61-year-old woman suffers fractured skull after being hit by cyclist
IBARAKI —
A man riding his bicycle home collided with a 61-year-old woman walking along a highway late on Monday night, leaving her with a fractured skull. A passer-by called police just after midnight and told them that the woman, Yukiko Sato, a resident of Toride City, was bleeding and not responding. The man had left the scene.
Police learned that the man, 37, had broken his cheekbone and was in hospital, and are waiting for both of them to recover before questioning them.
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kyuzo
Surprised I do not read more about these kinds of accidents. Bikers all over the world are reckless but the combination of 70-year olds on bikes with no brakes that the can't handle, really narrow sidewalks and using those very sidewalks for bike riding is not a good one. Not a day goes by without having some biker swooshing by me, way too close and certainly to fast. I look forward to the day when the Japanese government realizes dedicated bike lanes are a pretty good idea.
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fatloser
Drunk and in a hurry! I wonder what the old woman was doing out so late. After those latest editorial lambasting Spiderman in the Bugle you'd think she'd be afraid to venture out at night!
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Speed
ANOTHER hit and run. Albeit a bicycle, after hitting someone this jerk shouldn't have left, especially a little old lady. Karma will make sure to it that he comes back as rodent.
Whether an old lady was out for a walk at night makes no difference. Criminal behavior by this 37 year old "man" is what's to be condemned and hopefully prosecuted (heavily).
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soldave
fatloser - were they both drunk? Missed that in this article but maybe it's in others you've read.
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cleo
If anyone calls me a 'little old lady' when I'm 61 I'll be sorely tempted to slap 'em hard up the back of the head and tell them to mind their manners, cheeky young whippersnapper. Ditto to anyone who wonders what I'm doing out 'so late'. MIL is over 80 and has only recently started to slow down a bit.
Talk about ageism. Sheesh.
I hope the lady gets well soon.
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taiko666
Japanese attitudes to bicycles baffle me. The law states that bikes must be ridden on the left, and that only on certain roads is it permissible to ride on the pavement. These laws are totally disregarded, even by the police. Add to that reckless, careless riding styles, riding while on the phone, mama-charis with kiddie seats both front and rear (illegal) and it's indeed surprising that more people aren't killed or injured (eg in 2005 there were 'only' 2435 reported accidents and 6 fatalities.)
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mindovermatter
It's called an accident....
These things happen everyday in every country of the world, it's just that this web site chooses to put stuff like this on the 'front page.'
Is this guy an idiot and a real A-hole for bailing... Definitely....! But was this a planned & premeditated act to hurt this woman... I think NOT...
It doesn't matter if he was drinking or not... He wasn't behind the wheel of a motor vehicle...
It's a very slippery slope when you start classifying all accidents as criminal acts... Which this country and it's seasoned 12 year old mentality leaders like to do...
This country is getting to the point where not having a bicycle registration is treated the same as 'Murder One' under the California penal code.... Ridiculous....!
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electric2004
Actually, if the accident happened on a highway, as reported by JT, what where they doing there. Neither pedestrians nor bicycles are allowed on the highway. But maybe it is just the precise reporting by JT and in reality it is not a highway, but a national road.
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pointofview
I have a close call everyday with a bike walking to work. A lot of riders speed too and don`t pay attention. Check out the station areas and downtown...
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Kameleon
Oh really... Cyclists everyday, every hour in this city, Osaka ride with not a care nor any concern for anyone but themselves - but, actually, by the way the ride SO recklessly, it seems obvious they do not care for themselves either.
Last year I finally got hit, by a woman not looking where she was going, riding at top speed across the road, but came from the road onto the crossing so out of my vision - from my side. Her face hit my shoulder so hard, so fell, cracked her head on the road, blood on my shirt, broke my glasses that were in my shoulder pocket - then in the middle of that main road, I ripped into her, shouting in Japanese and English. She was unconscious, but I seriously felt it time to give these reckless idiots a piece of my mind. Witnesses of course in my favour, I had medical bills paid for - injured shoulder, and she was taken to hospital.
No doubt, like most cyclists in Osaka - she still won't learn, and will continue to ride without looking left or right, continue to jump lights, continue to ignore any kind of cyclists code...
Just an accident... Right...
