crime

9-year-old boy suffers fractured skull in hit-and-run

15 Comments

A nine-year-old boy suffered a fractured skull in a hit-and-run incident on a street in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, police said Monday.

According to police, the boy was riding his bicycle on a crossing at an intersection in Chuo Ward when he was hit by a car from his left at around 3 p.m. Sunday. The car kept going, witnesses said.

Based on witnesses’ description of the car, police are examining street surveillance camera footage to try and identify the vehicle.

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15 Comments
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Police do not enforce the law. I enforce the law by chasing the car on my bike and bellowing at the driver. We need police or laws to change.

Or the stupid traffic light design here which allow people crossing the road and cars to be at the same time at the same spot

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The boy is lucky to be alive, regardless whether or not a Helmet was involved.

As he was on a crossing and hit from the Left, that would mean he was probably already halfway across the road, the driver - had they been paying attention to the Road ahead, would clearly have had a chance to see him.

Hopefully, we will hear more about the progress of the Police investigation through JT.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

So a driver horribly injures a boy and then flees like a coward and we're going to victim-blame the poor kid (w/out even knowing if he was/wasn't wearing a helmet). Get a grip. I mean, what kind of human being does this. Can you imagine not stopping after hitting anyone let alone a kid on a bike.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Whether he was wearing a helmet is irrelevant. The driver has run into a boy on the crossing and has disappeared. Entering the crosswalk whilst pedestrians are crossing is illegal but happens daily. Police do not enforce the law. I enforce the law by chasing the car on my bike and bellowing at the driver. We need police or laws to change.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Just read up on various sites about this but little further information is given. He was cycling straight ahead over a crossroads when a car which had failed to stop at the white line on the left came out and knocked him down, fracturing his skull. His condition is not said to be life-threatening. The white car changed directions and fled. The cops are examining nearby cameras.

There were 123 accidents involving cycles in Sagamihara City in April alone, which might tell us something.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Once again, not wearing a helmet.

Once again, the article doesn't say either way.

If he had been, this kind of fracture would not have occurred

Once again, fractures like this can happen even when wearing a helmet.

same as the boy who died the other day

Once again, it didn't say in the other article whether the boy was wearing a helmet.

The proof is in the injury

Once again, an injury doesn't prove that a helmet was not being worn.

some people refuse to admit it

Once again, some people use flawed logic and try to claim it's definitive.

people who don't wear helmets while riding if it will mess up their hair, for example

That's a responsibility I take.

who claim it makes it SAFER if you ride with no helmet

Yeah, you realize that no one ever actually said that, don't you?

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Readers, please stop going around in circles.

There is a season in Japan when wearing a standard white school-issue plastic helmet becomes unbearably hot. We are just reaching the entry to said season...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Once again, not wearing a helmet. If he had been, this kind of fracture would not have occurred, same as the boy who died the other day. The proof is in the injury, but some people refuse to admit it (people who don't wear helmets while riding if it will mess up their hair, for example, and who claim it makes it SAFER if you ride with no helmet).

As for he driver, I hope they are found.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

Whether the kid was wearing a helmet or not is irrelevant. He would not have fractured his skull if he had not been hit by a car.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Where does it say he was?

I didn't claim he was. You on the other hand have claimed he wasn't.

The fact he has a fractured skull tells you he wasn't wearing a helmet. A bicycle helmet is designed to stop head trauma from impact. It would do nothing if the truck or car ran over his head. It would be crushed like a melon and he would be dead with or without a helmet.

That's flawed logic. Generally what you say is correct, but it's by no means absolute. Helmets that have been dropped, or been in a previous accident, are supposed to be replaced, as they lose their integrity. They also need to be the proper size, and properly affixed. On top of this, helmets are not these magical items that are able to protect against everything and anything no matter what. With enough momentum (speed + weight), a helmet can crack upon impact, then when the child flies through the air and lands on the pavement, their head can crack.

This equals not being able to definitively judge whether or not he was wearing a helmet, from the details given in this article. Get it?

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Scum of the earth!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Strangerland - Where does it say he wasn't?

Where does it say he was? The fact he has a fractured skull tells you he wasn't wearing a helmet. A bicycle helmet is designed to stop head trauma from impact. It would do nothing if the truck or car ran over his head. It would be crushed like a melon and he would be dead with or without a helmet. However, in this case, he has a fractured skull from impact. This equals - NO HELMET! Get it?

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

I have no doubt this kid would not have a fractured skull if he was wearing a helmet.

Where does it say he wasn't?

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I'm not defending the driver. He or she is a scumbag! However, this is another young cyclist in hospital with head injuries in a country where wearing a helmet is 'supposed to be' law for 1-13 year olds. I'd estimate 1 in 50 kids wear helmets and most of those are just toddlers on 'mama-charies'. The elementary schools should be educating and making all kids to wear helmets. It's too much to expect the parents to do it because they are the same parents who do not restrain their kids in cars and let them run around car parks while they have their faces planted in their cell phones playing 'smack the hamster'. I have no doubt this kid would not have a fractured skull if he was wearing a helmet.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

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