2 girls riding a bike hit by car in Chiba; one dies

Thursday 09th July, 03:00 PM JST

CHIBA —

One young girl was killed and another girl injured when the bicycle they were riding was hit by a car in Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture, on Wednesday afternoon, police said Thursday.

According to police, the accident happened at approximately 4:20 p.m. The two 4th-grade girls, aged 10 and 9, were riding on a sidewalk. As they tried to cross a street, they were hit by an oncoming car. Both girls were taken to hospital. The 10-year-old girl, identified as Moe Kaneko, was pronounced dead a short time later. Her 9-year-old companion is in a stable condition, police said.

Police said Thursday they are questioning the car’s driver, Mika Yanagawa, 43, but have not released any other details.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 44 Total Comments Show All

Sarge at 09:26 PM JST - 9th July

Terrible accident.

Mika Yanagawa is going to lose her driver's license, possibly for life. Even if the girls suddenly darted out into the street in front of her car, she is at fault in the eyes of the law.
thundercat at 10:11 PM JST - 9th July

I still cannot comprehend how Japan has a traffic light system where pedestrians, including children, are given a green light to cross and cars turning are also given a green light to turn ?

Really? Where do you guys live? This hasnt been a problem in the prefecture that I live in for at least 6 years now.
mnemosyne23 at 02:03 AM JST - 10th July

Let's not forget that these were young CHILDREN -- nine and ten years old -- and the last I saw, children aren't expected to have the same level of experience around traffic laws as adults simply because they aren't old enough to legally drive. The discussion of cyclists vs. motorists is an important one that should be taken seriously at the administrative/government level, and I would encourage anyone with concerns in that regard to make their voices heard in their communities and try to impact safety regulations to reduce the risk of accidents.

That said, whether or not these girls were observing proper traffic laws is really beside the point. As I stated before, their youth would make that argument redundant. However, whether or not they were familiar with the legalities of the situation, they ABSOLUTELY should have been acquainted with safe operating procedures when riding a bicycle in an area with motor vehicle traffic. The article says the girls were trying to cross the street when they were struck by the car. Did they stop to look both ways before crossing the street? Did they wait for oncoming traffic to clear or come to a stop before making their way into the road? Were they wearing helmets? (The article doesn't mention if they were or not). These are all basic safety precautions that any child should have drilled into them from day one, especially by the time they reach the 4th grade. If your child doesn't understand the concept of "look both ways before crossing the street," then they shouldn't be out on their own unsupervised. I know the parents of the little girl are grieving right now, but I want ALL parents to understand the importance of imbuing their children with basic safety skills to prevent more accidents like this one. And more than just telling your children "look both ways before crossing the street," parents -- and everyone else, but especially parents -- should practice what they preach and observe those same safety protocols themselves. This would not only reduce the chances of more children being killed, but it would also lessen the unsafe cyclist behavior so many previous commenters have described.

Did these girls observe proper safety protocol? I don't know. Did the driver maintain proper vigilance? I don't know that either. All I know is that accidents will happen, even when everyone is trying their hardest to prevent them, and this might just be a case of too little, too late. I send my sympathies to the family of the little girl, my well-wishes to the other girl who is recovering, and my hope for a just and fair ruling on behalf of the driver.
Fadamor at 02:33 AM JST - 10th July

If the girls hadn't been weaving in and out of traffic, then this never would have happened.

What. There was nothing in the article that said the girls were weaving in and out of traffic? Well there was nothing in the article about 90% of the circumstances the rest of you are using to assign blame so why should I be any different?

As usual, the article in JT is woefully berift of facts, so none of us can HONESTLY draw any conclusions about who was or was not at fault. The only things we know as FACTS are that one child is dead, one is injured, and a driver has to live with the knowledge that she killed a child with her car. Whether it was her fault or not will not lessen the pain.
kirakira25 at 02:52 AM JST - 10th July

If I was this driver I would be feeling absolutely devastated right now. I am going tobe driving in Japan soon and it scares the hell out of me that I could be the unwitting victim of a child suddenly appearing in front of me.

I KNOW we don't know if that is what happened in this case - but in Japan it seems it is always automatically the drivers fault. A friend of mine was sitting, not moving, at a junction, when a 9 year old came down the hill behind him on a bike and crashed into the back of his car. She was seriously injured. She wasn't wearing a helmet and the brakes weren't working on her bike. But HE was still arrested and blamed for the accident by the police! (Until thank God the girls parents admitted responsibility and apologised to him).
nigelboy at 03:06 AM JST - 10th July

I still cannot comprehend how Japan has a traffic light system where pedestrians, including children, are given a green light to cross and cars turning are also given a green light to turn ? I am pretty sure that yet another child has been killed whilst cycling over a crossing with a green light and being hit by a vehicle that also has a green light to turn. It's not the childs fault because they have a green light to cycle across and it's not the drivers fault when a child comes cycling out of nowhere whilst they are driving into the turn. It's the governments fault.

This happened on the intersection in a residential district where there was no signal light. But then again, let's blame it on the government.
Icewind007 at 06:04 AM JST - 10th July

No matter what the kids were or weren't doing, it's still the driver's responsibility, legally and morally.

Legally, people are not always liable for things that cannot be helped. If she was driving the speed limit on the road where she should be and if there were no crosswalks or anything making it proper for a pedestrian or biker to get on the road, she did nothing wrong. It would be illegal on the part of the bikers. If this can be proved, she will, legally and rightfully, get away scott-free.

It does not matter if school has been out. That is nearly half the day. It is completely impractical to have all drivers slow down for this half a day so that children are allowed to do stupid things without consequence. There are school zones for a reason. There, drivers are on high alert and are rightfully liable.
OssanAmerica at 06:53 AM JST - 10th July

I still cannot comprehend how Japan has a traffic light system where >pedestrians, including children, are given a green light to cross and >cars turning are also given a green light to turn.

