Will Miss #251 - free ambulance service

In odd contrast to the previous post about paying for emergency rescue services, ambulances in Japan are free. If you've fallen and you can't get up, you get a free ride to the hospital. Considering that many people back home in America won't call an ambulance when they need one for fear of the cost, this is a rather refreshing situation. Of course, there is a down side, and that's that some people will call an ambulance in a non-emergency situation rather than take a cab because one is free and the other is not.

I think that free ambulances for those who need it is worth a little abuse on the part of those who don't, and I'll miss the fact that one need not worry about cost in the case of a medical emergency.

Won't Miss #130 - shouting from emergency vehicles

Emergency vehicles in Japan, such as ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars, are equipped with the same loud sirens and flashing lights that those back home have. For some reason, these very obvious notifications to those on the road are insufficient to get cars to pull out of the way. Every emergency vehicle that passes through also seems to feel it is necessary for someone in it to shout on a loudspeaker constantly and tell people to get out of the way. I don't understand the necessity of constantly yelling instructions when the siren alone should be doing the job. I don't believe Japanese people are too stupid to understand the simple notion of, "if you hear a siren, then get out of the way," so I regard this as unnecessary on the part of emergency personnel.

I won't miss this pointless contribution to the already oppressive noise pollution.