Sometimes the only way to make a point about rules is to follow them a little too perfectly.

So, what would you do if your company punished you for driving a few kilometers over the limit on a work site?

Would you take your punishment and go back to your old ways? Or would you follow the rules, even if it means slowing everyone else down?

In the following story, one employee finds himself in this situation and decides to follow the rules.

Here’s how it played out.

Finally, a real MC story.

I work for a just-in-time company and was on a work assignment in Japan.

They had some strange approaches to prioritizing which safety items needed focus.

They also have a very specific method and format for problem-solving. This is important later.

His company car was very slow.

If you’ve ever driven in Japan, you know that some “roads” wouldn’t pass as cart paths anywhere else, and most have very deep gutters that will ****mix your car right quick.

My company car was a gorgeous 87hp Vitz. I still miss it sometimes.

When idling in the drive, it hovered around 22-25kph. Sorry, Americans, I don’t know what it is in freedom units.

He got pulled over and had to write a letter.

The speed limit on the site was 20. The speedo for the Vitz was in the center console, and the driveway through the site is quite long and narrow. I couldn’t watch both easily.

One day, safety team members were out in a literal speed trap. I got pulled over. Driving infractions are pretty serious, and I am a foreigner, so they lost it on me (they flagged down lots of people, but only I got yelled at).

I had to write a shame letter and do a problem-solving report for root cause and countermeasure.

Sure.

Then, he found a way to solve the problem.

My reasoning was that I couldn’t watch the speedo and drive in the narrow lanes at the same time. The idle speed is too high to maintain safe driving.

Countermeasure: My beloved Vitz had a B gear (Jake brake for brake fade on mountain roads). In B, it idled at exactly 10.

They loved the report. It was shared with my working group.

The next time I was on site, I went directly to my car, got on the lot exit to the winding, narrow, single lane driveway, and put it in B.

Apparently, many people complained about his car.

There was a massive line of cars behind my idling 10kph Vitz, with the guy directly behind me losing his entire mind. It took forever to get to the gate. Although, no one was speeding.

The next morning, my boss said there were many complaints about the white Vitz driving too slowly. I said safety first, and I don’t want to risk another speeding ticket at work. He said I didn’t have to drive 10kph anymore.

Okay. Nope.

Even though they said to stop, he kept doing it.

Every day I worked on that site, I drove exactly 10 in and exactly 10 out. I feel bad for screwing everyone else over, but if it’s serious enough to give me a speeding ticket and a shame letter, then it’s serious enough to be diligent about.

They announced that the safety gestapo would limit safety audits to activity on site and that the activity was a great success in slowing down unsafe drivers. I think that was a tacit approval to return to the old way.

Even then, 10kph in, 10kph out.

If I ever have to go back there, I will do it again. Safety first.

Too funny! But those poor folks who were stuck behind him every day… eek.

Let’s check out how Reddit readers relate to this situation.

This person just wants the car.

Well, this is off-topic.

For this reader, it also works the other way.

Luckily, this person was never pulled over in another country.

He definitely proved a point. But for the sake of all the people who work there, let’s hope he doesn’t do it again.

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.