The Guardian

Asleep at the wheel: Japanese rental cars used for anything but driving

Surveys shed light on unusual habits of drivers who return cars with zero mileage on clock
Cars can be reserved online in Japan for as little as 400 yen (£2.95) for half an hour. Photograph: Mark Thomas/Getty Images/Axiom RM

Car rental companies in Japan have figured out why some customers are returning their vehicles with barely a mile on the clock.

Rather than travel from from A to B, as many as one in eight “drivers” are using their rental cars to grab forty winks, catch up on work or even brush up their language skills, according to

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