Police in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, have arrested a 23-year-old woman on suspicion of dangerous driving resulting in death after the car she was driving hit and killed an 87-year-old man.
The incident occurred at around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, TV Asahi reported. Police said Mina Watanabe, a company employee, was driving along National Route 465 when she hit Koichiro Watanabe who was walking along the side of the road. There is no sidewalk along that stretch of the road.
The victim was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Police quoted Watanabe as saying she took her eye off the road for a few seconds when she looked down to pick up her smartphone.
© Japan Today
15 Comments
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Nordic
If you cannot be 100% focused on driving safely when you get into your vehicle, DON’T get into your vehicle. Period. No call is that important.
Nordic
…and if you simply dropped your phone, pick it up once you’ve arrived at your destination.
owzer
Excuse? An excuse is used to get out of punishment. What she is giving is an explanation of what happened.
NCIS Reruns
I'm curious to know what the annual body count is for cell phone-related mishaps. It's got to be in the dozens at least.
Redemption
Used to drive through such roads to go surfing. Everyone speeds 60 - 80 km/hr in 40 km/hr narrow roads with no sidewalks. One reason I would not want to live in rural Japan.
smithinjapan
While the guilt lies solely with her for taking her eyes off the road (especially to pick up a smartphone), roads and the lack of sidewalks are a serious issue here. One of the roads I often walk down near my apartment is hardly narrow enough for a kei-car, but is two-way traffic and has a lot of pedestrians and bicycles. I've been clipped no less than five times, most recently last week when a mirror on a mini-van hit just above my elbow. No harm done, and the driver stopped and checked and seemed genuinely sorry, but there was nowhere I could have gone at all unless I climbed under the eaves of the house next to me, and nowhere she could go either.
Now, why was this 87-year-old walking down a highway with no sidewalks at night, is the last question. And now to top it off, this young woman, who was dumb enough to take her eyes off the road and pick up her cell... her life is over.
kurisupisu
Drivers have to slow down in congested spaces….
John
@Kanagawa
Tragedy all the way around! 23 years old and she will spend at least 8 or more years in prison now all because of her stupid cell phone.
Cell phone is not stupid, it’s a “smart phone”. The driver who try to pick it up while driving is. But she seems honest. One silly mistake has huge consequences of a person dying and a young woman spending the best part of her life in jail. There are harsh lessons to be learned.
Redemption
In light of other sentences for murder of 8 years, or suspended sentences for bribery, I doubt she will be sentenced to any time in jail.
SwissToni
Everybody thinks it’s fine to do whatever they want to do, until it’s not. The only safe rule is, Engine On, Phone Off.
Villanova
I actually find that rural drivers in Japan are fairly good at spotting people on country roads. I cycle a lot in the countryside and always feel safest in Japan.
Danielsan
smart phone, stupid driver
Three goals
Glad someone mentioned this. I see a lot of drivers speeding on such narrow roads. The police do nothing. They are more interested in checking if bicycles at the train station are locked.