Bus driver arrested after fatally hitting pedestrian

”Rest in Peace” to the deceased and his companion. “Condolences” to their grieving family.

The driver bears all responsibility for his negligence here but bus companies, traffic planners, etc need to be more cognizant about placement of traffic signals, crosswalks, etc versus the angle of the sun at different times of day contributing to driver’s ‘blind spots’.

“Police quoted Fujisawa as saying he was blinded by the sunlight for a few seconds as he made the turn and couldn’t see the man on the crossing.” -

Last Sun am, I was at a complete impasse at a traffic signal that was silhouetted from behind by the intense 7am sunlight. Fortunately, their were no pedestrians or other traffic behind while waiting to make a similar right turn.

Maybe these drivers should just wear sunglasses at this point. Getting blinded by sunlight is happening way too often.

Who had the green light or the right-away?

The driver bears all responsibility for his negligence

He was "blinded by the sunlight" just as he made the fateful turn. When nature suddenly intervenes to rob a person of their faculties, they should be relieved of some or all responsibility.

Shameful how Japan treats drivers, unless he was willfully driving recklessly, this should be a civil matter, not criminal.

Shameful how Japan treats drivers

It's mostly about retribution in Japan. Bereaved family members demand satisfaction and are all too often willing to ruin an innocent person's life to get it. You see this time and time again in news involving accidents caused more by nature and other uncontrollable events than by human "negligence."

this should be a civil matter, not criminal.

Exactly.

JeffLee

Who had the green light or the right-away?

If it was like most traffic-light-controlled intersections in Japan, the ight was green for both the bus and the pedestrian. As such, the pedestrian has the right-of-way. If there was no traffic light, then the pedestrian had the right-of-way.

The only time the bus would have had the right-of-way is if there was a red don't walk sign for the pedestrian, while the light was green for the bus, which is possible at some Japan intersections.

He was "blinded by the sunlight" just as he made the fateful turn. When nature suddenly intervenes to rob a person of their faculties, they should be relieved of some or all responsibility.

If sunlight was indeed an issue, then he should have been driving more carefully than usual. Either way, the sunlight situation will certainly be easy enough to prove or disprove by investigators.

‘Blinded by the sunlight’…..then slam your brakes on!

The sun is a lot lower in the sky now and can cause strobing effects, especially on highways.

I just slow right down…

I won’t disagree with the driver, but now he has to live with it.

I don't pretend to imagine who might be at fault. All I know for sure is that these bus drivers are under intense pressure to stick to their ultra strict time tables. No excuses. If they don't, there are severe repercussions.

A hell of a price to pay for being on time.

The number of people killed each year from left-turn or right-turn intersections is ridiculous. I drive often, and I've had some close calls with people running out (or riding their bike) in front of me as I turn.

When I walk across crossings, I always put my phone down and look for traffic that might not see me.

Cars and pedestrians should never have a green light at the same time. When pedestrians have a green light to walk, cars should have a red. And vise versa.

Unfortunate, but accidents happen. Pedestrians need to be more alert , the laws of physics overcome traffic laws every time.

Blinded by the sunlight’…..then slam your brakes on!

Slamming on your brakes in traffic is a really, really dangerous thing to do. One of the most common types of nasty accidents are pile ups, ie, chain reactions caused when one vehicle stops suddenly, causing others to collide.