Woman on minibike injured after run-in with rope tied across road

Monday 12th October, 06:11 AM JST

IBARAKI —

A newspaper delivery woman was knocked off her minibike by a rope that been tied across the road at a height of about 1.2 meters in the early hours of Sunday morning in Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture. A police officer on patrol found the woman collapsed on the ground. She sustained minor head injuries.

The rope was about 1 cm thick and made of nylon, tied to a signboard and a hedge on either side of the road at a width of about 6 meters. The incident occurred while it was still dark, and there was little traffic in the area.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 25 Total Comments Show All

gogogo at 01:39 PM JST - 12th October

Wow seriously stupid.
richiesama at 01:52 PM JST - 12th October

the culprit(s) should have hung around and waited for the target, just to be sure they wouldn't hurt any innocent people... not that I condone this behavior. To quote Chris Rock, "I'm not saying he shoulda done it, but I understand."
doedel at 01:52 PM JST - 12th October

If memory serves me right there was a similar case of a rope across a street recently. Might be a copycat.
nandakandamanda at 02:21 PM JST - 12th October

Agree with some of the above posts. I too have considered doing this to Bosozoku. At one point I used to take flash photos of them from the balcony, above and behind them, and then ducking down. They didn't like that.(!) But no good putting out a rope and leaving it there and going to sleep, if that's what happened... an elastic net might be more humane, LOL
DeepAir65 at 04:51 PM JST - 12th October

There is no excuse for this - yes those bikes can be annoying but the culprits, if found, should be prosecuted for attempted murder to set an example that this is not acceptable.
presto345 at 05:16 PM JST - 12th October

those bikes are really noisy and annoying in the early morning. Next time just dump a box of tacks on the street. The rope deal is actually attempted murder.

And dumping tacks is OK? Would it help the problem go away?

the paper delivery guy in my neighbourhood wakes me up every morning at 4am with the sound of his annoying little minibike, whoever put up the rope had the same problem I suspect

Shut your windows, get soundproofing and earplugs. I have been hearing the described noises for decades and they don't bother me one bit. They are the sounds of Japan. The rope across the road is bloody vicious and appalls me.
WilliB at 06:50 PM JST - 12th October

Isnt that the second time this sort of thing happened in a few days? I really hope this does not give ideas to some of the mental cases out here.
ThonTaddeo at 07:02 PM JST - 12th October

I had the exact same thing happen to me.

I was on my bicycle on the Gaien-Nishi street in Yotsuya (south of the 3-chome crossing; Sanai-cho, I think) and, while riding on the sidewalk, spotted what looked like a long stretch of road with no people or cars on it. Wanting to get into that area so that I could speed up a bit, I shifted lanes only to be suddenly thrown to the ground by an invisible rope, with a heavy metal pole falling on top of me! I was pinned to the ground, but thankfully an older man passed by and lifted the pole up. I had blood all over my chin, hand, and one knee, and my bike was basically destroyed.

I went to the koban near Shinanomachi, where the police -- god bless them, this time -- gave me some bandages and, uncharacteristically, didn't accuse me of being a bike thief. I went back to visit the site the next day, and saw that the rope really is impossible to see in low light. It really was filthy, and had a child run into it at full speed, the rope probably would have cut a line into his neck.

I was pretty sure that the cops would fob me off with something about staying on the sidewalks, or on the other side of the road, or that I would have seen it if my eyesight were better, or whatever, so I didn't make an official complaint, but the rope is still there. If you're going to block off a section of road, the rope has to be clearly visible!
nandakandamanda at 08:32 PM JST - 12th October

Come to think of it, same here. I used to take a short-cut under the Shinkansen tracks and one evening I was headed to a Bo-nen-kai. Only someone had put a chain across it, and not seeing it in the evening light I went flying. My arm hurt but I jumped back on the bike and went to the party. Had to change gears with my foot. After the party I figured it needed something stronger so went to a club and downed some whiskies. Cycled home and went to bed. Next day had to drive the family to the Japan Sea side of Japan, but the old arm was aching so dropped in at the doctor's on the way. It's broken, he said. Six weeks in a cast. First bone I had ever broken.

Later I went back and discovered some warehouse people had put up the chain. I told them what had happened and they looked at me open-mouthed as if I was some kind of out-of-touch lunatic. Needless to say they said nothing intelligent, so I left. Scary if you think about it. Common sense is not so common. The lady was lucky.
helloklitty at 10:03 PM JST - 12th October

They should have tied a red ribbon to the rope.
helloklitty at 10:05 PM JST - 12th October

should be prosecuted for attempted murder to set an example that this is not acceptable.

or reckless endangerment
benhur at 11:07 PM JST - 12th October

what size were the nylons? .8mm? .9mm?
mnemosyne23 at 11:55 PM JST - 12th October

I echo moonbeams' post -- this is not cool. If you have a problem with the noise, either file a complaint, sleep with earplugs, or live with it. Yes it sucks, but its one of life's little aggravations, like radio stations that play the same song fifty times a day or weather forecasts that are wrong ALL THE TIME. Find a way to live with it. Don't put someone's health and safety in jeopardy because of it. You may win yourself a brief respite, but that person has to make a living somehow, and they'll be back on their scooter as quickly as possible to deliver papers. Only now the bike will probably be even LOUDER than before because the accident damaged the engine, and the lost work time and wages means the rider doesn't have enough money to get it repaired. It's a vicious cycle (no pun intended).

If this was the work of some kids looking to cause a little mayhem, SHAME ON THEM. I hope they're found and properly punished. I know kids will be kids, and teens will be teens (which usually involves acting even more childish than a child), but setting out to cause deliberate harm to people or property is both disrespectful and criminal. Regardless of their reasons for choosing their target, they are guilty of injuring this woman and probably damaging her bike, and they could easily have injured someone else with their tripwire, too. Not such a thrill when the person you flip onto the street is some little kid out on his bike who ends up with a broken nose and a skull fracture from smacking his head on the pavement, now is it?

Jerks.
ablestmage at 02:09 AM JST - 13th October

Unless this is a familiar form of deterrent, I would immediately jump to the conclusion that it was meant for foul play. That's certainly an option, but may not be the genuine reason. Until other details come about in this particular case (rather than anecdotal experiences of commenters), it'll just be a mystery.
ablestmage at 02:10 AM JST - 13th October

grr. "wouldn't" immediately jump, I meant. can't edit my own comments.