Aug. 22, 2012 - 06:50AM JST
TOCHIGI —
Police on Tuesday arrested the driver of a car that hit and killed a woman in Otawara, Tochi Prefecture, on Monday night.
According to police, the suspect, identified as Yoshio Higuchi, 46, hit Asuka Iwasaki, 35, as she crossed a one-way street at about 11 p.m. Monday, Fuji TV reported. At the time of the incident, Iwasaki was talking on her cell phone with a male friend. He heard her scream and rushed to the scene. He called police after finding Iwasaki lying on the street, with her belongings scattered about, Fuji reported.
Police said they were able to find Higuchi based on an eyewitness description of his car.
Japan Today
16 Comments
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Mirai Hayashi at Aug. 22, 2012 - 07:36AM JST
They'll find the driver...they have ways
jojo_in_japan at Aug. 22, 2012 - 08:24AM JST
I'm not saying that the woman is at fault, rather just commenting, I bet you she was totally distracted and very unaware of her surroundings due to being on her phone. I presume see stepped on to the road trying to cross and was hit by the on coming car. Silly for the driver to run. I've seen it all too often. Walking and cellphones make a bad combo.
gogogo at Aug. 22, 2012 - 09:27AM JST
Burn him
Mirai Hayashi at Aug. 22, 2012 - 09:34AM JST
They found him already...that was fast.
Burger_King at Aug. 22, 2012 - 09:58AM JST
I am not an English language expert, but
Shouldn't that read: "...arrested the driver after he hit and killed a woman with his car...."? Else, it sounds like the car was at fault.
Inside train stations, people look down at their phones and they run into other people, and while driving I also see pedestrians oblivious to their surroundings. Albeit, I do not condone the behavior of this driver to attempt to run away. Glad he was caught.
chikv at Aug. 22, 2012 - 11:45AM JST
Probably it's because they can't prove more than the car was involved at this point, there is the chance that the usual driver was not the one in the accident.
fish10 at Aug. 22, 2012 - 12:38PM JST
It's regrettable what happened, but in all reality, it probably was the woman's fault. I see people all the time, occupied with cell phones or not... walking or riding bicycles, etc. that are just ignorant and/or arrogant about vehicles on the street. People need to be a lot more conscious about their own safety rather than relying on the driver of a car to predict their unpredictable behavior.
Nessie at Aug. 22, 2012 - 01:49PM JST
In all reality, we know it was the driver's fault, for fleeing if for nothing else. It might also be partially the victim's fault.
shirokuma2011 at Aug. 22, 2012 - 03:41PM JST
I'm glad they caught him, but people really just have to be more careful... I've seen so many near-misses involving phones and bicycles and cars and train platforms... Glad also that JT used "identified as" instead of that awkward "has been named as" they seemed so fond of.
Jack Stern at Aug. 22, 2012 - 03:50PM JST
Be aware of your surroundings when crossing the street. Cell phone talkers are seen even on bicycles.
Spidey at Aug. 22, 2012 - 04:16PM JST
If you live in Japan, then there is no need to state the obvious.
Nough said.
S
AlternateUniverse at Aug. 22, 2012 - 09:43PM JST
How do people get themselves hit by cars? The things are not hard to spot coming and roads don't look much like sidewalks.
Then you go on to explain how the woman most definitely bears a great deal of fault if not all of it. I support your post, but not your pussyfooting around the issue. Since the car did not go onto the sidewalk, the woman is most definitely at least half at fault in any reasonable analysis. And only half if the driver was really speeding and I don't mean just a little, or completely looking away from the road for several seconds, but that would only make him half at fault. Its completely obvious that she did not check before crossing the road. How else could she get nailed? If someone does not check and steps right in front of your car, and the laws of physics send you right into them, despite braking as best as possible, what are you going to do? I will tell you what! Rot in jail. Because the laws of this land don't take physics into account! How fair is that?
And that brings us to the question of why he ran!
yasukuni at Aug. 23, 2012 - 06:56AM JST
I thought hit-and-runs were only a problem in third-world countries, and that it would never happen in Japan, the land of honor and honesty ..
yasukuni at Aug. 23, 2012 - 07:00AM JST
I take it that it's not like the movies here where they say "you have the right to remain silent". Most cases are solved here in a matter of minutes - confession, motive, and confessions of a other crimes as a bonus.
Balefire at Aug. 24, 2012 - 06:55PM JST
Regardless of whether pedestrians are talking on the phone, jaywalking, running into traffic without looking, or all of the above, a driver who hits and kills one will be held responsible at the very least for professional negligence (yes, even non-commercial drivers), and very likely manslaughter. In many cases it's not fair, but the official view is essentially that a driver must always operate the vehicle in such a way as to avoid such accidents.
If you're not prepared to deal with that, regardless of poor visibility, narrow streets, a dearth of sidewalks, oblivious pedestrians, cyclists, and other motorists, etc., you really should reconsider driving in Japan. No need to like it, but no real option other than to accept it. With vehicle/vehicle accidents, there is sometimes a finding of shared responsibility that approximates justice, but virtually never in the case of a car hitting a pedestrian.
And leaving the scene of an accident in which someone is injured is a really, really bad idea. Not to mention being immoral/anti-social.
FightingViking at Aug. 24, 2012 - 08:19PM JST
@Balefire :
The problem with your comments is that they are absolutely TRUE...