Driver gets 28 months over accident in which 3 died

Saturday 26th September, 04:49 AM JST

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cow76 at 03:51 PM JST - 26th September

I think he drove for 60 metres without looking. If you're driving at 60 kph this is only about 4 seconds.

That he deeply regrets his actions is obvious. I don't think anyone could kill 3 people negligently and be free from regret, unless they were some kind of psychopath. The sentence should be higher, assuming it resulted from negligence.
Mocheake at 07:19 PM JST - 26th September

The prosecutors only sought 3 years? Seems a bit low. Don't know what the statues say on something like this. By the way, taking your eyes off the road IS negligence. You are neglecting to do what is considered proper for that situation.
Ranger_Miffy at 07:43 PM JST - 26th September

I wonder what that mother will get who recently drove her car into a divider rail? That story is pretty haunting. The article was pretty sketchy about how it happened that she lanceloted that divider.
bamboohat at 10:36 PM JST - 26th September

Is there some guideline these judges go by, or do they just make it up on a case by case basis?

Moms kill their kids and get suspended sentences, Sumo wrestlers beat each other to death and only get kicked out of Sumo, and this guy, while it was clearly his fault, goes to the clink for almost three years or manslaughter?

How exactly do they know how far he drove with his eyes off the road? anybody will tell you that witness testimony, especially preceeding and up to an accident is the least reliable.
panboo at 01:44 AM JST - 27th September

I think 3 years is good enough, only because he knows what he did wrong and he'll live with that regret for life. There's no way he'll ever forget and what if he decides to not drive ever again also because he's too scared? You can't forget he even seriously injured his daughter.
gogogo at 02:37 AM JST - 27th September

panboo: You can't feel sorry for people that break the law and kill innocent people.
panboo at 03:10 AM JST - 27th September

I never once said I felt sorry for him :)
Klein2 at 11:52 PM JST - 27th September

Gogogo. Of course one can feel sorry for this man.

How can you say that? Even if we call this negligence, then the man is not some cold-hearted killer zombie. He made a mistake. All of the dead people have finished suffering, and this man lingers, watching his daughter move ahead in life with the injury, the shame, and the memories. He will lose everything but his life for two and some odd years in prison and will come out with what?

Consider also that he has lost or will lose all that his family owns through civil suits.

It does not diminish the seriousness of this situation to say that the man deserves some sympathy. How many times has he already wished that he had died in that crash too? How many times before he dies will he wish it? Every day? How horrible is that?

Part of what makes us human is recognizing humanity in others. No matter what this man's crime or sentence is, I will continue to consider him as a human being. I owe it to myself.
ebisen at 08:31 AM JST - 28th September

I'd say it is a fair judgement. OK - the ACCIDENT he caused killed 3 persons but it's not like he had any intention or did a big mistake.

This kind of trouble can happen anywhere and to everyone - even to the most careful driver. He's a normal person, of course he feels remorse about what he did, and surely he'll think twice before driving again.

I say lock him up for a while but let him continue his life. Locking him for more than he already got wouldn't do more good than bad anyway..
Molenir at 11:35 AM JST - 28th September

If the same thing happened in the US, there would be no jail time. None. Thats the difference. There must be intent, or serious negligence. In this case, negligence is not a factor. Its an accident that cost 3 lives, and destroyed the life of another. It will cost the man several years in prison. All because of a tragic accident.
kawabunga at 03:46 PM JST - 28th September

I bet he was text mailing on his keitai! What a tragic and abrupt end to 3 lives. His poor daughter. I wonder if she was using her seat belt? He will never be able to forgive himself for this and that will be far worse than 28 months in the slammer!
mnemosyne23 at 11:34 PM JST - 28th September

Klein2: Well said!

This is tragic on all counts. I'd say the sentence is reasonable, though I'd like a little more information on the circumstances leading up to the crash. I agree with bamboohat that I'd like to know HOW the court knows how long the man had his eyes averted from the road. What was he looking at? Was he talking to his daughter? Looking at a car navigation system? Reading a map? Eating a sandwich? What? I'd want that information before I made a final decision on his level of negligence and therefore his punishment.

Molenir: I don't think there would be zero chance of jail time if this happened in the US. That would certainly be an option, but depending on the man's level of negligence and the avoidability of the crash, especially in light of the three fatalities, prison time is quite likely. Vehicular homicide is defined differently from state to state, but I can't think of a state that takes prison time off the table for any kind of negligent manslaughter.

It might behoove Japan, actually, to adopt something similar to America's "vehicular homicide" criminal code, given the number of deaths I see reported on a daily basis that are related to misconduct while operating a motor vehicle. It would certainly help make sentencing more uniform, and would hopefully necessitate some kind of reform of Japan's "the driver is always in the wrong when a pedestrian or bystander is hit" legal stance.
Klein2 at 01:13 AM JST - 29th September

Kawabunga. Yeah. Because we all know that 65 year old guys just can't stop texting for even a few seconds. No. He was doing something like talking to his daughter or ... well... anything but texting probably.

What really gets me is the TVs installed in the driver's area of vehicles. What is up with that? As if there are not enough distractions...
bdiego at 04:53 AM JST - 29th September

Actually in the case of the "divider accident' incident the city should be sued. I immediately noticed the divider lacked a safety bar, and so did the media apparently. Some government jackass probably removed the bar so they could access the side of the road and forgot to put it back. Nobody would have died if the divider wasn't bare.
bdiego at 04:57 AM JST - 29th September

Legally and morally, there's a big difference between an accident and negligence. In the case of death, the latter is called manslaughter. Driving drunk is at best manslaughter.

Now what this guy actually did, it's hard to say. Apparently they had evidence that he wasn't paying attention while driving and essentially was driving wrecklessly. Thus, it is not simply an accident but legally manslaughter. What's mitigating is the degree of negligence - he took his eyes off the road for 60 meters, about 4 seconds. As opposed to driving drunk for 5 minutes or speeding at 120 mph. So, he should not be getting a full sentence like 10 years. Depending on the full details and testimony - which nobody here has seen - 3 years may be appropriate.