Woman arrested after backing car into supermarket, killing man
YAMAGUCHI —
A woman was arrested on Saturday after the car she was driving reversed into a supermarket, killing a man inside, in Shimonseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, police said. Two other shoppers inside the supermarket were seriously injured, police said.
The driver, identified as Masako Aoyama, 67, was quoted by police as saying she mistakenly pressed the accelarator instead of the brakes.
Compiled from news reports
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28 Comments
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2
gaijinfo
Yikes!
-3
mitoguitarman
I wonder how old she is?
Moderator
She is 67.
-7
CapnSinbad
She'll spend the rest of her life in prison rotting behind bars. Justice served.
-1
YongYang
This again. @Sinbad: She will not do any time what-so-ever, unfortunately.
0
commanteer
A lot of older people make this same mistake. I witnessed an accident like that that killed 2 passengers. The driver said her brakes failed, but it was pretty obvious what happened. I don't see any point in putting this woman in prison. It was a mistake. It won't deter future such mistakes in other people. She's personally liable, and that will be enough to drive her to poverty. Do you want your prisons filled with old ladies? Why?
1
saru_au
every time I read this "mistakenly pressed the accelarator instead of the brake"
I think .. when will they design cars with an accelerator that's completely different to a break ?
(like a motorbike - was that so hard ?)
seems like someone dies every week because of this...
0
timeon
this is the reason why at driving schools, they are required to do a practice simulating a parking situation and mistakingly pressing the accelerator. there are many incidents, all involving AT cars, and the instructors were telling me they wished MT cares would come back to fashion.
1
chewitup
I can see making the initial mistake, but to keep pushing so hard and so long you drive fast enough into a supermarket and kill someone? She was in reverse, so its not like she was in a panic situation when she make the mistake or initially had any sort of speed going is it? She put it in reverse to either back in or out of a parking spot obviously, then pushed the accelorator rather hard. Sounds like the woman should not have been driving, so I hope someone at the DMV goes down for criminal negligence.
0
Zenny11
Most likely she will be charged with "Vehicular manslaughter", plus have to pay damaged to the store.
If prosecution is out to get here there might be other charges like "negligent handling of a vehicle, etc".
Either way she won't be on the road for some time.
0
Al Stewart
this is very sad. it strange too that in japan there seems to be a very high percentage of extremely nervous drivers. just about every car has a nav system, auto parking cars will become the norm. most people have the camera in the back for the reverse parking. Then people think i'm crazy when i say i look back before i back into a space. i think you are only allowed to use the mirrors on the test, which is crazy since the mirrors tell you that they cant be fully trusted.
0
hatsoff
Simple answer is to put a speed / rev limiter in the car's electrical circuit and have it kick in whenever reverse is selected. The technology is already available. If it's set really low the car won't accelerate much.
0
chewitup
???
Mirrors and cameras do not have peripheral vision. Anyone not looking back is crazy and has reason to be nervous. I wonder what this old woman was doing?
-2
miamum
i must admit, I am also thinking to have reversed hard enough and fast enough to smash through a supermarket wall, or even window and cause loss of life, she must have been florring it pretty hard.
But it nevertheless was an accident. Putting her in prison won`t accomplish anything.
0
Utrack
When first learning how to drive This type of thing might happen but wouldn't going the wrong way scare you enough to stop and correct yourself before you end up driving into a supermarket. All I can think of is she had alot on her mind and wasn't she wasn't all there in the moment or thinking properly.
0
Zenny11
I hate AT cars myself, give me a manual anytime or a Bike(scooters are meh).
Back home you can go for an AT licence but the manual is still stronger. Get a manual licence and it covers AT cars.
Why limit yourself?
0
chewitup
If we wanted to force this old lady to drive a standard, we would have to refurbish one from the junkyard. I looked far and wide for one and had trouble and that was 15 years ago. I am not sure if an old lady like this would be safer or more dangerous in a standard anyway. But I have a sneaking suspiction that she just should not be driving period.
0
borscht
Yes, she was in a panic situation and confused, shocked, and bewildered. I have seen elderly people confused with how much money they needed at the register so being confused in a panic situation is understandable. An unfortunate accident that pretty much will impoverish the woman and her family.
0
timeon
Zenny11, it's difficult to find an MT car nowadays. just a few truck or expensive sport cars. I just got my licenseand I want to rent a MT car, there are a few, but they are booked well in advance.
-1
himehentai
Yes it will, for the family of the deceased guy. It sucks for them ...
We need much tighter controls on those over 65 who are still driving, I think ...
1
zurcronium
drivers over 65, like ticking time bombs. Maybe they can be limited to bikes only but even then when riding on sidewalks they are dangerous.
Clearly she thought she was stepping on the brake and when the car went faster she pushed the accelerator harder to try and stop the car. That explains the many questions above on how this happened.
0
Badsey
If this car was a Toyota (Prius) and this was the U.S. she would be asking for buku dollar now. But in Japan it is just an accident/crime.
0
shogun36
Yeah, that SHOULD mean she should NOT be allowed anywhere near the driver's seat. Seriously, there needs to be some kind of age limit or at least a test to test someone's reaction time for driving. When you pass 65 or so, you should be tested every 6 months. Not only in Japan, but everywhere. Senior citizens, just like teenagers, should NOT be behind the wheel of a car.
0
Maitake
This seems to be the common excuse... "Oh, I accidentally pressed the accelorator instead of the brake.." Oh! Woops! You just killed someone! Japan has such good public transportaion that she should not have any reason to be driving / endangering the lives of others. Hopefully the experience of killing and injuring people will deter her from driving...Now, I am going to go watch the episode of South Park called Grey Dawn.
-1
steve@CPFC
maitake; "such good publiv transportation" ! Really? Where i live there are 2 buses a day to the city centre and most of the population are seniors.
0
miamum
Hmmm - I don
t think anything anyone does will make them feel any better, but this wasnt a crime as such, it was a tragic accident.We need much tighter controls on those over 65 who are still driving, I think ...
Totally agree with this. Although quite honestly where do you draw the line? I have seen some pretty shocking driving by people my age!
0
tokyokawasaki
Clearly she should have not been driving due to a total lack of awareness and reaction time. Any competent driver would realize the mistake and immediately take their foot of the accelerator and apply the brake.
The license renewal system needs to be made much stricter for those over 60. They should test mental capacity/ability/awareness, eyesight, hearing and reaction speeds. If they don't pass all of the tests - issue them with a bus pass. Nuff said.
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