Man arrested for hit-and-run death of high school student in Ibaraki
IBARAKI —
Police on Sunday night arrested a 36-year-old man over the hit-and-run death of a 15-year-old high school student who was on a bicycle in Kamisu City, Ibaraki Prefecture.
Hideyoshi Katori was arrested for allegedly hitting Yuta Sakusabe with his car on the road around 10 p.m. Katori fled the site and abandoned his car nearby. Police said Katori denies the charge, saying his car was stolen. Katori was drunk at the time of his arrest, police said.
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Spidey
First of all, this is a tragic accident.
Second of all, I hate repeating myself but...
OK then. Let's not consider that the deceased may have wandered into the path of an oncoming vehicle leaving the driver no time to avoid a collision.
And let's not consider the fact that J-police would have arrested the said driver for reckless driving causing death despite the circumstance.
And finally, let's not consider that said driver knowing that he was probably heading to jail for an "accident" clearly not of his own making, decided to play the odds and flee the scene.
The blame for running does not fall solely on the shoulders of the runner. Not by a long shot.
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romulus3
if I knew I was going down I would take a quick trip to soapland and then get loaded at the nearest bar too.
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AlfGarnett
romulus3- If you had killed a bloke wiv your motor, i doubt very much you would go shopping for soap eh?
I fink, even if it were the pedestrians fault, the driver should have stopped. maybe he could have saved his life, we will never know. RIP, may the law punish the criminal fully.
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Spidey
I fink, even if it were the pedestrians fault, the driver should have stopped. maybe he could have saved his life, we will never know. RIP, may the law punish the criminal fully.
Does the word "accident" ever enter into this equation?
If said driver lived in a society that knew the difference between an "accident" and a "premeditated act" then maybe he would have stopped to help. But this is not the case. At least not here in Japan anyway. How often is there malicious intent involved in a car accident? And even if the driver was drinking, the cyclists actions must be taken into consideration.
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dennis0bauer
In japan the driver gets all the blame despite the "who is fault issue" that is why there are so many hit and runs
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Disillusioned
A tragic end to a young life, but from the driving experiences I've had with teenagers on bicycles at night the 'probability' is high he was at fault. However, probability is not fact and the facts this driver said his car was stolen (unreported), abandoned his car, and he was drunk at the time of arrest does point towards the driver being at fault. Now, it's up to the J-cops to determine if he was driving the car and if he was drunk. OMG! That sounds like police work!
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romulus3
alfGarnett
you make an excellent point.
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CavemanLawyer
What color was his uniform and was he wearing it? Any reflectors on that bike or his backpack? Was it one of those dark country roads? Was he hit head on the right-hand side of the road (where the rules say one should be) or was he hit from behind on the left (where I ride, heh!), or was he hit the middle trying to cross the road in the usual game of bicycle chicken?
Oh! I know! Just blame the alcohol, because we all know that anyone who has even one beer will automatically wind up in a ditch, wrapped around a telephone pole or running over a bicyclist. This could not have possibly happened sober (except for the time I bumped a cyclist dead sober in broad daylight as he flew through a stop light and a blind intersection at about 30km. True story.)
Most Japanese people don't stop because most people don't like to be crucified for what may well not have been their fault. Not many Jesus complexes out there. --Cirroc
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helloklitty
Are you serious? I was driving down a road and these two bicyclists came flying through a stop sign. It was impossible to have seen them coming as there were buildings on every corner. I slammed on the breaks and was able to stop in time, but are you saying that if I had struck them, I would be 100% responsible?
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franz75
CavemanLawyer: "True story" I understand what you mean. Kids on bicycles do not respect stops and traffic lights. if the driver is drinking, it doesn't help much...
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Spidey
Are you serious? I was driving down a road and these two bicyclists came flying through a stop sign. It was impossible to have seen them coming as there were buildings on every corner. I slammed on the breaks and was able to stop in time, but are you saying that if I had struck them, I would be 100% responsible?
YES.
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tkoind2
There are signs all along the road I live on between home and the station where people have been hit. These morons driving on these streets revving up their motors, trying to be cool, driving some massive think that doesn't belong on such tiny streets. Then you get to the main road. There people igonore the crosswalks. Even speeding up when some poor eldery lady is crossing. And never mind letting people stand in the rain while they speed through the crosswalks.
Drivers in the country suck!! Yes I said. You suck! After paying 300,000yen or more to learn how to drive it is shocking how many of you can't drive to save your lives. Some lessons you should learn!
