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crime

4-year-old boy dies after being hit by van; driver arrested

37 Comments

Police said Monday that a Chinese man has been arrested over the death of a 4-year-old boy whom he hit with his van in Shibuya.

According to police, the incident occurred at around 6:40 p.m. on Sunday. Fuji TV reported that the boy, Go Yokoyama, was shopping with his parents in Jingumae when he was hit by a van driven by Kun Ho, a 30-year-old unemployed Chinese national.

The boy was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police said Ho has been charged with negligent driving resulting in death.

When the accident happened, Go’s mother was shopping in a store nearby, while Go was with his father. However, the boy wandered away from his father and was hit by the van.

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37 Comments
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What does the driver's nationality have to do with it?

29 ( +33 / -4 )

It seems that, in this case, the father is just as much to blame for letting the kid wander onto the street. Four year olds do not have any road sense and the father should have been watching him. This is another case of, a driver's life ruined due to poor parenting.

12 ( +20 / -8 )

charged with negligent driving resulting in death.

Plus the fact he's a foreigner , doesn't look good in the eyes of justice and a fair trial

14 ( +18 / -4 )

The driver was rushing to buy babies Omotsu ... most of them driving and turning carelessly to rush to the other drug store to do their daily routine of Omotsu buying ...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I know the Japanese don't like them - because they think it makes children look like dogs - but harnesses can save lives. As others have said, one cannot constantly keep an eye on small kids.

3 ( +11 / -8 )

Again. Appendage at end of arm. Really useful to keep things close to self. Notably children.

13 ( +15 / -2 )

Why post that has was Chinese?

6 ( +11 / -5 )

How many kids here have to die before parents learn that they need to hold their kid's hand? I feel sorry for this driver. The way kids dart in and out of traffic, in parking lots... you could be the best driver in the world and still hit and kill one. I HATE driving here because of this - and because I know I would be held responsible rather than the parents who allow their kids to just wander off.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

it's easy for all these "perfect" parents to bash the father, but as a father myself, i know it is impossible to constantly hold your child's hand and to watch over them 24/7. all it takes is one second for an accident to happen. i'm sure this father is in a tremendous amount of grief.

1 ( +8 / -7 )

@gogogo"Why post that has was Chinese?"

The key words are "unemployed Chinese national". An unemployed Chinese person gets the car, then his negligent driving caused death of a kid.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

It seems that, in this case, the father is just as much to blame for letting the kid wander onto the street. Four year olds do not have any road sense and the father should have been watching him. This is another case of, a driver's life ruined due to poor parenting.

We have absolutely no idea what the scenario was to make a judgement. All we have is the boy wandered off and was hit by a car. The driver was arrested for negligence resulting in death which MAY mean reckless driving or hit-and-run. Not enough details

3 ( +6 / -3 )

I think every country posts the identity of a non-citizen when they make the news, how/why is this a problem?

You are just looking for reasons to rag on Japan.

-5 ( +8 / -13 )

He was driving a van. The van has alot of blind spots and he probably didn't see the kid. If he's a 4 years old kid and less than 3 feet tall, it's very hard to see with their unpredictable movement. Unless he was driving at above the speed limit erratically and/or a DUI, it would be very difficult for police to call it negligence resulting in death. Parents should watch their kids all the time and maybe put leash on them when your out shopping.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

tokiyo:

I think every country posts the identity of a non-citizen when they make the news, how/why is this a problem? You are just looking for reasons to rag on Japan.

Well, where I come from, the person's nationality doesn't appear in the title unless it is relevant. But then I don't expect much from JT anymore considering who owns it now.

Moderator: And the man's nationality doesn't appear in our headline either, so your comment makes no sense. And our new owners have nothing to do with our editorial policy.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

it's easy for all these "perfect" parents to bash the father, but as a father myself, i know it is impossible to constantly hold your child's hand and to watch over them 24/7. all it takes is one second for an accident to happen. i'm sure this father is in a tremendous amount of grief.

No one is saying they're perfect parents. Come on now. If you are in an area with cars and a small child what is the smartest thing to do? Hold their hand and keep an eye on them. If folks can't manage to do that when out in public they have no business having kids as clearly the responsibilty is above them.

I am sure the entire family is in pain. More so because both parents will be asking why they didn't keep an eye on the poor kid.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Ah yes, the JapanToday "blame the parents" zoku is back in full force. According to you all, any parent who is unable to watch a child closely for 24 hours per day is to blame for anything that happens. Good to hear from you all, and hope nothing bad ever happens to your children.

4 ( +11 / -7 )

I think no one should be arrested. Accidents happen. It's terrible that it happened to a four year old, but it happened. But, if the driver is arrested for negligent driving, then the father should be arrested for negligent parenting. There were two faults made. The driver should not be the only one held responsible here.

For those making excuses for the parents, of course, a person can't watch their child 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But parents need to watch their children when it matters. This is a public space where there are a lot of people walking, and cars travelling at high rates of speed. A child must be either watched, or taught how to behave in these types of spaces before he/she goes off on his own.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

There's not enough information to fault the father. Alleging the father as negligent based on a paragraph and a summary consisting of a couple of sentences isn't really convincing either.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@sfjp330

maybe put leash on them when your out shopping.

