9-year-old girl hit by actor Jun Kaname's car

Glad the little girl is ok - she must be pretty shaken up.

Hope the little one is ok. The way the headline is written it seems as though the car had a mind if it's own.

Good thing she's ok, seem to read a lot of these things happening recently.

Did the car hit the girl, or did the girl jump into the path of the car? Every single time there is a car/pedestrian or cyclist accident, it is written as the former even though I am positive the latter also occurs. In fact, most of my few near misses with pedestrians and an actual accident with a cyclist, it was the latter.

I hope the girl is okay, but if we are going to bet, my money is the girl being utterly careless and the driver not so much so.

@Crush Them I wouldn't bet against you on that one. I'e been driving here for a very long time, and I can't even begin to count the number of times someone--often but not always a kid--has jumped out into the path of my car or bike. I've seen dozens if not hundreds of similar cases happen to other drivers. Often the pedestrians dart out from between parked cars, making the time they're visible even shorter.

Nevertheless, regardless of how and where the pedestrian gets in front of your moving vehicle, the police regard it as the driver's responsibility to stop in time, and if you hit a pedestrian (or a clueless cyclist), it's virtually certain to be your fault: the driver has to drive in such a way as to avoid hitting pedestrians regardless of their behavior. A cop once told me "even if the pedestrian drops from the sky".

I haven't seen the details of this particular accident, but I know the area, and my bet would be with yours.

In any case: fellow drivers, keep wary; and parents, teach your kids to be careful about traffic.

Scumbag apologizing through his agency. Nut up and do it in person.

The agency always issues an apology in these cases.

I recommend anyone who drives install a drive recorder/dashcam. It's given me alot more peace of mind while driving. Even if you're a bad driver and the accident is always your fault, it's still probably good to have the evidence just in case the victim exaggerates your speed, or actions etc, which I think is quite common. (of course I'm not suggesting that is the case here, I hope the girl recovers soon and isn't too traumatised)

Japan seriously needs to stop blaming drivers for everything. I have no idea what happened here but lord, the number of idiots I have had to slam my breaks on for is beyond okay. I know that if I hit them, it is my "fault" even if they are breaking numerous laws. Insane.

Hope the girl is okay.

“We are terribly sorry for causing such a public disturbance.”

What a bizarre comment; shouldn't he and the agency be more concerned with the little girls welfare than causing a 'public disturbance'? And yeah, is his agency like his Mom or something? Damn Japan can be weird.

Was he driving his car or was he driving in his car?

Kaname accidentally hit the girl. Yeah, it was an accident and I believe he didn't do it on purpose. In crowded, populated areas, which means almost anywhere in Japan, I learned to be prepared for anything when driving. And I also learned there are a lot of careless people, that means motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Pedestrians learn the habits from the people they observe every day. Many motorists have the habit of pushing it on narrow roads without proper sidewalks and zebra crossings. Driving those roads even at the speed limits of 30 or 40 kph is often too fast.

Similar accidents happen in great numbers every day. But this one evidently caused a disturbance.

There's nothing but false security in the belief "it was just as much the pedestrian's fault." The pedestrian has a basic right to the use of the roads; drivers are permitted only by license to use the roads. The peculiarities of local road conditions or negligence on the part of a pedestrian are not excuses for accidents. One fact that is brought out in Japanese courts is that the driver is the professional, not the pedestrian nor the cyclist.

I've noticed the language in this case is a whole lot different than in the case the bus driver hit and killed the little girl who was seeing off her brother, when the other one year old was hit and killed by the childcare worker a few days before, or when the little girl who was with grandpa was hit and killed last week. In not ONE of those cases do I recall the phrase "accidentally hit" the victim, as is the case with this celebrity. I would not be surprised if more people are right and the girl happened to suddenly pop out in front of the car, but it's not like the others hit the people on purpose.

Scumbag apologizing through his agency. Nut up and do it in person.

The only one who should be apologizing is him to her directly. Why does he need your forgiveness?

http://doramaworld.blogspot.com/2014/08/kaname-juns-traffic-accident-involving.html

Kaname testified that the little girl had ran across the road suddenly so he couldn't stop his car in time.

@Presto345:

Was he driving his car or was he driving in his car?

Meaning???

I think you mean 'was he driving his car or riding as a passenger in his car'.

The peculiarities of local road conditions or negligence on the part of a pedestrian are not excuses for accidents. One fact that is brought out in Japanese courts is that the driver is the professional, not the pedestrian nor the cyclist.

No amount of training will alter the laws of space, time and inertia.

Holding people responsible for failing to do the impossible is basic injustice.

The agency issues the apology because that's who pays his bills! They have the deeper pockets! In Jp the entertainment agency just rip these talentless people off but what do they know until they sign with an a tench state side then they realize they have been robbed I have friends there in Japan who have come here and met close friends of mine in the business and they drink get drunk and cry because they realize they just have the fame not the fortune like my friends who do the same line of work.

There's nothing but false security in the belief "it was just as much the pedestrian's fault." The pedestrian has a basic right to the use of the roads; drivers are permitted only by license to use the roads.

Are you actually trying to suggest that is would be fine for a pedestrian to rock up to a highway and walk around in the middle of it and when they get it, it will 100% be the fault of the driver because that sure seems what you are saying. If pedestrians had the basic "right" of the road, crosswalks, signals, sidewalks... would not be needed. This is clearly not the case in any country though and Japan continues to punish drivers for bonehead pedestrians and cyclists.

I agree with many here that the first gut reaction is that any driver who hits a pedestrian is a wreckless, distracted, crazed person. But, the truth is that driving in urban or rural Japan on the clearest of days is like pachinko in reverse! Add to that the narrow streets with concrete up to the corner sidewalk, rainy nights, returning workers (sober or drunk) walking on either side of a street with NO sidewalk, in clothes that match the color of the unlit midnight sky, and children playing ball in the street or riders holding cell phones or umbrellas dinking a buddy on the back of hte bike, and it becomes a real test of one's driving ability. In a rural town I drive through at night, "Mama-san" sends off her drunk customers from her door that opens onto the street! Gosh! In another area on a local road, the same woman in sunglasses stands non-chalantly in the street with her chihuahua just beyond the curve, again IN the street! Children move here and think "whee....countryside!!! ZOOOOM!" on their bicycles gathering speed downhill. Parents are overjoyed to see their kids laughing at the new country freedom they have. Cats are killed regularly, dogs sometimes, other critters often, and I am just so relieved when the new "little Taro" on his bike enters another grade. I think I will have to defend the driver who ends up hitting that woman and her chihuahua because she has been warned but doesn't get it. Only in her 40's so too young for dementia!? I go a different route to avoid her...adding time to my commute. I am all for walking and cycling, but does it have to compete with delivery trucks, huge trucks carrying gasoline as well as people picking up or delivering family from the station? Last year, we had people slipping and sliding on ice in the street with huge on-coming trucks and buses because it is a main artery and there are NO sidewalks. So, I hope this driver was not negligent, glad the child was not harmed, but it needs to be a wake up call that it is hazardous to drive and bike and walk in Japan, even moreso in Tokyo and larger cities.

“We are terribly sorry for causing such a public disturbance.”

And maybe to the little girl and her family? It sounds so strange to just apologize to the general public for something like this.