Man dies after being hit by truck, several cars in Ibaraki
IBARAKI —
A 66-year-old man died early Wednesday morning after being hit by a truck and several cars while he was trying to cross a busy four-lane highway in Ibaraki. Police said that Hiroaki Kawasaki, 66, was hit by a truck around 2:15 a.m., and then struck by several cars moving in two lanes in the same direction.
The truck driver, Yoichi Suzuki, 29, was arrested and charged with negligence. He was quoted by police as saying: “The man came out of nowhere and crossed the center divider. After I hit him, I saw several cars hit him again.”
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doedel
Driver arrested again, huh? ... because of a nut trying to cross a 'four-lane ****highway****' ... one would think that entering a highway by foot is against the law.
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Altria
It's illegal to enter a highway on foot - pedestrians should be fair game.
Every single car that hit this geezer is going to be liable under stupid J-law.
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smartacus
Why do the police always arrest the driver immediately whenever an accident like this happens in Japan, before they have even had time to investigate? It's weird. Shouldn't the police conduct their investigation first to decide whether the driver really was negligent and then press charges?
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capone
smartacus, i don't think you're allowed to use the words 'police' and 'investigation' in the same sentence
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soothsayer
Yep. It ain't weird, by the way. smartacus. As doedel and Altria say, it's just stupidity, and institutionalised stupidity at that. Which is par for the course in this country, it often seems.
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KaptainKichigai
Where in the world was gramps going at 2:15am across a Highway? Was the line for the other neighborhood's Co-op starting that early? Hyaku yen pajama pants?
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1keiron
The old man blatently crossed a dangerous highway and got killed up by traffic that probably just got a quick glimpse before it was too late. I believe the truck driver.
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spotehun
"arrested and CHARGED with NEGLIGENCE" ... no comment
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PleasureGelf
Mr. truck driver, you have been negligent. You could have avoided hitting that poor man. You could have sped up and taken off in the air with that truck of yours like in an instant. You could have swerved to the left and gone through the guardrail and crashed somewhere else perishing in a spectacular ball of fire. Or you could have chosen a completely different carreer track, become a cop or something. But since you haven't, your actions practically amount to willful murder.
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himasan
Stupid J-law says that when an accident occurs between a pedestrian and a motorised vehicle, the vehicle must always bear most of the responsibility regardless of who`s at fault, thats why you always see moron pedestrians and idiots on bikes crossing the road without looking, they know that if they get hit its not their fault. Japan spends trillions on accident compensation every year. Its why car ownership is so expensive here.
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romulus3
J-Cop: you are under arrest for negligence. Trucker: It was unavoidable. The senile old fart attempted to cross a 4 lane highway and ran straight into my path. What would you have me do? J-cop: why didn't you hit the turbo boost button like I saw on Knight Rider yesterday back in the Koban? Trucker: But thats fiction, not reality and on the subject of being negligent, why did some cops give a guy soaked in kerosene a lighter and smoke? I didn't read about any arrests for that! J-cop: You are now being charged with murder!
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1keiron
Once again though, I dont seem the point in J-Bashing. It happens in the UK to. You knock somebody over even though it wasnt exactly your fault, you still get shafted.
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Patrick Smash
1keiron
That's not true and you know it. In Japan the main fault will always lie with the driver, because the law is institutionalised stupidity. That is the law here.
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KaptainKichigai
Maybe the truck driver was liquored up. If it was a delivery driver, you know he was zipping that LAWSON's truck at least 30 kilos over the speed limit....and probably on the sidewalk too, or backwards to park in the "no parking" area.
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1keiron
If he was the headlines would have simply involved the words "drunk lorry driver" in the caption and article. In this case its clearly not.
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brandonklex
what happens if a police car hits somebody on a highway?probably the ped will be drunk or commited suicide....
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Triumvere
These driving laws are frightening; I'll stick to the train.
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Seiryu
http://www.japantoday.com/search/train
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