Driver talking on smartphone flees from police, hitting woman on bike

SMARTphones are making people dumber. tsk tsk

At least one-in-three of the drivers I see are talking on the cell phones. I though it as illegal, but it's only seems to be illegal if you get caught.

What an idiot. He was facing a small fine at worst, but is now facing reckless endangerment.

Selfish Idiot!

Many people (including koumuin) don't seem to take many of these "minor" offenses seriously. Talking on the phone while driving, kids in passenger seat with no seat belt, "chottodake" illegal parking... If you get ticketed and tell an acquaintence, a common response would be "tsuitenakattane" (you were unlucky). It seems to be so common to do these things that to many people, being caught is merely a matter of bad luck.

How did the cops catch Kishi after he hit the woman?

I hope he stays locked up for awhile, even though my taxes will pay for it

The opposite of a スマホ　is an　アホホ.

Not sure why this story needs to specify "smartphone", just attention grabbing? The same result would happen if the driver used a "feature" phone, or indeed was feeding his face with an onegiri. [Reckless driver hits cyclist] would suffice

Well said Frank Thornton.

When the odds are stacked higher against you, luck is no longer part of the equation. When you get caught, it's because you're a slow learner, not unlucky.

Some countries have cameras on traffic lights. Run a red, and you get fined, lose points, and face higher insurance premiums. Cops are very pro-active with speeding and mobile phone use, too.

Proper policing and spot fines of, say, 100,000 JPY would soon acquaint phone users with their speaker functions, drivers with seatbelt and child seat options (some local governments offer the latter for hire), and parents with proper assertiveness skills (you will buckle up).

"The woman suffered a cerebral contusion and is in a serious condition"

the other day in Akihabara, I saw a truck making a right turn almost take out and elderly Buddha-baba, luckily the woman turned quickly to avoid getting hit.. The way that fool was driving I thought it might be Akihabara part 2

titaniumdioxide: "SMARTphones are making people dumber. tsk tsk"

What's making people dumber is thinking that every device a person holds is a smartphone, when it was merely a cell phone. The guy was talking on his phone, not using any functions or doing anything that requires the device to be anything more than a 3G communication device, and yet it's the "smartphone" at it again! A buddy of mine and I were walking down the street the other day when an older woman was talking on her cell while riding her bike and he said, "Smartphones are a growing danger in society". I pointed out that she was using a flip-phone garakei and he shrugged and said, basically, "same thing". I said they are NOT the same thing if you are talking about the issue as though it SUDDENLY started when the first iPhone and copies came out, as though no one drove around while using them before smartphones came out, etc. Stupid driving is stupid driving, smartphone or no.

So why don't the cops just say "cell phone" as most posters rightly have? With this moronic driver, and there are far too many and have been since cell phones came out and were put into common use, it would have made no difference if it were a smartphone or not. In any case as I said, it doesn't matter what the guy was using, he is a moron, and it's a tragedy that his inability to follow simple laws led to him fleeing and then subsequently hitting a woman and now facing FAR worse consequences. The police should be more vigilant about this, especially in nabbing people using something in their hands (not just 'smartphones'!) while riding a bicycle or scooter, which you can see ALL over the place! Once they crack down on it a little harder people will be less inclined to flee like this moron if a cop tries to talk to them.

I agree with other posters, though. A system of cameras on intersections might work better to supplement police on the ground. That way, they could fine people who go through reds and/or use cells or what have you while driving, and not necessarily have them flee and cause accidents when police approach them.

in the united snakes, people wind up being shot after being pulled over for not using a seat belt...

The fine is 50,000

I hope the poor woman makes a full recovery. It could so easily have been fatal.

Not sure why this story needs to specify "smartphone", just attention grabbing? The same result would happen if the driver used a "feature" phone, or indeed was feeding his face with an onegiri. [Reckless driver hits cyclist] would suffice

It explains why he ran the red light (the police were approaching him) and why the police were approaching him (he was using his smartphone while driving). Calling it a "smartphone" isn't specifying anything. If they had wrote, "... was observed talking on his iPhone", or, "was observed talking on his Android", THEN they would be specifying something that was irrelevant to the story. The article as-written is fine.

Handsfree for car is cheaper than 5 man

Talking on a mobile device and especially texting are just as dangerous as drink driving and should be treated as such.

@gobshite "Not sure why this story needs to specify "smartphone", just attention grabbing? The same result would happen if the driver used a "feature" phone, or indeed was feeding his face with an onegiri."

Because that detail is part of the story. If the driver was eating an onigiri then they would have used that as well. So many people complain of shoddy news articles which lack details, but as soon as they include them people complain.

I don't know, perhaps they should just have written "Woman hit by man in a car."