11-year-old boy dies after being hit by taxi in Chiba

Friday 16th October, 11:31 AM JST

CHIBA —

An 11-year-old boy died on Thursday after he was hit by a taxi at an intersection in Chiba City. The 57-year-old driver was arrested at the scene for negligent driving causing injury, but police said they will upgrade the charge to negligent driving causing death.

The fifth-grade elementary school boy crossed the Midori Ward intersection on his bicycle at about 5.50 p.m. when he was hit by the taxi coming from the left. The boy suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead about four hours later.

The taxi driver, Yoshikazu Matsuzaki, 57, called police straight after the accident and told them the traffic light was green, and so he went straight ahead. He added he never saw the boy until right before the collision.

Police said the boy lived nearby, and had gone out of the house by himself.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 29 Total Comments Show All

dbung10 at 02:59 PM JST - 16th October

But if the taxi driver ran a red that had been red for a long time, then jail him. Only I seriously doubt he did that. But I can guarantee the boy was not paying attention. People put too much stock in the green man. All he does is tell you its your turn. He cannot and does not verify if its actually safe for you to cross. Only you can do that.

I agree mostly with this - but I do need to point out that every, and I mean EVERY day of the week on my commute to work (by bicycle) I see a driver run a red light, and not just by half a second or so, people actually accelerate into them and are travelling at speed through the crossing when the green man is lit. The green man always gives a second or two leeway as well, so these people really are running reds, not just going into a crossing on amber and coming out the other side as the lights go red. Its selfish and people that do it need to be punished, but they rarely are.
auntplum at 06:04 PM JST - 16th October

This particular case is tragic, but not abnormal. It is the result of the absence of a cycling / pedestrian proficiency program in elementary schools, and perhaps inadequate parental guidance. In this instance, a cyclist crossed a main road at dusk on a red light, and was hit by a vehicle that was travelling at or below the speed limit, in a straight line through the junction on a green light. The vehicle was not conducting any manouvers or making a turn at the junction. This was a rather odd thing for the cyclist to do - yet the taxi driver is liable, even though his life was endangered by the actions of the cyclist. This unjust logic perhaps partly explains why the incidence of hit and runs are so high in Japan.

@kirakira25, congrats on getting the new car. There is a lot to do and see in Japan that can only be done by car, as the public transport infrastructure that is synonymous with Japan is only really present in large cities.

I drive daily to visit patients, and I also like to get out of town at the weekends. I have perhaps covered 400,000km in Japan in my time here. I am on the road almost everyday of the week. If you are to use your car as daily family transport, get to know your area on foot or bicylce first - learn where the cyclists come straight across the road without looking; learn where the pedestrians cross at night in dark clothes to avoid walking a few extra steps over a footbridge; learn where the mums congregate and fair poorly at keeping their young out of the road. Know your area - this is where you are at higest risk of having an accident. Use your sidelights at dawn and dusk - even if other road users do not. And use the highway whenever you can - safest roads in the country ;-)
Disillusioned at 06:45 PM JST - 16th October

I've been doing a lot of walking around parts of Chiba lately and I am waiting for the day when my name is in the headline of this same story. The taxi drivers are complete butt-wads. They speed. They harass other drivers. They sincerely believe they are the kings of the road and rules don't apply to them. They are just complete butt-wads and that is all there is to it. One would expect the local police force to jump up and straighten them out, but that would mean taking their energy away from more important duties. So we will see more bands of old people with funky armbands giving out tissues to the taxi drivers and asking them to stop being butt-wads on the road. - As saddening as this report is, it is in now way, shape or form surprising to me.
bokudayo at 07:17 PM JST - 16th October

KallyPygous at 02:55 PM JST - 16th October

When the light is green for a car turning left, the pedestrian crossing >light is also green. The boy on the bike wasn't in the wrong.

The driver went straight, not left.
Monoflow at 07:20 PM JST - 16th October

Taxi-speed-driving could be a reason for this tragical accident. In general, all over the world taxi-driver are always driving too fast, time is money it seems. But the most impressive drive for me was early this year in Kyoto. The taxi-driver speed-up to 90 in the middle of the city. Well, here you will lose the driving license at once for such a speed...
pawatan at 10:22 PM JST - 16th October

How ignorant. Of course it would have. Any damage would have been reduced, no matter how relative.

Excuse me? How rude.

It's sad to say but a bike helmet would do NOTHING to stop a severe head injury caused by being run over by a car, any more than a tshirt stops a bullet.
anderstungtwist at 11:08 PM JST - 16th October

How will we ever know if the light had been green? And even if it had been, that is not the issue. Having a green light doesn't give you the right to hit anyone. This isn't China.

The key question is (and always has been): Were you prepared to stop? Answer: NO!

Wrongful death: 200,000,000 yen. Next case.
Bogi at 11:18 PM JST - 16th October

Even if a driver is going under the speed limit, it is almost impossible to not hit someone who jumps out in the middle of the street. If this kind of accident is the driver's fault, why aren't speed limits in cities reduced to 5 or 10km ph?
Foxie at 11:30 PM JST - 16th October

It is too sad for the boy but a lot of accidents like that could be prevented if there was a law forbidding to cross the zebracrossings on a bicycle. It is often impossible for a driver to see those cyclers who just zoom up with lightening speed. This is not the driver's fault, it is the country's fault for allowing it. In my country people have to get off their bicyles and walk across.
Sarge at 12:02 AM JST - 17th October

Even if the kid swerved in front of the taxi without warning, it's the taxi driver's fault in the eyes of the law.

"Wrongful death: 200,000,000 yen. Next case."

Next case: Sorry, don't have and won't have 200,000,000 yen.
JeffLee at 06:36 AM JST - 17th October

I will never drive in Japan!

I agree with Bogi. It should be the boy's fault for placing myself in front of a moving vehicle that had the right of way. If not, why have traffic lights in the first place?

The charges against the driver are a travesty.
tokyokawasaki at 02:43 PM JST - 19th October

I find it absolutely bizarre (i.e. totally unsafe) that cars and people can cross the road at the same time, using only your own and relying on other peoples judgement/observation in order to remain safe.

In the UK is is simple, when the green man come on the lights are red for vehicles. When the green light is on for vehicles, the red man is on for pedestrians. Therefore pedestrians and vehicles are restricted from crossing the same piece of road at the same time.
tokyokawasaki at 02:45 PM JST - 19th October

Thus, it is the dangerous traffic light system that is a major cause of these tragic accidents...
Junnama at 02:52 PM JST - 19th October

Traffic here really scares me - I'm always worried one of the kids will get hit...and the accident figures are really high.
Youdontknow at 01:55 AM JST - 20th October

There needs to be tougher laws in this country for drivers who fail to stop at a red light. Only the other day, some stupid driver came through a red light almost ten seconds after it was on red and nearly wiped my car out! I never let my kid out on his bike alone for fear he will be hit by a car.

Even though this light was on green, the crossing system was also on green. Another completely stupid system of road safety at work. RIP kid.