crime

Chauffeur arrested over hit-and-run death of 87-year-old woman

9 Comments

Police in Tokyo have arrested a chauffeur on suspicion of killing an 87-year-old woman in a hit-and-run incident in September.

According to police, the incident occurred at an intersection on Edogawa Ward on Sept 25, Sankei Shimbun reported. The suspect, Shota Higuchi, 28, is accused of hitting Taneko Sato, who was walking on a pedestrian crossing near her residence, when he was making a right turn. He fled the scene immediately.

Police said Higuchi died from head injuries three days later.

Street surveillance camera footage led police to Higuchi who has denied the charge, saying he did not cause any accident.

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9 Comments
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"...saying he did not cause any accident."

With his job, reputation and freedom at stake, the suspect Shota Higuchi is unlikely to admit guilt...

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The whole "crosswalk" notion needs a re-think.

People assume they'll be safe to walk, and car drivers assume they have the right of way.

I'm sorry for this poor old lady's demise, she didn't deserve to be plowed down in the street and then just left there.

A terrible callousness, whomever did it.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Even in this case, I still don't feel there is enough information to judge. And I know the police and courts will judge arbitrarily, ignoring important information they have. And that folks is why so many run.

Notice the article does not state the time, how she was dressed, or if she was even crossing with a green light or red, or even if there was a pedestrian light. I don't even trust the report she was "walking" on the crosswalk because she may have just stepped foot on it from behind a parked car right in front of the on-coming car.

And of course there is the possibility this was the most blatant case of driver recklessness in the history of the world! I don't know. Show me the video! Is it still 1995?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

did she have a green walk light,? I've seen countless times elderly just wandering out onto crossings even if the light is red expecting people to stop for them.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

And I have seen countless times when drivers speed through the intersection during a red light even with people in the crosswalk

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I have been in a crosswalk dozens of times, including today, when a driver turned onto it just in front of or behind me or even both. I have also seen many instances of a driver making a turn when someone (almost always a child or woman on a bicycle) enter the crosswalk without really looking, assuming the vehicle will stop no matter the distance or rate of speed. The driver is not always at fault but this guy ran and THAT is unforgivable. Denying the charge just compounds it. Can't wait to hear his side.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It seems that nearly every day we have a story about a pedestrian being injured or killed in a crosswalk.  What is the solution?  I propose to stop allowing cars to move at the same time as pedestrians/bikers.  Stop all vehicular traffic and let all four (or more) crosswalks be green at the same time.  After enough time has passed, stop all pedestrians/bikers and then let the vehicles go.  We will still have problems with cars and people/bikers running their lights, but the number of incidents should drop, and it should be easy to determine who is at fault in each incident with the proper video surveillance.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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