Police arrest president of bus company over fatal crash
CHIBA —
Police on Monday arrested the president of a bus operator over a fatal accident in which seven people were killed and 39 others injured when their bus bound for Tokyo Disneyland crashed on a highway in Fujioka, Gunma Prefecture.
The bus carrying 45 passengers smashed against a roadside wall on the Kanetsu Expressway. Police have already arrested the 43-year-old bus driver, Kazan Kono, who has admitted to dozing off behind the wheel, and charged him with negligent driving resulting in death.
Investigators arrested Yumihide Hariu, the 55-year-old president of the bus operator Rikuentai and confiscated documents and records from the company, in Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture, TV Asahi reported.
Police said he was charged with allowing Kono to use Rikuentai’s name to obtain permits to operate unauthorized bus tours for Chinese tourists, which violates the Road Transportation Law.
Rikuentai’s safety management policies have already been criticized and police believe Kono may have been overworked. There was no relief driver on the bus at the time of the accident, which took place at 4:40 a.m. However, the company has argued that a relief driver is only necessary if the journey is over 670 kilometers. The stated distance of the trip to Tokyo Disneyland was 540 kilometers.
Japan Today
Order by Time Order by Popularity
14 Comments
Login to comment
0
Al Stewart
They should always have a relief driver.
1
smithinjapan
"However, the company has argued that a relief driver is only necessary if the journey is over 670 kilometers. The stated distance of the trip to Tokyo Disneyland was 540 kilometers."
This rule really means nothing if you've overworked your drivers.
1
Disillusioned
WTF!!! That would be driving for 8-10 hours straight on Japanese roads. that is utterly ridiculous!
1
tmarie
Why is this measured in KMs and not hours?? About time this guy was arrested.
2
Novenachama
Unfortunately the president of the bus operator didn't believe in being honest and didn't understand the ramifications of being dishonest. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to business simply because it's very easy to remember the truth. If you tell a lie, you'll often end up having to tell more lies to protect the original lie. It's better to acknowledge times when dishonesty or mistakes have happened because you'll earn a great deal of respect. Hence it doesn't pay to cut corners.
2
gogogo
This isn't a problem of this bus company, it is a problem of the LAW that allowed this to happen... firstly I'm sure nearly all bus companies do the same thing, and if so why was it allowed to happen. This president's arrest is just so someone is to blame.
1
gurudaimon
took them time to arest the guy
2
Azzprin
How many KM did the driver drive in the previous 24 hours ?
How many hours of rest/sleep was there between his last run and this one ?
In Japan. Is there a limit on how many hours/KM a driver can do in 24 hours ?
and a min number of hours before being legal to drive again ?
.
1
omicron
I hope they could do the same process in my country. Every time an incident happens like this, they only suspend the whole fleet of buses and arrest the driver, but the president has no liabilities but to compensate the passengers
-1
Elbuda Mexicano
This is all very sad, sure the president is a scum bag, but that will never bring back the lives of all the innocent victims, so time for the government here to crack down on all of these bus companies before another horrible accident occurs!!!
0
Tahoochi
This statement doesn't make sense. How could the company 'allow' 'unauthorized' bus tours? If they 'allowed' it to happen, wouldn't it be authorized?
Do they have proof that the company knew and willingly 'allowed' the driver to do this? I only ask this because it seems totally possible that the driver did this completely on his own without the company knowing, in which case the company wouldn't have known he was overworked.
1
darknuts
Unfortunately, hours are not a set thing as they can vary with traffic conditions. A 5 hour trip can easily become an 8 hour trip or more if there is a major pile up or bad weather.
0
Newsman
No, Novenchama -- generally speaking, in Japan it does pay to cut corners. Bureaucratic regulations are so onerous, and legal penalties relatively light, that most people have drawn the conclusion that cutting corners makes an awful lot of sense. Most people find cutting corners saves time and money, and they'll risk the lottery of something unexpectedly going wrong. You see the examples in the news every day and every year.
0
Liberty Joe Lowe
If the president obtained permits to operate unauthorized bus tours for Chinese tourists violating Road Transportation Law then he deserves to be arrested and punished for the crime. It is normal for company presidents in many countries to be arrested if they fail to enforce health and safety policies that result in deaths. In this case the driver is also a victim.
Back to top