6-year-old girl dies after being hit head-on by truck in Ibaraki

Wednesday 28th October, 09:28 AM JST

IBARAKI —

A 6-year-old girl who was headed to school on her bicycle on Tuesday was killed in a head-on collision with a truck, police said. The girl, identified as Nagisa Nakamura, was rushed to the hospital but died soon after from severe head injuries.

Police have arrested the driver of the vehicle, 43-year-old Satoshi Takane, for involuntary manslaughter with a motor vehicle. The accident occurred on a straight stretch of road in an area with no obstructions. Takane said he didn’t see the girl coming toward him.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 39 Total Comments Show All

Disillusioned at 01:20 PM JST - 28th October
Was she wearing a helmet? Could it have saved her life?
- The truck was a straight strecth of road with no heavy traffic, yet he claims he didn't see her? What was he doing? Sending a text message in his phon? Reading a newspaper? Checking his make-up?
societymike at 02:04 PM JST - 28th October

Sorry, but those silly little foam bike helmets are useless in reality. Especially when it's that vs. a 6 ton truck.
moonbeams at 02:42 PM JST - 28th October

Please tell me which part of the article says that she was not wearing a helmet.
moonbeams at 03:04 PM JST - 28th October

Here is the Japanese article. Let's see what happened: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/ibaraki/news/20091027-OYT8T01336.htm

You can see the picture.

現場は幅員約６メートルで対向車がぎりぎりすれ違える狭い道路。渋滞する国道、県道の裏道になっており、朝夕は交通量も多く、住民からは「通学路なのに危険」と指摘する声も上がっていたという It says that the road is so narrow that cars almost touch each other when going the opposite direction. It also says that because of congestion, the locals say that it is dangerous to go school for children.

Ms. Nakamura died from impact to the head.

同署によると、中村さんは小５の姉と友人の３人で道路左側を縦列になって走っていたが、何かの拍子で中央付近にはみ出たらしい。 She was riding with her older sister who is a fifth grader, and 3 other friends on the left side of the road. Somehow Ms. Nakamura came out of formation.

Then, the truck came out suddenly. So the girls were on the correct side of the road. The truck hit Ms. Nakamura head on.

The article goes on to mention that the road is often used as a shortcut because the highway is congested. It then says that her father heard of an accident and ran to the scene to find her bleeding from the head.

Then the article says that Ms. Nakamura was on the tag rugby team and looking forward to practice this weekend. Her birthday would have been Nov 3. Her two older sisters bought Ms. Nakamura her favorite character "guzzu" (I don't know what this is) for her present, she has been wanting this for some time.

It then says, at her school, Iwasaki Elementary School, 60% of the students go to school by bicycle.
Junnama at 03:23 PM JST - 28th October

Allright that's more detail than any parent wants to hear...
Disillusioned at 03:30 PM JST - 28th October

societymike - Sorry, but those silly little foam bike helmets are useless in reality. Especially when it's that vs. a 6 ton truck.

You'd be surprised just how much of an impact the high density foam can withstand. Obviously, a lot more than a kid's skull.
betterdays at 03:59 PM JST - 28th October

You'd be surprised just how much of an impact the high density foam can withstand

I can imagine..it can even protect the neck from snapping. The arguement about helmet is a non issue with regards to this accident.
fishy at 04:03 PM JST - 28th October

moonbeams - thanx for the link. I can't believe the school let their students ride their bikes to school, that is just so dangerous. This is the first time that I ever heard of an elementary school that allow kids to ride bikes to school.
fishy at 04:11 PM JST - 28th October

I know that junior high school kids who ride bikes to school are required to wear helmets.. if this elementary school allowed kids to ride bike to school, I hope they enforced and made sure that all kids wore helmets.

But seriously, I just don't think it's right to let small kids ride bikes to school without adults. In the country, there are not many schools and kids have to walk quite a distance.. in places like those, they really should have a school bus. Kindergartens have school buses, why not elementary schools have buses, too?? especially in the country..
S7ro9kGm3aQ at 06:08 PM JST - 28th October

I'm a motorbike rider and can affirm without a shadow of a doubt that truck drivers are the scariest and most dangerous menace on the roads today. Closely followed by taxi drivers and old people.
PenelopePitstop at 06:34 PM JST - 28th October

I can't believe the school let their students ride their bikes to school, that is just so dangerous. This is the first time that I ever heard of an elementary school that allow kids to ride bikes to school. My kids primary school lets kids ride to school on their bike, and a lot of kids do it, including 6 year-olds who ride to school by themselves. I tried to get the school to force the kids to wear helmets (a lot of them already do but far from all) but I couldn't get the headmistress to give a damn. In the end the only thing I was able to do is get the parents associations to send out an email to their members about bicycle safety and helmets.... There is a huge avenue right a couple of streets from the school, and not one day goes by when I don't see a truck speeding or running a red light... when they're not taking a nap and blocking half the traffic on the avenue...
illsayit at 08:30 PM JST - 28th October

Its not the school's responsibility, but the parent's. The driver, it states, was charged with involuntary manslaughter. That about explains it. I feel sorry for the driver, his age would speak of his having his own family. They have to deal with this too. He was in a truck which says he was working.
Disillusioned at 09:08 PM JST - 28th October

betterdays - The arguement about helmet is a non issue with regards to this accident.

And, you draw this conclusion from the Japerish in this article? Amazing intuition! Or, were you there?
Fadamor at 05:01 AM JST - 29th October

A helmet isn't going to have much of a protective effect during a head-on collision. First, the bike and truck collide. The sudden deceleration of the bicycle launches the child face-first (the one part of the head that ISN'T covered by the helmet) into the grill of the truck, followed by the rest of the child's body as the truck continues through the space that was formerly occupied by the child and her bicycle. Bicycle helmets are not designed to withstand those kinds of forces. So questioning whether she had one on or not is moot in this case.
eigonosensei at 04:36 PM JST - 29th October

Hmm.. another truck killing a child. Seems trucks kill more kids than cars even though there are many many more cars than trucks on the road. I am left to assume that the truck drivers were inattentive, possibly drunk, and in too much of a hurry.