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An 18-year-old girl has been charged with dangerous driving resulting in death after the car she was driving hit and killed a 70-year-old woman in Motosu, Gifu Prefecture, on Thursday morning.
Police said the girl, who is a correspondence school student, had been drinking and was over the alcohol limit when she was tested right after the accident that occurred at around 7 a.m. in Shimofukushima, Sankei Shimbun reported.
Police identified the victim as Masako Hori. She suffered extensive head injuries and was taken to hospital where she died about two hours later.
The road where the incident occurred is about five meters wide. Hori was walking her dog when she was hit from behind, police said.
© Japan Today
14 Comments
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SenseNotSoCommon
Being a girl and not a woman, is she less culpable?
shonanbb
Sense: She is not considered an adult, but allowed to drive a potential weapon. And she used it as one. Her life will be very different from this point on, but she will be charged as a minor.
techall
7 am, was she out drinking all night or did she still have enough alcohol in her system after trying to sleep one off?
That not withstanding,18 is too young to drink legally.
MikeRowave
Not to blame the victim but one should never, ever walk with his/her back to the traffic. I see this in Japan all the time, people put their lives in the hands of drivers who may or may not pay attention..
Always walk facing traffic.
SenseNotSoCommon
Who says she wasn't? The younger woman was drunk.
beowulf
I would like to know the driver's actual blood alcohol level. If she had been really drunk I daresay she would also have been charged with driving while drunk. Basically that charge is normally reserved for people who leave the bar and get straight into their car.
GrungeHamster
Well that is my preference as well. Feel a bit better being able to see the traffic in front of me, but as SenseNotSoCommon said, this woman was drunk so I am not so certain how much good walking in either direction would have done.
From the broadcast footage seen on Meizamashi TV this morning, the incident seems to have taken place on the left-hand side. It is possible the woman was simply following the standard direction of travel in Japan.
I do not understand the deal with referring to this woman as "girl" but it could just be a translation issue. She is definitely in the wrong and should be held accountable for involuntary manslaughter.
nakanoguy01
you can't always walk facing traffic because many small roads in japan are only one-way.
FightingViking
@MikeRowave
If that were true, I wonder why one of my friends, coming home from walking his dog, got hit face-on by a car coming directly at him. He fell on his back, cracked his skull and is still in a coma - four years later...
misunderstood
If you can think to drink before getting in a car and driving knowing you have no other way to get home don't drink! If you can think and you drink knowing what can happen then it's seem if you drink and drive be prepared to pay a heavy price especially if you injure or kill someone. 18 years old I would say very selfish but Go to jail she has a young life when she gets out she will have had enough time to think about the drink she had and how she not only ruined her life but many other people lives connected o the women she hit.
DaDude
She is 18 which in Japan means the victim's family will have little to no chance of closure.
coskuri
It's the law. She's under 20, she'll be judged as a kid.
jonobugs
I just don't understand how people still do these things in this day and age. There are no shortages of information about this out in the world and there are so many alternatives. What a waste of life, both the victim and the perpetrator.
Skeeter27
Is there a legal limit for a girl her age as far as drinking goes? I thought it was illegal for anybody to consume any alcohol under the age of 20 in Japan.
Rest in peace Obachan