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dammit
Anyway, head injuries are weird things, it's entirely possible that she got up and told the man she was all right and made him go away. Then after he'd gone she could have just collapsed. Head injuries are totally unpredictable and can cause strange symptoms. OR he could have just hit her and run off. Or cycled off rather. But there's reasonable doubt about that right now.
Hope the poor woman makes a full recovery, she's probably got a good decade or 2 (or 3) ahead of her, all being well.
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JeffLee
The woman may be in the wrong. She was "walking along a highway," which sounds highly dangerous and illegal, especially at night.
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taiko666
JeffLee: again, "highway" simply means a public road.
I think JT needs to supply a 'real English' to 'US English' glossary :-)
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Nessie
In the context of this article, "highway" would mean a road at least as large and heavily trafficked as a trunk road, but not as large as an expressway. Expressways are access-controlled, so cyclists and pedestrians are not permitted on them. I believe it is legal to cycle and walk on highways in Japan.
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frontandcentre
mindovermatter - I call it a hit-and-run. We don't know the circumstances but I personally doubt that the woman threw herself in front of the speeding cyclist. Chances are, he was drunk and didn't see her, and just because it was late at night doesn't make her any more at fault.
Generally people's behaviour on bikes in Japan, and lack of consideration for pedestrians, is profoundly ignorant. Deliberately endangering yourself and ther people by wearing an i-pod while cycling is the latest trend in stupidity. It's simply daft to disable one of your vital senses when on busy roads or on pavements with pedestrians and kids that you are obliged to steer clear of. The police should arrest cyclists wearing i-pods and those young w**kers who swerve rapidly around people when on the pavement.
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ptolemy
Perhaps the guy was stressed, tried of life and looking for someone to hurt. It will not suprise me if the perp of this hit and run says that if they are found. I hope the lady recovers.
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fatloser
I don't know that anyone was drunk. I'm just mak'n an edukated guess!!
Moderator: Please use correct English.
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Nessie
Careful what you wish for Cleo: You might get called "big old lady," instead. (Slapping ensues.)
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Kameleon
Further proof of idiocy:
Mother, three kids on bike, talking on her mobile phone while riding...
And the police stop a consenting adult from sitting on the back of a bike...
Mad. An adult knows how to break a fall, a child will just fall & break their head, or get their foot caught in the spokes or... How the police can allow mothers to get away with that, and not allow adults (which is far safer) is beyond me.
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elbudamexicano
Most Japanese, when it comes to riding bicycles, etc..are complete morons. I have never seen so many idiots enjoying their walkmans, ipods etc...while riding around at break neck speeds! I think the police need to start catching and fining wreckless idiots on bicycles. This poor old lady now has a fractured skull, but she could have easily been killed or left a paraplygic. Let's be more careful, gaijins too!
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fatloser
Of course the old woman could have caused the accident also. Maybe the cyclist was riding safely when the ow swarmed him.
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DeepAir65
The only thing that surprises me here is that you do not hear about it every day.
I saw a very lucky cyclist the other day almost hit by a taxi. If the taxi had hit him i would have stopped and given evidence in the taxi drivers favour - it was dark and the cyclist was wearing black with no lights and crossing the road from the pavement.
No bets that this accident happened a country road with no lights and the cyclist had no lights so did not see the lady.
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nisegaijin
I cycle to work every day and I have to say that this country is not designed for this. I am not talking about steep hills, but I am talkinb about narrow lanes and side walks. There is literally nowhere to go! You go on the road, there will be some taxi moron trying to squeeze you to side rail or stopping in front of you. You go on sidewalk, everybody is just popping out of nowhere or just walks diagonally. I am experienced car driver, so I am trying to read the situation, but this is frigging frustrating!
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mindovermatter
Ok... Well we're at it... why don't we arrest all people that accidentally bump into you in a crowded train station..? And how about the people wearing ipod's typing keitai mails while they're walking...? They could accidentally bump into an elderly person and cause them to fall down... (I've seen this... just watch people running to catch a morning train or get to their office....)
You see... this is where civilized countries draw the line..
It's called common sense...
The idea behind many laws is to either encourage or discourage a certain type of behavior...
Let's just have everyone just go out and buy a car and drive to work.. Then this lady would never have been hit by the guy on the bike.... Ridiculous....
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Scrote
There are lots of idiots on bikes, but the pedestrians are often no better. I often see people walking in the road, even when there is a pavement they could use. They are not crossing the road, but choosing to walk along it, sometimes far from the side. They are like unthinking drones.
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