Man killed while changing tire on expressway in Yamanashi

Monday 14th September, 08:11 AM JST

YAMANASHI —

A man who had stopped in a parking area on the Chuo Expressway in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, to change a flat tire was killed by a car after it hit him from behind on Sunday evening.

At around 4:20 p.m., 59-year-old Tsutomu Yasuda—who was on his way to Tokyo—had stopped at a parking area to fix a flat tire when another car rear-ended his vehicle while he was standing beside it, killing him. The driver and three passengers of the other car sustained minor injuries.

Police said the car that hit Yasuda swerved out of its lane and into the emergency parking area where he was stopped.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 36 Total Comments Show All

timorborder at 01:33 PM JST - 14th September

Invest in some Run-flats folks...

Would that be the equivalent of investing in some caltrops? Half a dozen of those a couple of hundred meters behind would probably slow down the traffic.
pointofview at 02:03 PM JST - 14th September

People are horrible drivers in Japan. They stop anywhere without assesing their surroundings, signal when they start to turn and run lights. As sad as this case is it just doesn`t surprise me.
USNinJapan2 at 02:32 PM JST - 14th September

timorborder

Uh, not exactly. My point was that if you run Run-flat (or equiv.) tires on your vehicle you wouldn't have to stop on the hard shoulder and expose yourself to danger if you suffer a flat. It doesn't help this poor guy any, but if he had Run-flat tires on his car we wouldn't be having this discussion. Caltrops? I hope you were kidding...
Midnightpromise at 02:52 PM JST - 14th September

You can drive for miles on a flat tire if you go slow. Yes, it makes a VERY loud noise under your car but so does another car hitting the car you are changing the tire on. I have done it 3 times in the last 5 years, get a flat, slow down, pull to the shoulder, and DRIVE to an off road area.
saru_au at 02:55 PM JST - 14th September

driving in Japan...

flip on the blinker, 1 Meter before the corner (but quite often, don't bother with blinker)

at intersection : yellow light = hit the gas! go fast!

on the highway : speed limit sign "80 KM/h" = go 120 - 180 KM/h

(because most cars speed limited to 180)

anywhere, any speed : safe traveling distance = 1 Meter or less

ambulance approaching: stay on target, stay on target! (don't move a muscle)
salarymanblues at 03:09 PM JST - 14th September

saru_an you forgot something:

When driving in town, never, under any circumstances, yield and allow a car to enter the road from a shop/parking lot/side road. They must wait until there are no cars around (even if it means waiting until 10pm). Doesn't matter if the light ahead is red and you are slowing down anyway, NO-ONE GETS IN FRONT OF ME!
LFRAgain at 03:27 PM JST - 14th September

Caltrops? I hope you were kidding...

Tongue in cheek, I'm sure, but still, I can appreciate the sentiment.

That the person who hit this guy was apparently swerving to avoid hitting a stopped/slowed car in his/her own lane suggests the driver was 1) driving too damned fast, 2) was follwing too damned close, 3) wasn't paying any damned attention to his/her surroundings to notice a car parked on the emergency shoulder.

Perhaps some caltrops on the road might make people slow down a bit and pay better attention to their driving environment.
Jbizzle at 04:54 PM JST - 14th September

There is NO excuse for tailgating. If there is a slower driver in front flash lights or honk horn until they move. Tailgating an ojisan will get you nowhere but in an accident. I've seen idiots tailgate ojis for miles but stubborn old ojis never move or speed up. lol
Monoflow at 06:35 PM JST - 14th September

There are three things I called the essentials in traffic. Don't tailgate, always set the blinker if turn to left/right and always be aware of who has the right of way. It would be easy to prevent many accidents, but people don't care. It has something to do with respect... I had a flat tire once, when I was on the overtaking line on a highway. I could change the lane and decided to drive slowly to the next exit. A good decision...
DeepAir65 at 07:36 PM JST - 14th September

I hope the driver of the car that swerved to avoid another breaking car and killed this man is prosecuted for manslaughter as that is what this is.

Also for people like this the police should have the power to take away his driving license for good.

JAPANESE PLEASE STOP TAILGATING AND MOVING INTO MY BREAKING SPACE
animallover at 02:03 AM JST - 15th September

He was killed in a parking lot?? usually accidents happen on the road, or in buildings when old drivers mistake brakes for accelators.RIP..
Fadamor at 03:06 AM JST - 15th September

Animallover, it sounds more like he was in the emergency pull-off lane.

DeepAir65, be careful of assuming things based on what others post here. Too often the respondees are throwing out guesses as to what happened with no basis of fact to support it. Nowhere in the article does it say the car swerved out of its lane to avoid another car.

Being a veteran of the U.S.'s second-worst commute (Washington D.C.), I've observed tailgaters panic-braking when the car in front merely lightly taps their brakes. When the brake-lights go on, you don't know how HARD the brakes are being used and tailgaters have to over-react. I find my stress level drops tremendously by leaving an extra gap between myself and the car in front of me when traffic is bumper to bumper. Yes, people will fill that space, but I simply create it again and all is right with the world.
Smythe at 06:23 AM JST - 15th September

Even when riding my motorcycle I find so often I need to stop, remove my helmet & clean the visor. Even then I keep an eye on the traffic for some driver might be looking at me & that is another reason for someone to steer into you. It is overly common to m/c riders that eye-fixcation will have a m/c rider RIDE where their eyes are & not with the traffic.
888naff at 07:24 AM JST - 15th September

wow I'm relived there are some good drivers judging by some of the comments here.. mmm maybe thats why there aren't enough good drivers back home, there all now living in Japan.
benhur at 01:28 PM JST - 15th September

LOL>888naff