

The truck driver then contacted the police, who are now searching for the driver of the car, said to be in his 20s or 30s, and are treating the attack as an attempted homicide.

In light of the events, SoraNews24 would like to remind everyone that while out on the road, it’s always smarter to remain in your vehicle rather then stepping out of it to engage in late-night altercations, because should you happen to encounter someone with road rage who’s armed like a samurai, Japan’s real-life ninja are probably too busy to come to your aid.

Source: Livedoor News via Hachima Kiko, YouTube/ANNnewsCH
Top image: Gahag

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