The backdrop

Aggressive drivers and AirDop harassment are both problems which have appeared in Japanese media of late.

For aggressive drivers, two recent incidents, one in Ibaraki Prefecture on August 10th when a 43-year-old man forcibly stopped another driver and assaulted him as he sat in his car, and another one in Aichi Prefecture on September 14th in which a 40-year-old man fired a toy air gun at a vehicle driving slowly in front of him, have brought the problem of road rage, known in Japanese as aori unten おあり運転 to the fore.

As for AirDrop harassment, on August 20th, the Fukuoka Police announced that they had filed charges against a 37-year old man for sending obscene photos in a train, the first known arrest relating to AirDrop known in Japan. This also resulted in heated discussions on "AirDrop chikan" (sexual harassment through AirDrop) in tabloids and news variety shows.

The incident

With this kind of mood in Japan, having an aggressively behaving driver suddenly send an AirDrop message is bound to be cause for concern.

This is what happened to Twitter user @km03728012 on September 17th.

As he was driving on a normal city road, he noticed a van tailgating behind him. Wondering if this might not be a case of aori unten, he tried to change to the left lane.

Just at that moment, his iPhone suddenly lit up.

Since it was an AirDrop message, he was struck with fear as he realized it must be from the driver behind him.

Thinking it must be some kind of complaint, he prepared for the worst and cautiously checked his screen.

This is what he saw:

That's when he realized he had judged the driver too soon.

Accident averted. All's well that ends well.


The aftermath

This hilarious tweet by @km03728012 quickly went viral, garnering nearly 159,000 likes and 62,000 retweets at time of writing.

Some of the reactions included:

  • The next time someone tailgates me, I'll think: "He must be racing for the bathroom," and I'll kindly let him pass
  • To think that AirDrop could be used that way...
  • You saved someone's life today.
  • Such peaceful news. I loled.

By - Ben K.

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