truck

Police in Kobe arrested a 71-year-old man on suspicion of driving without a valid licence on Monday this week after a local police officer recognised the vehicle’s number plate following a prior incident. When questioned about the offence, however, it transpired that the wily old truck driver had not simply forgotten to renew his documents, but had never held a licence in the 50 years he’d been behind the wheel.

Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun reports that the illegal driver, one Mr. Shigeji Ikegami, was arrested on March 3 on suspicion of driving his two-ton truck without a licence.

Mr. Ikegami had apparently been arrested on the same charges in November last year. Unfortunately for him, it just so happened that on Monday afternoon this week, the exact same police officer who had stopped him previously, and who was able to easily recall the vehicle’s number plate, spotted the pensioner driving back from a quick supermarket run and pulled him over to check.

When questioned about his missing documents, Mr. Ikegami reportedly said, “I’ve never had a licence; I’ve been driving for about 50 years since I was 20.”

That’s quite the stint, but it sounds like this aged un-chan‘s days behind the wheel are over.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun
Top image: Kuroyanagi