Child dies, 4 others injured after being hit by car in Saitama

Friday 05th December, 10:39 AM JST

TOKOROZAWA —

An elementary school girl died and four others were injured when they were hit by a car in Saitama on Thursday, police said. Seven children from Tomioka elementary school were on their way home, walking on the path on the right side of the road around 3 p.m., when a car approaching from the opposite direction hit five of them.

One of them, Mio Arai, 8, died in hospital early Friday morning, police said. The driver of the car, Yoko Saito, 63, was arrested Thursday. The charge was upgraded to vehicular manslaughter upon the news of Arai’s death. Saito told police she was on her way to see her husband in hospital.

The accident took place on a straight road with good visibility.

Kyodo

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Latest 15 of 27 Total Comments Show All

pizzaboy at 10:07 PM JST - 5th December

I've witnessed many incidences where kids are playing tag on the road and run into the middle of it without even looking, or cross the street without even looking (actually, everyone here does that). When cars approach them, they don't even honk or yell at them, they just patiently wait until the idiotic pedestrians move aside. No one teaches them a lesson. Not saying it was the kids' fault, just giving another opinion to this. I'm so surprised this sort of thing doesn't happen more often than it does. Poor poor kids in this story :(((
Kokubuspider at 02:28 AM JST - 6th December

rjd jr, seems you wanna find the worst in japanese people. Nothing can legislate for a car going off its given route, apart from careless, mobile phone using drivers, which is from my experience 1 in 5!
elbudamexicano at 10:02 AM JST - 6th December

I feel terrible for of all the victims in this horrible accident. I can only imagine that this poor 63 year old woman has been forced to take care of her sick husband who instead of passing away is somehow still on life support so this women is dead tired, a nervous wreck, and driving back and forth between the hospital and her home, just a living hell. Maybe now behind bars, she will finally get lots and lots of free time to wrest while the innocent little girl dies and the other innocent children are still hurt. An other needless accident just waiting to happen. Where the hell are her friends and family in time of need?
3RENSHO at 10:06 AM JST - 6th December

"...the 63-year old female driver was apparently distracted by her pet dog."

http://www.fnn-news.com/en/news/headlines/articles/CONN00145333.html
martyman at 12:00 PM JST - 6th December

The number one thought of this story is the loss of another child due to a preventable accident. My condolences to the family, they will only have the memory of their 8 eight year child.

The elderly woman going to see her husband in the hospital will have this burden to carry as well. Can you bring your dog into the hospital? Did she have her seatbelt on? Was she licensed to drive? And did she have insurance (more than the JCI) to cover personal injury? To many questions involved just to think about all the competent drivers on the road.

Apologies and gomen money can not cover this loss, she should get prison time for manslaughter. Distracted driving is just as bad as driving under the influence.
flammenwerfer at 08:26 PM JST - 6th December

Children should not be allowed to walk from school even on their own. They should be under constant supervision. If parents are working than they should go home with school bus.

come again? constant supervision? I doubt you have children of your own...and school bus? what??? this isn't rural hometown USA, this is Japan, where most Elementary school students go to their closest school, which is a 5-10min walk at most in most built up urban areas and there is no school bus! in the city only some rich private schools where the kids travel from quite some distance to the the school offer a school bus service. Rural schools are a different case. The kids at my local school all walk together in groups to and from school, they have to: school rules, you never see a solo straggler and the are smart enough to walk in single file. 8 am every day like clockwork the stream trundles past, with their bright yellow caps. The 12 -13 y.o 6th graders are more than capable enough to look after the younger ones and know the dangers that exist. I have seen volunteers groups of mothers manning busy intersections at other schools in the morning and arvo' with yellow flags, to make sure the kids navigate those dangerous spots safely.

