Last night in Tokyo, a 30-something-year-old tourist from Singapore made a wrong turn, driving a rental MariCar (the go-kart company that Nintendo is suing for copyright infringement) up on the footpath and crashing it into a restaurant sign. This is not a first.
Previously, Kotaku reported that another tourist crashed a MariCar into a police box.
In a separate incident, a Taiwanese national was arrested earlier this year after an alleged hit-and-run while driving a rented go-kart. The injured cyclist needed several weeks to recover.
As can be seen in these tweets, during this latest incident there were drivers dressed as Mario and Tigger. Is that Wario behind the wheel? Or a Minion?
マリカー事故ってた。真っ直ぐな道でどうやってそこに行ったのか不明すぎる。人を巻き込んでないだけでもよかったと思う。
毎日歩く道だから本当危ない。シャレにならない。 pic.twitter.com/487uWRBREN— ma-vo- (@maaavooo) April 30, 2018
Thankfully, the driver only sustained minor injuries and no pedestrians were hit. It looks like the sign was not so lucky.
知り合いのビルにマリカーが突っ込んできたらしいんだけど、こういうのって保険とかきくのかね???? pic.twitter.com/YFlYDGbpfn
— まにゃ様 (宇咲まな) 超会議両日 (@manyatter91) April 30, 2018
六本木でマリカー突っ込んでる。#六本木 #マリオカート pic.twitter.com/Dnjaom7zYM
— RhinoTokyo (@rhino_tokyo) April 30, 2018
マリカーいつも、うっとおしーなーあぶねーなーと思ってたら、、、ついに事故。六本木のミッドタウン前のフィッシュ&チップスの店に突っ込んでる。。マリカー営業停止にしてくれ… pic.twitter.com/YdN6ImlGDF
— ACKYMOUSE (@ackymouse8) April 30, 2018
The accident made the national news in Japan, including TV Asahi.
[速報]マリカーがバナナの皮を踏んだ模様 pic.twitter.com/Xp3ynFq6qk
— かんかんみかんっ (@joruno_st0711) April 30, 2018
Rental go-karts started appearing on the Tokyo city streets in around 2013. Since then, they have become increasingly popular with tourists, but less so with locals.
Comments
3 responses to “Another Tourist Crashes Real-Life (And Totally Unofficial) Mario Kart In Tokyo”
Poor bugger must have slipped on one of Donkey Kongs banana peels.
how is this company legally allowed to operate on the streets?
I used to think these were neat until I started seeing them driving around in heavy traffic. Not only loud but in places like Shibuya they cause a stampede of foreign tourists running onto the road to take photos with them etc. Pain in the ass for anyone who actually lives there and needs to go about their daily life.
Which is why japan’s trying to get them banned, I’ve never had an interest in them they look super dangerous, sure if the driver is competent fine but if not they’ll get themselves killed.