1-year-old girl killed after father backs car over her

Wednesday 17th June, 11:19 AM JST

FUNABASHI —

A one-year-old girl died Tuesday after her father ran over her while he was backing his car out of the driveway of their home in Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture.

According to police, the accident occurred at approximately 11 a.m. Motonori Suzuki, 39, told police he was backing his car out when he hit his daughter Maki. The girl, who had been standing behind the car, hit her head on the pavement. She was pronounced dead later in hospital. Police said that Suzuki broke down in tears as he admitted that he had been completely unaware of his daughter’s presence behind the car.

News reports

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 38 Total Comments Show All

Shaolin7 at 07:05 PM JST - 17th June

That poor little girl, and her father; this guilt is going to wrack him the rest of his days. This is so sadly tragic. As for this...comment:

However, sad this is, I hope the cops were quick to arrest this chap and charge him with verhicular manslaughter. Depending on who else was around, the cops might also be able to get a charge against his wife (the former mother) for reckless endangerment of a child, seeing as neither of these two rocket scientists saw fit to confirm the whereabouts of the child before backing out the car.

What an utterly stupid and assinine thing to say.
Pachinko893 at 08:32 PM JST - 17th June

Another case of "PAY ATTENTION."
timorborder at 09:54 PM JST - 17th June

What an utterly stupid and assinine thing to say.

Why is this so? The child is dead. Her death is the result of negligence on the part of either one or both parents. You can not blame this on the child. Too young and it would not stand up in a court of law. The death could have been avoided if the parents had simply checked to confirm their whereabouts.

Don't get me wrong, this is a very sad event, and it is something that the father will carry with him for the rest of his life (the strain of this event might also impact the marriage). However, all such considerations are purely emotional. From a legal point of view, this this sad outcome is the result of negligence on the part of the parents and it is something that should be addressed.
flammenwerfer at 10:09 PM JST - 17th June

timorborder do you have children???

We don't know all the details of the accident - all the circumstances. Unless we are fully in possession of the facts we cant go off half cocked lot a large majority of JT "high horse" posters seemingly love to do. The man said he was completely unaware and he probably was, the kid was probably supposed to be inside and snuck out. The mother could have been in the toilet or cooking and thought the child was in her playpen - you can not keep your eye an a child 100% of the time - that's why you secure them in inescapable places like play pens. Little Maki could have escaped and it only takes a second. On the other hand Perhaps her mother was an inattentive keitai mum who just wasnt looking nor paying enough attention and the kid easily got outside to her doom.

What if the father had backed over the neighbours kid who sprang out of nowhere when he was backing out? The poor bloke is in a 'catch 22' and royally screwed in any case.

Life is cruel, you take as many precautions as you can but sometimes shit happens.
timorborder at 10:22 PM JST - 17th June

Yes Flammenwerfer I have two kids, despite a couple of sporting injuries and dog bites, both are in the same condition as when god delivered them (no I am not a religious nut). Moreover, neiither of them has had the opportunity to see the bottom of a car.

In someways I am playing devil's advocate, however, ignorance is no defense in this instance. The guy (and possibilly his wife) were negiglent to the point where somebody was killed (their child). I believe that the matter of their grief does not negate their responsibilities in the eyes of the law. I might be cold-hearted (and then some), but just letting this case rest (and the parents go) does not seem right.
kirakira25 at 12:20 AM JST - 18th June

I agree that they may have been negligent, or at best clueless, but I think reading the reaction of the father to the incident that punishing them in the eyes ofthe law will not be nearly as harsh as the punishment I think they are going to inflict on themselves for the rest of their lives. they obviously loved this kid, and this seems to be a case of negligence, rather than genuine neglect. A moments negligence is all it takes, sadly.
amerijap at 01:51 AM JST - 18th June

It could happen to any family in any country, but definitely the least thing I want to discuss because it's so awful, painful, and tragic. Poor baby. . .
DerekJ at 05:09 AM JST - 18th June

As stated earlier, a 1-year-old can be very mobile and it only takes a second of inattention for the child to end up where they shouldn't. While in hindsight it is easy to blame the parents, it is also completely understandable how this can happen. RIP little one.
saborichan at 10:35 AM JST - 18th June

Making accusations at this guy in pointless until we get some more information. I don't think anyone has any right to go proclaiming how he should be punished without being in full possesion of the facts.

There could be all sorts of reasons, but the only one that I will confidently is that small houses with tiny driveways barely big enough for a car only increase the risk. And as for backing in to the driveway; extremely hard in the narrow streets around my home. Those are so narrow they actually require one to drive up onto the so-called sidewalk to allow traffic coming towards you to pass. I can't imagine most of my neighbors managing to reverse park.

I must say though, pretty hard for a 1 year old to get around. Shouldn't be that hard for Mum to keep her safe. How on earth did she get out?

There's a world of difference between 1 and 1 and 11 months, though... Just how mobile was this kid?
electric2004 at 01:07 PM JST - 18th June

Womanforwoman: You did exactly the right thing in telling to the mother.
zaichik at 06:17 PM JST - 18th June

Very sad indeed.

It's not only children that this can happen to - we had a case at work a few months ago where a man managed to reverse over his adult daughter while backing out of his drive. She survived, but she was in hospital for ages....
inakaRob at 12:41 PM JST - 22nd June

very sad indeed. not to make light of her traggic death, but I think this unlocks one of the greatest Japanese mysteries ever. Why so many japanese back into their parking spaces. So they dont have to BACK out unawared of everything but themselves and the TV show they are watching from their dashboard.
Maruboro at 03:43 PM JST - 22nd June

Dear timorborder, I can't imagine how your kid(s) got themselves into a situation where they got bitten by a dog. Could it have been pure accident? Devil's advocate :-)
cosmo13 at 03:01 AM JST - 23rd June

poor parents it's not a crime its a tragedy, even if the parents were fully responsible
scoobydoo at 01:47 PM JST - 23rd June

Safety is not on the top of Japanese peoples list I have noted. Kids running around in car parks, riding bikes late at night without lights when they should actually be in bed for the night and the most insane thing grown adults do is stand directly behind a backing car to tell the driver when to stop. Squish, oops, sorry is a real possiblilty.