7-year-old boy dies after being hit by bus in Okinawa
NAHA —
A 7-year-old boy died Monday after being hit by a bus while riding his bicycle in Nanjo City, Okinawa Prefecture. Police said that the boy, identified as Kosei Chinen, had been riding on the side of the highway when he apparently veered into the path of the bus coming up behind him.
Police said the bus hit the bicycle, sending the boy onto the sidewalk. He was taken to hospital with severe head injuries but died about two hours later. The operations director of the bus company apologized for “depriving the boy of his precious life.”
News reports
Order by Time Order by Popularity
15 Comments
Login to comment
0
KaptainKichigai
apologized for "depriving the boy of his precious life."....understatement of the year.
0
electric2004
Did the boy wear a helmet? Could have saved his life.
0
TheMarion
Excellent suggestion electric 2004 - perhaps your mentioning this protective cover can be made standard headware whenever you ride a bicycle.
0
whatanidiot
"riding on the side of the highway when he apparently veered into the path of the bus coming up behind him. Police said the bus hit the bicycle, sending the boy onto the sidewalk"
a 7y/o should not be riding a bicycle on the highway !!!!! mostly if there is a sidewalk just there ! if it happened the way it says "when he apparently veered into the path of the bus coming up behind him", i feel sorry for the driver !
0
Disillusioned
I think the helmet question is clearly answered in the kind and extent of his injuries. Nobody knows for sure if a helmet would have saved his life but, it is 'supposed to be law' for all under 13y/o to wear helmets. This 'may' have been a case of helmets saving kid's lives, but sadly, we'll never know.
0
OneForAll
Very Sad. The roads are one of the biggest disappointments in Japan. Buses drive down some very narrow roads. Pedestrians and bicyclist should have the right of way and everyone should allow them the respect due to them. I see drivers giving little room to others on many many narrow roads. The police might enforce safe driving as well. It is almost unbearable and may have cost this child his life.
0
Proffesor
And so should drivers be.
0
societymike
Saw this on local news, it was on R58, a very busy road/highway. It's 6 lanes wide in that area and the bus was in the dedicated "bus lane". Child should have been on sidewalk, but he was riding around parked cars along the side of the road instead, he came out onto the bus lane just as the bus was coming by. Sad, tragic accident.
0
KaptainKichigai
no doubt the "parked cars" were parked illegally. Every bicycle rider in this country knows how angry you get when jackasses park on the side of the street forcing you to veer into traffic because the sidewalk is crowded and small and how dangerous it is.
0
BeaverCleaver
OneForAll- "Pedestrians and bicyclist should have the right of way and everyone should allow them the respect due to them."
I respect the law of steel. Anybody who has more steel than I do, and I respect them, and stay out of their way. Its been working out pretty good for me. If you want those with the steel to respect those with much less, I think you are going to have a busy, dangerous and bitter life trying to get your way. But, to each their own I guess.
0
Stonecoldsoba
That's precisely what Japanese traffic laws (or is it the interpretation?) concerning accidents are designed to do: the one with more steel (broadly speaking) is held responsible. I believe this makes drivers careful, at least when they can see or expect pedestrians in or close to their path, but it also has the side effects of carelessness on the part of pedestrians and cyclists, and the driver's temptation to flee from the scene of an accident which resulted from such carelessness.
0
Kanadjin
Hence the reason why I bike down the sidewalks of okinawa.... the streets are lined with parked cars...
0
Tetsujin
Sometimes even the sidewalks are lined with parked "Kei's" How annoying...
0
Icewind007
From the article, it sounded like the boy deprived himself of his own life. No bus would be able to stop in time for someone suddenly veering into the lane.
Physics begs to disagree. Everyone should respect the power a vehicle has, especially on the roads they are supposed to be on. It is ultimately the job of the people not in a vehicle with more options of where and how to go somewhere to steer clear. That is, of course, not applicable where there is a crossing lane/obvious warning of playing children or pedestrians/bikers. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't watch out anyways. That is, respect the larger mass.
0
electric2004
TheMarion:
Of course, my little boy (4 years) wears a helmet when riding on his bicycle. And so far, he is only allowed the roads in the neighborhood where only people are driving who are living there or have a business. Looking at the children of my Japanese neighbors, most of their children drive their bicycles without helmet. But still, I can give a good example to them.
Back to top