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A truck driving the wrong way along National Route 2 in Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, collided with two vehicles on Monday, killing an elderly couple.
The incident occurred at around 2 p.m., police said. The truck driver, Kei Shinagawa, 51, a company employee from Yanai City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, has been arrested on suspicion of reckless driving resulting in death, Fuji TV reported.
Police said the truck was moving in the inbound lane heading for Hofu City when it ran into a light car and a minivan. The elderly couple, an 87-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife, who were in the car, sustained severe injuries and were taken hospital where they died shortly after arrival. Two other people in the minivan were also taken to hospital with light injuries.
The truck managed to stop after ramming into a house, but no one in the house was injured.
The accident occurred on a highway with two lanes on each side and visibility was good at the time. Police are questioning Shinagawa on why he was driving the wrong way.
© Japan Today
11 Comments
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Laguna
Yeah, I guess ramming into a house would manage to stop a lot of things. Sympathy to the deceased couple.
Drako
Does Japanese doctors not have the capability of saving someone in a car crash? It seems anyone in a car crash dies here. In America we are driving much faster and even with a head on collision people survive. Are ambulances underequiped? They don't have advanced life support equipment available?
descendent
They were in a "light car", meaning a Kei-car. You will be crumpled in any sort of impact in a kei-car, given the relative lack of crash-protection. The people in the minivan were ok.
Bugle Boy of Company B
Was on the highway this morning. Truck drivers just change lanes when they want. Oh, you left a few meters between you and the car in front of you? Looks like I'm changing lanes in front of ya!
Cricky
I drive a German car it's a tank a Japanese car will bounce off it. Not looking for an idiot to test my theory. But if they do....I'm pretty sure I will cut them in half. Safety first.
Davnetcat
@Cricky Its sad, but maybe the old couple probably drove the best car they could afford.
jeancolmar
You know, Japan's highways are quite orderly. The job is to keep the absolute idiots off them.
garymalmgren
In America we are driving much faster and even with a head on collision people survive.
I guess that says something about American heads, doesn't it.
According to WHO (2013)
http://gamapserver.who.int/gho/interactive_charts/road_safety/road_traffic_deaths/atlas.html
Japan population Approx 120 million. Traffic deaths 6000
USA population 320 million. Traffic deaths 34,000
Perception vs reality.
Gary
sir_bentley28
National Route 2 in Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture
I know where that is! it was where I lived and drove many times a day. For someone to be driving on the wrong side meant that he switched sides of the road to drive on that side of the road. Be it deliberate or not, there's absolutely NO WAY he could've mistakenly made an error like that on a road like this!
Belrick
I drive that route 4x a week. The entire 2 lanes in each direction are separated by a concrete island with bushes, so the truck driver had to have been at fault.
It's a busy route that has massive amounts of traffic all day and a lot of drivers, both cars and trucks, treat it like a racetrack, despite regular speed traps!