Police have arrested the driver of a dump truck that hit and killed a 7-year-old boy in Higashi-Matsuyama, Saitama Prefecture.
According to police, the incident occurred just after 5 p.m. on Thursday. Fuji TV reported that the boy, Tsubasa Takahashi, was riding his bike on a pedestrian crossing near his home when he was suddenly hit by the dump truck turning left. He was taken to hospital but pronounced dead on arrival.
Police later arrested the driver of the truck, Takashi Oyama, 34, on a charge of reckless driving resulting in death. Oyama was quoted as saying he hadn't been paying sufficient attention to his surroundings.
© Japan Today
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Disillusioned
Yet another Japnese kid is killed because of a 'cowboy' truck driver. I see them all the time! Driving while shaving, texting, with a newspaper draped across the steering wheel, speeding and flying through red lights. It's absolutely disgraceful! A few years ago I was crossing a street pushing my daughter in a pram on a flashing red walk signal and this (expletive) truck driver waiting to turn left actually jumped his truck forward to intimidate us. I gave the pram to my wife and went around to cab door and was gonna drag the (expletive) out of the truck and give him a dose of medicine, but he just drove off thought the light while there was still people on the crossing like the true coward he really is. This was in the centre of Tokyo right near the castle. I got his number plate number and my wife made a complaint about it, but nothing ever came of it. They are reckless and have little or no regard for other cars or pedestrians on the road. It's an utter disgrace!
I wonder if the kid was wearing a helmet. It's only been law since 2006 for kids under 13 years old to wear bicycle helmets. There's nothing to say a helmet would have saved his life, but there is also nothing to say it wouldn't have either.
nakanoguy01
japan seriously needs to rethink it's traffic policies. car and pedestrians do not belong on the road together.
yokohamarides
This is just 2 weeks after a 11 year old was killed by a dump truck in Tokyo.
Something desperately needs to be done to control and tame traffic - else it will not stop.
These were all fatalities reported in JT from within the past year. I can provide links but I don`t think the mod will allow it.
Hundreds of years of life not lived. Can Japan afford this?
11-year-old dies after being hit by dump truck; driver arrested
6-year-old boy playing tag with friends hit and killed by car in Tokyo
8-year-old girl killed by truck while crossing street with mother, sister
Two pedestrians Killed as Minivan hits Car
4-year-old boy dies after being hit by car
Student dies after she is hit by car being chased by police
3-year-old boy killed by car in Chiba parking garage
Man killed in hit-and-run in Aichi
6-year-old boy hit and killed by car while playing on skateboard
Visually-impaired woman in coma, guide dog killed after being hit by car
17-year-old girl killed after car crashes into wall in Ibaraki
Car slams into 7-Eleven store, killing employee
83-year-old woman driver dies after hitting 3 pedestrians
3-year-old girl hit and killed by car in Osaka
Man held over hit-and-run deaths of 3 women in Otaru
7 year-old boy hit and killed by truck
Car crash claims 3 lives including cyclist
13-year-old on bike dies after being hit by truck driven by 83-year-old man
lucabrasi
@yokohama
No disputing the fact that these are tragedies, but the figures for road deaths are much better in Japan than Australia, America, Canada, France, Germany, Korea, New Zealand, or Switzerland, among many others.
Disillusioned
Lubricasi - If you change adjust those statistics to the ratio of drivers to pedestrians in each country you'll find that that Japan has a much higher pedestrian mortality rate. Less than half of the adult population in Japan actually drive cars.
yokohamarides
Indeed, Disillusioned - the ped fatality rate is atrocious at 50%.
lucrabasi - For an accurate assessment of relative safety you would need to measure fatalities per mile/km driven. Fewer people drive and those that do, drive far less than in other countries.
Many cities around the world are have virtually eliminated, or are working to reduce traffic fatalities through better infrastructure that protects all road users. Japan needs to be willing to discourage driving in urban areas, or at least take measures that will tame and slow down traffic.
Aaron Lloyd Brummett
A tragedy for both!
texpudlian
My wife and son were hit by a car last year on a crossing by a woman going thru a red light. Luckily, they weren't seriously harmed. The driver paid compensation but was not arrested or charged. National emergency, sort it out.
therougou
Well, it goes both ways. Less people driving cars, but more people walking and on bikes that are likely to get killed, and narrower streets, etc. Of course a lot more can be done to improve safety in Japan, but lets not compare apples to oranges.
Yubaru
Want to know why? You or your wife failed to file charges against the driver. Unless the accident results in death or serious injury the police will treat it purely as an accident.
However if you would have filed charges probably a different story. It helps to know your rights or what to do in situations like this.