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Two men were killed and five other people, including two 8-year-old girls, were injured in a traffic accident involving five cars in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture.
According to police, the accident occurred at around 11:20 a.m. on Monday. Fuji TV reported that a car swerved at an intersection on National Route 201 in the Yokota district and hit two light cars that were waiting to turn right. The car continued to move forward and hit two other cars.
Shinji Matsunaga, the driver of the runaway car, 89, and Mitsuaki Iwanaga, 84, whose car was hit head-on, were killed. Also, three women and two 8-year-old girls in the other vehicles were injured.
Police said the runaway car was driving almost in the middle of the street when it hit the cars. They said Matsunaga somehow lost control of his car.
© Japan Today
10 Comments
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PeaceWarrior
I see this happen pretty much every day. Usual suspects are cell phones and TVs. RIP Iwanaga san. Hoping for a quick recovery for the other victims.
A.N. Other
I'm sorry. This is gonna be unpopular, but for Heaven's sake 89 year-olds should not be driving on public roads.
I don't care whether it is fair or not, but your licence runs until your 80th birthday and then that's it. Get the frikkin' bus.
smithinjapan
PeaceWarrior: "Usual suspects are cell phones and TVs"
Bud, the driver was 89 years old. You can take your rant and save it for when it applies. It doesn't here.
"Shinji Matsunaga, the driver of the runaway car, 89"
What cause, beyond age, could they possibly be looking for? How many accidents a week do we have to hear before they start putting a legal cap on the age at which you can drive? Last week it was the old guy hitting two other old guys, one pushing the other in a wheel chair, and now this -- on top of the daily "I mistook the break for the gas!", etc. The police have already revealed that accident fatalities in 2015 were 130% of their prediction, and the majority of those were seniors, so the proof is there.
PeaceWarrior
Not a rant. I literally see people driving in the middle of the road every day. Nothing impassioned or angry about my post. And smithinjapan, I am not your bud, guy!
Alex Einz
over 70 should be banned from driving unless can prove exceptional ability
Disillusioned
Um, that seems pretty clear! - Japan really has to do something about curtailing the amount of senior drivers involved in serious accidents. I am aware they do have regular testing and limitations in place, but these kinds of collisions (not accidents) continue to happen regularly. The statistics released a few weeks ago showed that senior drivers were involved in nearly 50% of all road fatalities last year.
Homotenashi
Jack up their premiums!
livingdeaddan
There seriously needs to be more checks for aged drivers. A couple years ago I was cycling down a hill on the side of the street, quite fast, suddenly something hits me from behind, I managed to keep on the bike, but it hit me hard enough to knock of the cars hub cap, the car didn't even stop.
I recovered from the shock of it just in time to see he'd stopped at some light, cycled up to him and bashed on the window, the window slowly came down revealing some 80 year old dude WITH ONE EYE!
Well, he had 2 eyes, but the the left was clearly blind. All he could muster was "sumiasen"
stupid old fool, too proud to get off the road no doubt!
AsianGaijinYesWeExist
My personal experience here in the U.S.:
One time, I was driving on the interstate, flowing well with traffic, when I was rear ended.
I eased off the gas pedal and applied the brakes, but my car kept moving forward. I was puzzled until my passenger told me the guy who hit me still had his foot on the gas, essentially pushing us forward quite a bit.
Turned out he was 82. At least he had very good insurance.
Alex Einz
livingdeaddan i hope you called the police...