But this was a case of one stupid old b***h with her damn dog distracting her, throw the book at her I say, I loathe people driving with unrestrained kids, or dogs jumping around on their laps. Cars are lethal weapons, driving them with arrogant disregard for the safety of other road users whether it be boy racers, drunk drivers, cell phone users, whatever - are all equally reprehensible and deserve serious repercussions. As for the dog and the hospital, she would most likely leave the thing in the car, given its not the middle of summer.
ambrosia at 08:42 PM JST - 6th December

flammenwerfer: I agree with you about the woman being stupid but am slightly more dubious about 12 and 13 year olds being aware of the dangers of the road as pedestrians. Where would they have learned the dangers? Every morning I see groups of kids walking to school on narrow streets with their backs to traffic, talking to each other, messing about as kids are wont to do and oblivious to what is approaching from behind them or in front of them. They are usually walking two abreast or in larger groups if an adult is not with them (as they have been lately). I also see teachers with hoikuen kids also walking groups of them down the road with their backs to traffic. Sorry, but to me that is not being aware of the dangers. That more kids don't get hit by cars seems to be in spite of what they're taught about walking safely not because of it.
bamboohat at 11:15 PM JST - 6th December

Jeeze I feel sorry for the poor husband.

H: "Nurse! Where's mu wife? she should be here by now."

N: "uh, sir, we're sorry, but your wife won't make it. It seems she killed some children on her way here, becasue she was playing with her kawaii dog."
flammenwerfer at 12:48 AM JST - 7th December

@ Ambrosia.

You are right not all, but some have a bit of nouse. The kids at my local are pretty good, they are well trained by someone; walking in single file, stopping and looking at ped-crossings. I give credit where credit is due. As for walking with backs to traffic, sometimes there is only one side of the road that is viable to walk on, due the ludicrously narrow roads and often that is just the road per se and not a even a footpath and when there is no lane marking and the road is really narrow - both sides of the road you are equally going to be back on to the traffic.

Every now and then a city council will buy up land on the major roading corridors and plough down decrepit housing to widen roads, but its not often enough.

Traffic really is a massive issue in this country with its narrow, potholed, bumpy roads with a multitude of hazards from stupidly placed utility poles, wobbly oldies on mamacharis, maniacal drivers, bozuzoku, distracted drivers with dogs or cell phones, incompetent drivers. It goes on and on.
helloklitty at 06:00 AM JST - 7th December

elbudamexicano says: this women is dead tired, a nervous wreck,

My driving instructor, a former marine, made sure we understood that we should not take the wheel in such a condition on any circumstances
ambrosia at 03:50 PM JST - 7th December

flammenwerfer: If it were only the really narrow roads I were talking about I'd completely agree with you but sadly it's nearly all roads without pavement. It's the same with the bicyclists who ride right into traffic and are too stupid to realize that if they turn they'll turn straight into whatever is coming their way. The thing is that when a car hits a bicyclist or pedestrian the car is nearly always at fault according to Japanese law. I asked a Japanese lawyer about this and he said the goal of that kind of thinking is to protect the weaker party. I can understand his point to an extent but basically I think that the major effect it has is to instill a lack of concern in pedestrians and cyclists because there is the idea that the car should always be looking out for them. The car should indeed being doing so but at the same time the pedestrian and cyclsist should also be moving in such a manner as to be aware of what is going on around them and to protect themselves while not causing cars to endanger others because they have to stop or swerve suddenly to avoid stupid and selfish cylcists and pedestrians. Traffic is a major issue but positive changes could certainly be made where possible starting with people walking facing traffic, cyclists riding on the roads and following the rules of the roads as they are legally obliged to do, police getting their damn bicycles off of the roads and pedestrians in general following some basic rules such as staying on the left on the pavement. A lot of the traffic problems in Japan have less to do with a lack of space than a lack of common sense and awareness of basic road safety.
ambrosia at 03:52 PM JST - 7th December

I meant police getting their damn bicycles off of the pavement since it sets a terrible example and is actually illegal in most cases.
pizzaboy at 10:59 PM JST - 7th December

ambrosia, r u kidding? you want/expect to see changes with road safety and cyclists/pedestrians/drivers? Don't hold your breath for very long, those changes MIGHT come about at the turn of the next century, MIGHT...
ambrosia at 05:49 PM JST - 8th December

pizzaboy: Want? Yes! Expect? What do you take me for?
martyman at 06:31 PM JST - 8th December

If you take a closer look at the news video link 3rensho gave, the road the accident happened was not a small back alley. It had plenty of clearance and unobstructed vision of at least 50-100 meters. The driver was distracted for quite a while before impacting with the children. The damage to the vehicle was substantial indicating an over speed condition. Do the math, speed plus distraction plus degraded reaction time(old age) = disaster. Unfortuneatly this time, it was a loss of life of an innocent child. This drama should end with prison time for the driver.