Best thing. Make people pay 1.5million yen to get a license and take it way the first time they speed through a crosswalk or hit someone. Life is more precious than your automotive egoes and need to play f1 driver.
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timeon
I agree with Spidey fully. I've been riding my motorcycle in Tokyo for 6 years now, and I've seen both cases: motorcycle hitting reckless bicycle, his fault. the opposite, a guy I know hit a taxi with his motorcycle (he had some alcohol, they were driving two on a 50 cc moped, and they didn't stop at stop), broke his leg and the taxi paid for the hospital
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CavemanLawyer
If you think the inconvenience of standing in the rain should be considered right along with safety, then you need to back up and think for a minute. I too am angry at and frustrated with people who speed excessively and do not focus half as much on avoiding accidents as they do on getting there on time. But consider that drivers have to stop their cars all the time already, and it takes time and concentration, and doing it too quickly can have serious consequences. People walking can stop very easily and quickly and safely, therefore, they should, and wait while the death machines roll on smoothly because it is safer for everyone that way.
If the person behind you hits you walking, you probably won't even get a bruise. And if you left the house without an umbrella or into a deluge where an umbrella is useless, its your fault and don't expect a passing motorist to waste on fiber of his concentration on the fact. His concentration is reserved for avoiding the fools that run his path.
You pedestrians have crosswalks, most complete with lights. You have the right of way depite the fact that it is FAR easier for you to see us than us to see you. So quit whining. --Cirroc
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YangYong
Drunken idiot, selfish fool. Clamp him to the floor on a busy highway.
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kringis
Japanese people can't drive. I have lots of Japanese friends who simply do not know the rules of the road. The Japanese Highway Code is a nice little book that virtually everyone gets and then puts away in a drawer and never reads.
The same applies to Japanese cyclists. Kids aren't taught rules of the road.
In the UK, all drivers nowadays have to pass a theory test, which asks questions about rules of the road. The test itself is pretty easy, but at least it makes people read the Highway Code at least once. Kids in schools are also given Cycle Proficiency Courses, and although they aren't compulsory, a lot of kids take them. Japan needs things like these. It's a small country with a bad road system and a lot of cars. Better road training would lead to less accidents.
Who knows if the driver was drunk at the time. Maybe he went to drown his sorrows after the accident. Who cares whether it was his fault or the kids fault, because by all accounts it looks like an accident. The thing is, with better road training, less of these kind of accidents would happen, because people would know how to drive, walk or ride a bike in all conditions. The funniest thing I find is, and this is true in most countries I would imagine, people learn to drive during the day, and learners aren't allowed to drive on Highways/Motorways/etc. Yet the second you pass your test you can ride on the motorway at 1am. Stupid. You wouldn't send a soldier to war without training him how to use a gun, so why put drivers and cyclists on the road without training them properly.
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cleo
That is simply not true. Not true at all.
I do not know of a single Japanese driver who has got a Japanese cyclist and put him away in a drawer with the Highway Code.
I do wish people would stop making things up.
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Nessie
There are some Japanese cyclists in drawers at the morgue, Cleo. Don't know whether the highway code is in there.
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Disillusioned
Cleo - Ask one of your Japanese friends to reverse park your car. But, update your insurance first. And, as for cyclists: How many times have you seen a kid/teenager on a bicycle flying through an intersection after the lights have turned red? A red light means stop in other countries, but in Japan it means, go for it! Young kids have no road sense, fact! Teenagers have no fear, fact! Japanese drivers have no patience, fact! Gambling is illegal in Japan, until you get on the roads.
Moderator: Comparisons to other countries are not relevant to this discussion.
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BlackFlag
grrrrrrrrrr
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Antonios_M
I don't think its true! Have you ever seen drivers in India?? I think that Japanese people have discipline even in their driving manners. Maybe they are not perfect drivers but i am pretty sure they know the rules (generally speaking).
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outofmydepth
they know the rules - they IGNORE them. constantly, daily.
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GW
in Japan whatever is bigger is at fault, car & bike collide, car 100% wrong, car & truck collide, truck 100% wrong, this is how it "" works"" in Jpn. Which imo means it basically doesnt work well. Drivers, cyclists, pedestrians are all pretty careless imo.
I need to drive everyday & I have to contstantly watch for all the people, vehicles, pets you name it who dont pay much mind what & where they are going, one mistake by someone else & yr life is over if yr bigger than they are!
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GW
back home in Cda I believe it works something like " pedestrians are ALWAYS in the right, even if they are wrong" or something to that effect but its not as bizarre as Jpn
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