I stumbled on an intriguing story. In February 2014, Utah State Police were out late at night patrolling Interstate 15 for drunk drivers when they spotted a car going just 40 mph and weaving erratically between lanes.

The squad car flipped on its sirens and flashing red and blue lights. The driver sped up in an apparent attempt to escape. The driving didn’t get any better, as the car bounced between 75 and 35 mph. The police decided to put an end to the situation. They closed the entire highway and threw out spike strips. The result was that the car skidded to a stop with three blown tires.

Officers may have suspected the worst. But when they wrenched the doors open, they found a couple of 40-something Japanese citizens. The officers asked to see their ID and Japanese drivers’ licenses. It became apparent that neither the woman driving nor her husband in the passenger seat spoke a word of English.

Officers detained the two adults. But they had another problem: a seven-year-old son in the back seat. He was “just crying and really kind of traumatized,” according to Lieutenant Brad Horne of the Utah Highway Patrol.

Meanwhile, questioning the adults was going nowhere. “It became apparent that we had a language barrier problem.”

The police called around and found a USP officer in another part of the state who was fluent in Japanese. Through the translator, the woman told the police she’d become confused when they flipped on the lights and sirens. That’s why she sped up.

Do the Japanese police use flashing lights and sirens?

Naturally, I was intrigued as to whether her story held water. I went down a rabbit hole on Japanese police procedure. It turns out that they don’t use blue lights for regular traffic stops. But they do use flashing red lights and sirens. The sirens I found in YouTube videos sound much like the police sirens in the U.S. See a Japanese traffic stop in the video below:

I did find that blue flashing lights are used for non-emergency vehicles. I’ll admit the bi-colored lights could have been confusing. But all told, I think the Japanese woman doesn’t have a great excuse for leading multiple emergency vehicles with blaring sirens on a seven-mile chase.

Lt. Horne said, “We deal with tourists all the time, particularly from Japan, and we’ve never had that problem before.” He added, “Lights and sirens are a pretty universal thing.”

The department decided to transport the family to a nearby hotel and not to press charges. Lt. Horne concluded that the squad nabbed eight drunk drivers the same night. He said of the Japanese tourist, “She drove worse than any of those we arrested.”