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Police in Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, have arrested a 19-year-old youth on suspicion of drunk driving and negligent driving resulting in death.
According to police, the driver crashed a minivan into a roadside pole at around 5:30 a.m. Monday, causing the back seat passenger to be flung out of the vehicle, Sankei Shimbun reported. Police said the driver failed to make a sharp left turn and crashed into the pole in the opposite lane.
The collision caused the vehicle's sliding door to come off, resulting in Ryuto Sakai, 19, who was in the rear seat, being flung out of the minivan by the impact. Sakai was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead due to severe head injuries.
Police said the driver's alcohol breath test had a reading above the legal alcohol limit.
© Japan Today
27 Comments
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d_spector
I feel horrible for both the driver and for the family of the boy who perished.
Zaphod
Lamilly
So... motorcycles too? Bicycles? Pedestrians for that matter? Don´t they all come out worse, as compared to people in cars? Dump trucks for everyone? I fail to see your solution for traffic safety here.
3RENSHO
"Those kei vehicles should be banned,"
In that case, what should we drive in order to be safer? Pickup trucks?
"in an accident they always come out worse (than other cars)"
In the accident under discussion here, ONLY ONE vehicle was involved. Or would you like to back up your empty assumption with an supporting link?
Do the hustle
It’s a shame he wasn’t arrested before the crash.
therougou
Trains run late enough you can have fun without a car.
Michael Machida
This is why I don't own a car in Japan. Too dangerous. Its easy to have a chu high then jump in your car to pick up the girlfriend for a night of fine dining and dancing. Instead, I stay home, drink, and watch a movie. Boring yes. Safe, indeed.
naitch
tooheysnewMay 4 04:17 pm JST
Isn’t the legal limit 0?
It is, its illegal to drink alcohol for 19 years old .
garypen
Yup. It's bass ackwards.
ebisen
Gaijinland: This is not a nanny state. People are given the freedom and understand that with the freedom comes responsibility. Your attitude stinks of passing that responsibility to someone else.
Takara
garypen
yes, minor was also the victim. This blows my mind. So if you are dead there is no need for privacy. If not for person who passed away then definitely for the family left behind.
smithinjapan
Because he's 19, they not only won't charge him, they won't even name him (they named the 19-year-old dead guy, though), and so he'll be out in 11 months tops and can legally do it again.
kaimycahl
TO be throw from the back seat and out of the car would also mean this guy must have been driving at an high rate of speed also.
garypen
Because this grown 19-year-old man is considered a "minor".
Alongfortheride
Not taking sides at all but perhaps if rear seat passengers in Japan wore seat belts they would not get thrown out of cars.
Kobe White Bar Owner
Name the victim but not the perp...
Mark
Tragedy, we all made our mistakes as new drivers, but drinking and driving is inexcusable.
Doranku
The body can produce some alcohol on its own. Food may contain trace amounts of alcohol. That makes is very impractical to set the limit at 0.
Gaijinjland
There is really no point in even having one drink here if you are planning on driving. The limit is not 0% but it might as well be. It’s not like in the states where you can have two or three beers spanned across a couple of hours and then drive home. Crazy strict in regards to driving which is why I never understood why it is so easy to buy alcohol here and that nobody checks ID’s. Just click a button saying you’re over 20 with no verification.
Brian Wheway
Here is another artical ive found:
There are severe penalties in Japan for drinking and driving. In 2007, Japan increased the severity of its punishments for drunk driving, moving toward a zero tolerance policy. Even someone who provides a vehicle to the person found to be drunk driving can be punished in the same fashion as the driver himself. What’s more, those adults who ride in the car with a drunk driver are also at risk of being punished for allowing the irresponsible behavior. Japan’s crack down on drunk driving means you should be very aware of the alcohol concentration limits enforced in Japan and the applicable punishments for drunk driving. Read on to learn more.
Harry_Gatto
It might as well be.
The limits for driving under the influence of alcohol are 0.3mg in 1ml of blood or 0.15ml in 1L of breath.
However if, in the opinion of the police, the presence of any amount of alcohol in your blood has impaired your driving then you are judged to be over the limit. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, the limit is ZERO.
Do not drink and drive.
Brian Wheway
The limit is 0.03 g of alcohol in the blood. That is to say one beer on average for women and a little more than one beer for men, and you would be over the limit.
If you are pulled over in Japan and are found to have a blood alcohol concentration(BAC) of 0.03 or above, you are considered legally intoxicated and guilty of drunk driving. The criteria for driving under the influence of alcohol are 0.3mg in 1ml of blood or 0.15ml in 1L of breath.
tooheysnew
Isn’t the legal limit 0% ?