1-year-old boy killed after drunk father crashes car

Ichinose's blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit to drive, police said, adding his wife, who was also in the car with a friend, tested positive for alcohol, as well. Ichinose, his wife and her friend sustained minor injuries.

She and her friend as well should face charges as accomplices as well. And if they were drinking at some establishment that knew they had been drinking, and that they had a car as well, they should be held liable as well.

There is no reason for crimes like this! None!

I often go out to drink, and many of the places I go to ask the customers for their car keys when they walk in the door, if they don't want to hand them over, the "Mama" refuses to serve them, it's black and white, you want to drink and drive, do it somewhere else.

Yet anotherparent puts their own interests above the safety and well being of their children. Baby killer.

Agree with all above comments. The mother along with her friend who let the drunk father drive the car should all be liable with the death of this child.

Police said the boy, Kanata, was not in a child safety seat in the back when the fatal accident occurred at around 11 p.m. Sunday.

This just makes me sad, the seats are designed to keep children safe in case of an accident. I've lived in Japan for almost 13 years and the number of times I've seen kids climbing around in cars especially on the expressway just blows my mind. Even more mind-boggling are those cars with the stupid stickers "baby in car" and no car seat...oh I should be even more careful because of your lack of common sense.

Every adult in that car is culpable.

It's rare to see in Japan children sitting in the back of a vehicle, belted up in proper child seats. It's shocking when you see children moving around on the front seat or jumping around in the back. These parents are morons. Are these seats compulsory? If not they should be.

Ichinose's blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit to drive, police said, adding his wife, who was also in the car with a friend, tested positive for alcohol, as well.

Well they are not going to get the parents of the week award, I promise you that.

She and her friend as well should face charges as accomplices as well. And if they were drinking at some establishment that knew they had been drinking, and that they had a car as well, they should be held liable as well.

The will be held accountable by law under the “aiding and abetting of drunken driving” ordnance, as are all others who do the same.

http://oharalaw-japan.com/2016/02/24/what-is-the-legal-limit-for-drunk-driving-in-japan/

Ichinose's blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit to drive,

I thought the limit was zero?

"Ichinose's blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit to drive"

What is twice zero? And if he was "caught drunk" and only "suspected of dangerous driving", shouldn't he be either, "suspected of being drunk" or else just plain guilty of it?

Charge the wife and friend, too, and any izakaya or pub/restaurant that served them should lose its license, if not have the owner charged personally. Enough of these hogwash lip-service laws! Owners of a restaurant should HAVE TO ask at an enkai who is driving and who is not, and take all keys of those driving (to be returned the next day if they drink), or just forbid those people from drinking alcohol. But as usual, they refuse to obey recent laws because it's "unpopular" and "inconvenient".

Actually, the limit is 0.001%, which means he had a blood alcohol level of 0.002%. I'm not sure if that is considered a drunken driver in other countries though.

However, the biggest issue is the kid not being restrained. If he was he would most likely still be alive today. I'm sure everybody seen unrestrained kids jumping around in cars many times, but I have one from the other to really take the stupidity cake. I saw a woman driving around in the rain with a baby in a sling on her chest, right in front of the airbag. Just utterly ridiculous!

A one year old being driven by drunk dad and drunk mom and her friend in the car knowing he was drunk? Sorry but no. Punish them. The death of their child is horrific but until someone actually throws the book at idiotic parents, this crap will continue. Drunk and child no in a child seat. The poor child. RIP wee one. You're parents clearly should not have been parents.

No child seat - of course. I see this every single day on the roads.

When is this ever going to be clamped down on?

Shame on these parents who place their children's lives in danger every time they put them in a car.

@Disillusioned, I've seen a woman drive with a baby in a chest sling too.

Simply unbelievable ignorance / stupidity.

I’d say 20% of parents/grandparents don’t bother w childseats in the best of times, let alone after an evening of drinking.

Imagine subjecting your 1 year old baby to a night in an izakaya or something similar.

I hope these two failures never reproduce again.

luckily nobody else got killed, all 3 of them deserve capital punisment , driving drunk is basically intent to kill others and should be prosecuted to the full possible extent.

Baby on mama's lap and texting while driving.

Smoking with windows up with baby.

Ichinose's blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit to drive,

I thought the limit was zero?

For whatever reason I thought it was 0.015.

My 2 cents; wouldn't say this guy was 'drunk' per se but rather intoxicated ( he would have been fine in most other countries). 2, imo, unforgivable violations/issues here: a/ the child wasn't secured in an approved child safety seat, b/ this happens all the time in J and coppers do F-all about it.

Pretty much everyone in Japan think they can get away with it, same with red lights, giving zero F about pedestrian crossings and many, many other driving offences. About time J cops take all driving infractions seriously.

twice the limit is just a beer or two. so depending on the individual, maybe not drunk. just technically. but a 1 year old without a baby seat, resulting in death, that is serious. when will japan wake up. i see it everyday. it may just be a freak accident as hokkaido has snow, but i presume it is nothing out of the ordinary for both parents to not use a child seat, so it could happen anytime.

i feel a little sorry for what the parents have to remember for the rest of their lives, but their child no longer has one.

Another day, another Japanese infant muder/death story.... Honestly, is it just the reporting is so good, or is there a MAJOR problem of thoughtless-ness for one's chldren in this country. I know narcissism is now globally rampant via smartphones, facebook, twitter, line, etc.... But this infanticide in such a nice country as Japan seems over the top.

I thought the limit was zero?

There is the "driving under the influence" and "driving while intoxicated" laws here, and "under the influence" is VERY subjective to the arresting officer and how the perp acts or reacts after being stopped. The test does not matter.

no child seat. I see this all the time. I know its a pain in the ass but you have to do it.

I know its a pain in the ass but you have to do it.

No it's not a pain in the ass, not at all. (I have three grown children, they always used car seats, grandma tried to take one of them out of their seat one time, one time only...I stopped the car, and told her, "he goes back into the seat before this car moves another inch* , she bitched and moaned, but I just stepped out of the car, lit up a cig, popped open a can of Boss and ignored her.

She bitched for a month, but she never tried it again!

@ Yubaru - that's the way to do it I wish I could have been there to see it happen. Myself, I won't put the car in gear until everybody's in a seatbelt

Myself, I won't put the car in gear until everybody's in a seatbelt

Gloved hand! Thumbs up!

I guess drinking excuses anything but drinking