Man killed in hit-and-run in Saga

Tuesday 04th November, 10:05 AM JST

SAGA —

A 45-year-old man was killed early Monday morning in a hit-and-run in Saga City, police said, adding they found white fragments of a car’s part at the scene.

According to police, Osamu Matsunaga was found lying injured on the road around 2 a.m. by a nearby resident who told police he heard the sound of a loud bang. Matsunaga was taken to hospital but died of severe head injuries.

Police said the victim was on his way back home after attending a friend’s wedding party.

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7 Comments

CavemanLawyer at 11:16 AM JST - 4th November

Police said the victim was on his way back home after attending a friend’s wedding party.

No doubt completely sober.

As much as I would like more details on this case, I suspect they won't matter. Once the driver is found, he will be run through the ringer, even if Matsunaga jumped out from between two parked cars right in the path of the car that hit him, bottle in hand.

I really hope that one day Japan will change the rules so that driver's will feel safe to stop and call an ambulance. As it is the rules are simply designed to make driver's feel totally responsible to make them more careful to avoid accidents, and not designed to sort out what happened and be fair to all after an accident. If you are not going to be fair, people are going to run. Its common sense.
RogueFive at 11:39 AM JST - 4th November

Another straight road. Apparently raining at the time of incident. Conclusion: death on a stick out there mate.
thundercat at 11:45 AM JST - 4th November

This guy should be put through the ringer as running from the scene of an accident is not justified in any situation. As well, there seems to be a mis-guided notion that 'the rules are simply designed to make driver's feel totally responsible' which somehow translates into criminally responsible and therefore all drivers who kill someone with their car will face long jail sentences which is not necessarily the truth. From an insurance stand point the driver is 100% responsible but that doesn't even mean that there will be so much as a fine from the stand point of the police. We often hear about drivers being arrested after unavoidable accidents (a la drunk guy sleeping on the street) but almost never hear about these people going to jail because once the facts of the case a revealed many people are exonerated.

When you run away however the facts of the case can no longer be established and we should assume the worst of the driver (ie, he was dead drunk and fled to avoid detection). I do think that the harsh penalties (25 years in prison IF intoxicated) are a reason for the number of hit and runs we see these days. But the way I see it is that these drivers are already taking a chance driving drunk and taking another chance at running is just a natural reaction (we all know how lies can easily snowball). These kinds of people tend to make bad decisions all the time and eventually it catches up with them.

I would argue that the majority of hit and runs involve drunk drivers and that sober drivers tend to call the police or offer their assistance. It seems to me that almost every hit and run I've read about happens late at night... its not hard to imagine that this is because alcohol plays a factor.
Disillusioned at 12:48 PM JST - 4th November

The second one for this week and it's only Tuesday. This is becoming standard news. The editors should just keep the story on file just change the dates and places. The most concerning thing is, alcohol is always involved, be it the driver or pedestrian. Maybe Japan has an alcohol problem. (roll eyes with tongue in cheek!)
BBLeo at 03:38 PM JST - 4th November

If he was attending wedding ceremony and reception, he would be better to call taxi. Could that be another alcohol issue or drugs?
helloklitty at 12:12 AM JST - 5th November

When a drunk dies, should we feel sad?

Well, as a non-drinker who hates drunks, I don't feel too bad about this. Hope they catch the driver, too, and put him/her away.
bushlover at 06:34 AM JST - 5th November

Helloklitty, if the drunk were dumb enough to cross the road without looking yes he deserves it but then again we can't determine if the car even had it's headlights on to be seen. In any case the driver is dead wrong to run away when their actions to call an ambulance could make a difference to life or death. If the police do their job to investigate the accident and not just by measuring distances, then maybe it can be concluded the situation if they will charge the driver or not but in this country I wouldn't hold my breath for them to do any hard work. They take the path of least resistance as we can see through so many stories here.