Police in Shiroi, Chiba Prefecture, said Sunday they have arrested a 23-year-old man over reckless driving resulting in death after he hit and killed a 3-year-old boy at a multilevel parking garage.
According to police, the incident occurred at around 8:30 p.m. Saturday. TBS reported that the boy, identified as Rui Shimoda, was with three members of his family when he ran ahead down the slope toward the basemen of the parking garage, and was hit by a car driven by Yuta Tsuchibayashi.
The boy was taken to hospital with severe head injuries and was pronounced dead a short time later.
Tsuchibayashi was quoted by police as saying he hit the boy as he turned left, but said the boy seemed to come out of nowhere.
© Japan Today
21 Comments
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Christopher Glen
I couldn't have put it better. Few people look before they step out onto pathways or drive into oncoming traffic. Sheer carelessness permeates every facet of daily life. Parents are no exception here
Cggn Kr
Drivers fault...reckless driving & too fast in such places - I know!!! Put him in jail!
LFRAgain
Damn the parents in this country for not properly watching their children in public. This child should not have been running around free in a parking structure, much less down a ramp where cars are expected to drive. The boy was 3 years old, for crying out loud. Why weren't they keeping him close? This child's death is entirely on the parents. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
This speaks to the larger problem of pedestians throughout Japan placing the onus of responsibility for their own personal safety on everyone else around them but themselves. Stepping into crosswalks without checking to see if the roadway is clear, walking in the middle of streets clearly meant for automobiles, dashing out from between parked cars to cross where there is no pedestrian crossing -- this insanity happens daily, and Japanese road laws still foolishly adopt the attitude that the driving of a car, motorbike, or bicycle bears the majority of responsibility for any resultant tragedy. Meanwhile, some poor guy who was probably just heading home after a day of shopping will now see his life melt away with nary an avenue for recourse due to the unfathomably piss-poor protective instincts of a dead 3-year-old's parents.
James Diamond Durant
I've driven in many parking lots here and children are always running around unattended. Mothers either on the phone or looking in mirrors. So sad that the little boy had to be the victim. I've also seen people driving through the lots as if they were on the highway and in a rush to go nowhere . It's best to creep along at 20 kph no matter who honks at you.
CraigHicks
Exactly. 10 kph, sometimes even 8 kph. (not mph). The rules are there for a reason.
NathalieB
Definitely the parents fault for allowing him to run ahead like that (in a car park??! What were they thinking??! I nearly hit a kid of about 3 once when her dad had let her run ahead, I was reversing out of a space and just couldn`t even see her. Lucky for him I was paying attention and reversing slowly and heard him shout. He then went ballistic at ME!) but if the driver had been doing the posted speed limits in most car parks Ive been in of around 10mph and anticipated the unexpected going around a corner, he would have been able to stop immediately even at the last second. Kid may have been injured but unlikely to be killed. So suggests to me a bit of both at fault here.
wontond
Looks more like reckless parenting.
Yves Gagnon
look there'are some of you out there who need to get your brain checked, now listen up, and listen well.cars kill people people don't kill cars.I believe just having said that is more than enough, but I will go on a little further. you better be responsible once you get behind the wheel of any car, if you want to text while you're driving if you want to listen to music while you're driving, these only add to the dangers of drivingj ust be more responsible and don't let these kind of tragic accidents happen to you. slow down and always be alert.
Bronco123
I wonder why the driver was arrested unless he was speeding. Clearly the parents are at fault. Two casualties because parents mistake.
Americanhonor
This is where the police are questionable in their actions, its the parents that should be arrested. whats a 3 yr old running around a muktistorey carpark? its very narrow with busy traffic and dimly lit, so yes its hard for a driver to see a small child running out of nowhere in front of him. not fair on the driver here.
Frank Thornton
But I'm sure the mother said "Dameyo..." as the child took off like a bat down the slope. That's what I see everyday on the hill/slope next to my house. A mother with a baby in a stroller and two kindergarten kids running down the hill through residential area intersections in the morning and the mother says from about half a block behind "Dameyo".
LunarTuner
3 YO in a multilevel parking garage at 8:30pm running down the slope, unchecked perhaps, says a lot about the parents doesn't it?
BrobaconZ
it's the drivers fault he was probably driving to fast like I see every single day.
StormR
Parents need to be charged with child endangerment, letting a 3 year old run off in a car park, if this guy was driving normal he is as much a victim as the child.
When operating a vehicle here please take as much care as possible because others around you may not be, but you will be held accountable even if not your fault.
Jonathan Prin
So true. If driving normal kid, parents fault only. I have 3 kids. And know to act accordingly.
Knox Harrington
Letting a 3-year old run around in a parking garage... Without knowing the details, I'll draw from experience and say that this is lax parenting. Sure, this driver might have been at fault as well but, as we all know, far too many Japanese parents let their kids fly around like there's no tomorrow. It's like kids are being taken care of by slightly bigger kids.
CraigHicks
He might just have have been driving too fast for the parking lot - I've seen enough drivers in parking lots driving like James Bond to know that is a possibility. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKAME9fAA-4
Disillusioned
Yeah, I've seen little kids running through car parks many times. I agree the driver is more the victim in this case. The parents are the criminals.
Harry_Gatto
Poor sod probably didn't have a chance to avoid the boy and he's arrested; how about arresting the parents too? Still, I wasn't there to see what happened so could be wrong.