4-year-old boy hit, killed by truck in Saga; driver arrested

Tragic on so many levels. Unimaginable sadness for the child's family but also empathy for the truck driver who in all likelihood didn't go to work in the morning expecting to be arrested that evening.

My wife's father who was a taxi driver in Japan for 50 years said the most dangerous part of his job was not the drunks but rather avoiding kids on bikes coming out of narrow streets unexpectedly (not suggesting that this was the case in this instance). In particular he cited high block fences on the edges of properties as being visually troubling.

The speed limit is either 40 or 50km in residential areas and even keeping to those limits may not be enough to avoid all collisions in all situations.

"Yes the Driver should be arrested , his truck seized and be thrown in prison for life without parole".

What is very scary is that every reader here could at least in theory end up in court for a similar accident.

Cosmos1 is his/her ultimate wisdom thinks life without parole seems to be an appropriate punishment.

Wow!

The speed limit is either 40 or 50km in residential areas and even keeping to those limits may not be enough to avoid all collisions in all situations.

A decade ago, I hit an elderly woman at one of those blind intersections. Fortunately, I was not driving fast enough to have injured her, but she did fall of her bicycle, and I felt very bad about it and had to pay for her medical check up, which my wallet felt bad about that. Since then, I've been careful to triple-check -but even then, one can't be certain, and the driver is always at fault.

I guess it's pretty safe to conclude the kid wasn't wearing a helmet.

As nakanoguy stated, a helmet isn't going to protect against being hit by a truck with momentum. They are made to protect your your head if you fall and land on it. There are limits though.

Thanks for sharing that Laguna.

I think Cosmos was being sarcastic. In this country, it is all too easy to hit a bicyclist. I have come close, and realized that had I actually hit someone my life and my family's life would be destroyed. It's a sobering thought. I try to be especially careful these days, even if that means annoying the driver behind me.

When backing up, maybe lost and in a hurry like this driver, it's easy to slip up. I told my kids to never assume a driver can see them.

Truck driver was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be, and starts backing up without even looking?

Lets not play the Blame Game over this.. This was an accident and accidents do happen to all of us. This accident just happen to result in the death of a 4 year old, and it's very sad. I feel for the families involved.

I guess it's pretty safe to conclude the kid wasn't wearing a helmet. Most people would be surprised to learn that it is law for all children under 13 years old to wear bicycle helmets in Japan. I'm not defending the truck driver. However, it is likely the boy would still be alive if he was wearing a helmet.

You don’t know that.

Victim blaming is disgusting.

helmets are not some magical force field that protects your head. they protect against low impact events. getting hit by a truck is NOT a low impact event. my condolences to the family who lost their son.

Helmet protect you from slow moving object and up to a certain hard hit. Physics.

Truck driver at fault obviously. Still without any circumstances provided, there is no way if there is some driver blaming too (kid speeding without looking ? No parent watching after where trucks can drive?...)

I remember trucks, even tiny ones, always making a loud signal when back driving. Any mechanical failure ? (Impossible to see behind for some trucks...)

Sad but avoidable. RIP and condoleances

I personally do think the boy would have benefited a lot with a quality bicycle helmet, if it turns out that he wasn't wearing one. I have kids and it's hard enough to get them to wear helmets, since most of their friends don't wear one. Even adults don't set the example by wearing helmets.

But like most others say, the driver is always at fault - absolutely. As a driver myself, a pedestrian can be in the middle of the road, but it is still my responsibility to always be aware of my surroundings, always. The driver must feel awful having hit and killed such a young boy, but he is still totally to blame. Also, potentially the truck company for not having a back camera fitted to avoid an accident like this. The technology is freely available now.

What is very scary is that every reader here could at least in theory end up in court for a similar accident.

Not those of us who choose not to drive.

i don’t drive because I am scared of ending up in court, I choose not to because I don’t want to be responsible for killing anyone.

What IS very scary is that though not all of us drive, ALL of us are pedestrians on occasion, and ANY of us could be killed by a careless driver at any time.

Ikuma was taken to hospital with a fractured skull but died about an hour later.

I guess it's pretty safe to conclude the kid wasn't wearing a helmet. Most people would be surprised to learn that it is law for all children under 13 years old to wear bicycle helmets in Japan. I'm not defending the truck driver. However, it is likely the boy would still be alive if he was wearing a helmet.

Sato, who was riding a bike.

The kid crashed into a truck that was reversing

Okay, the driver should have phoned up his boss and ask for cones and tape to be placed across the road and a security guard to help back him out .

Fit trucks with cameras and make it law.

Yes the Driver should be arrested , his truck seized and be thrown in prison for life without parole

"...it is likely the boy would still be alive if he was (sic) wearing a helmet."

Post a link to supporting reference, please.