You already had +1 and I thumbed you up a second time... (Funny how I got -4 for the same kind of comment...)

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

@ Yumster

There's not enough information to fault the father.... Apart from the fact he was responsible for the boy at the time in a build up areas like Shibuya! It must be terrible for the parent especially the father but i guess he is also blaming it on the "Chinese" driver instead of himself. RIP little man and parent DONT let your little ones run about like this.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

it's easy for all these "perfect" parents to bash the father, but as a father myself, i know it is impossible to constantly hold your child's hand and to watch over them 24/7. all it takes is one second for an accident to happen. i'm sure this father is in a tremendous amount of grief.

I agree up to a point. But I am assuming we are talking about only ONE child here that he had to watch. No one can hold a childs hand 24/7 - but they can hold it when they are in a crowded area like Shibuya with lots of traffic close by. Clearly he wasnt as the child "wandered off". Im not going to bash him further - I`m sure he is devastated by the loss of his child. But there is a big difference between someone alone with 3 young children struggling along with shopping, and one adult with just one job to do.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Apart from the fact he was responsible for the boy at the time in a build up areas like Shibuya!

That doesn't make him criminally negligent.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The nationality of the driver would only be relevant if, for example, he was not authorised to drive in Japan due to not having the proper license. This alone would be a criminal offense and may possibly affect his familiarity with Japanese driving conditions.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Meanwhile in our guilty until proven innocent fairytale land, we'll hear no more of Kun Ho. His is a fait accompli, like so many drivers who failed to have someone with a red flag walk in front of their horseless carriage.

For a nation that relies so much on its automotive industry and, increasingly, anti-collision technology, we're alarmingly dysfunctional when it comes to pedestrianisation, traffic calming and road safety awareness.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Though I don't know the full details of the story, I think [four year old] and [near street] don't go well together. If your kids are too young to understand the dangers of being by a road, you should harness, carry, hold their hand, or put them in a stroller. If you don't, troublesome it may be, but you have to understand you're taking a big risk.

I've had more than a few close calls myself. I was driving, both hands on the wheel and eyes in front, then an elderly woman on a bike suddenly decides to cross in front of my car without looking. I slammed my breaks and she kept going without noticing, even after I honked my horn a few times. Luckily there was no car behind me. This could have ended much differently if I were driving while sleep deprived, looking at my smartphone, or fiddling with something else.

This happens to me a few times a year in Aichi. It's usually young adults playing on their smartphones or elderly folks though. Most kids are much more careful in my experience. They try to make eye contact with the driver before they cross the roads! Much safer than the no look cross.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Police said Monday that a Chinese man has been arrested over the death of a 4-year-old boy whom he hit with his van in Shibuya.

Why is the nationality relevant?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

It may be that the reporter mentioned unemployed Chinese national because of China's push for power. This driver is a victim of his own country's power grabbing.

Being unemployed can only be mentioned for the fact that IF he was employed this possibly could have been avoided altogether. We cannot, however, conclude this was totally unavoidable. If it wasn't this driver, then perhaps another. Possibly a Japanese national. We would need more evidence to make a better judgement.

It sounds like the parents were a little too care-free to be responsible for their own child. I myself am paranoid of my own 4 year old's protection when going shopping. You or I cannot assume everything is going to be safe, as safety is highly boasted of this country.

All it takes is a small mistake from even the most caring, kind person for their to be an injury to your loved ones, or worse.

Also, if this had turned out differently and the child was safe, there is still the possibility of other people becoming harmed to avoid the child.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

The nationality is relevant because, ya know, those Asian drivers. [sarcasm]

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@ descendent et al - Not 24 hours a day, but how about the few minutes in the parking lot? Is that too much to ask? Don't need to be a "perfect parent" to do that.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Unless the driver (regardless of nationality) was extremely negligent (speeding, DUI, left the scene, etc), he will not be put away in prison. His insurance will pay, he will apologize, end of story. An accident is an accident and partial fault is on the parents as well. Cars belong on the street, not unsupervised children.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

For those of you blaming the parents ... shame on your heartless souls.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

For those of you blaming the parents ... shame on your heartless souls.

Why? Because it`s bad parenting to let a 4 year old run around unsupervised near traffic. End of. Sorry - I feel terrible for the parents but at the same time my soul can handle calling them idiots.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Was my judgement unfair in my previous post? If so, then please do explain. Or are you just being biased.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Isn't Jingu-mae the entrance to Yoyogi Park?

Couldn't it be they were actually in the park and the kid ran out of it and into the street while the dad had his back turned?

The number of armchair parent quarterbacks that come out on JT and begin sharing their expertise on child supervision regardless of how little information is given is amazing.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The number of armchair parent quarterbacks that come out on JT and begin sharing their expertise on child supervision regardless of how little information is given is amazing.

Anonymous condemnation gives people a temporary feeling of power.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

yep, someone likes to be biased. Just checkout my previous posts on this article.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There's not enough information to fault the father.

Like that would stop the parenting perfection that is the readers of JT.

Their own poor children though who have never seen their own palms due to the constant holding of their parents hands and have never had a moment of solitude due to their constant watch.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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