I can. Because we have the exact same system here in the United States. The rule is that the non-driver ALWAYS HAS THE RIGHT OF WAY. In other words, the car must wait for the pedestrians to cross before proceeding. I was under the impression that Japan had the same traffic law. Correct me if I am mistaken.
Eddisofbextar at 08:19 AM JST - 10th July

Its only a matter of time before someone with a video recorder catches someone with lack of regard for their surroundings while riding a bicycle and then sues the government for making rediculous laws that should protect everyone, not just peds and bicycle riders.

I am not saying these 2 girls were doing anything wrong, since there are no details included in the report - but when I think about if I were to hit a ped and then go to jail, or have to pay huge sums of money when the ped for example fails to stop at a stop sign, red light, or similar situations, what happens to my family then? because of the poor judgement of someone else, my family should suffer? I dont think so, tim.
Eddisofbextar at 08:22 AM JST - 10th July

OssanAmerica at 06:53 AM JST - 10th July

I still cannot comprehend how Japan has a traffic light system where >pedestrians, including children, are given a green light to cross and >cars turning are also given a green light to turn.

I can. Because we have the exact same system here in the United States. The rule is that the non-driver ALWAYS HAS THE RIGHT OF WAY. In other words, the car must wait for the pedestrians to cross before proceeding. I was under the impression that Japan had the same traffic law. Correct me if I am mistaken.

If you drive down a straight road with sidewalks for peds, and someone standing on the sidewalk decides to jump in front of your car just at the moment when it would pass him by - for reasons of suicide, neglegence, or ANY other reason - the driver is at fault in Japan, regardless if he has time to stop or not.

Its odd tho, because suicide jumpers in front of trains, their families must pay gross ammounts of money to JR to pay for the delay to everyone.
elbudamexicano at 11:43 AM JST - 10th July

This morning, riding my bike to the station, I noticed that most of the kids riding their bikes to school have EARPHONES while riding their bikes. This is extremely, extremely dangerous, why? You go of to your musical dreamworld and stop paying attention to your immediate environment and this is the perfect combination for a horrible accident!!! I hope these young girls were not listening to their IPods etc..but RIP little girl!
Eddisofbextar at 01:34 PM JST - 10th July

Not only earphones, people riding bicycles and driving cars can often be seen using cell phones to send email. While they are moving no less! In one day in the around 2.5 hours of driving I do I can usually see 30 or more drivers, and 100 or more children on bikes using cell phones.
inakaRob at 08:52 AM JST - 13th July

I simply dont understand why this doesnt happen every ten seconds. I cant believe they were even using the sidewalk. I heard that is VERY agaisnt the law!!! Where I live there will be old ladies and studetns all over the road on their bikes. The old dont even look when they cross. Or they come from a blind corner and shoot around right infront of me with out even slowing down or looking to see if I am about to kill them with my 2 ton car. In a given week I have no less than 5 close calls a day, 4 of those 5 or becuase of bikes.
elbudamexicano at 08:00 AM JST - 15th July

Most drivers in Japan, not only in Chiba, are idiots, racing through tiny, narrow alleys at break neck speeds, while watching baseball games on the tv which is part of the car navigation system (GPS) and talking or texting on their cellphones all at the same time, just accidents waiting to happen at any second!!! RIP little girl in Chiba.
kaminarioyaji at 01:15 PM JST - 15th July

As numerous posters have testified, the number of cyclists who come out of side streets into main roads without even so much as a cursory glance to see what they are about to ride into the path of simply beggars belief - Even if they are riding into the side strip, thats what OTHER CYCLISTS use! so they should still be checking for other cyclists even if they think theyll be safe from motor vehicles in the side strip - the number of times I have been cut up like that whilst cycling is just shocking.

And the old... Ok, so they may have a healthy diet, but I would have thought reckless cycling would have kept their numbers lower.

In my home country, school children of an age similar to these girls are encouraged to do a "cycling proficiency" course, which teaches basic safety for road riding. Not here though it seems...

Morover, considering that drivers are, in the majority of cases, culpable for any accidents they are involved in, I find it amazing that they are so wilfully careless (The old "even though I am going slow enough to stop easily and safely, and the light is now red, I will still pass through this intersection" red light run being an easily identifiable example). Why aren`t there cameras set up to catch these errant and dangerous "drivers"?

But really, the driving culture here is seriously flawed. As a 2 wheel lover, Ive just taken the paper test here so I can ride a large motorbike. Due to a rather poor translation for the English language paper, I had to take the test numerous times. It seems to me that driving tests in Japan are simply a cash cow, as at no point were my incorrect answers revealed to me (even when I specifically requested), so I was not able to learn where I was going wrong, and be able to learn from my mistakes. Even when i passed, they still didnt tell me what I had gotten wrong - I wanted to know in case I was believing something was correct, when was actually wrong & dangerous. And the pass mark is 90%!?!?!?! I simply cannot reconcile this with what I witness on the road, numerous times, everyday.

And why are the police not out stopping scooter riders? who I routinely see riding recklessly, ignoring traffic signals, going around other vehicles by using the sidewalk, and often riding with the straps of their helmet not done up, or the helmet has slid to the back of their head, or as I witnessed last night - holding it on with one hand (which meant that they were riding with only one hand, which would increase their chances of losing control & falling in the event of hitting a bump/hole - cule desperate attempt to control the scooter, hand comes off helmet, helmet comes off head, brains all over the road)

And don`t even get me started on taxi drivers, who apparently need a 2nd class (higher skill level) licence...

Apologies for the strange typeface and seemingly absent punctuation... my computers weird, or at least thats what it looks like on the preview.