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Police in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, have arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of dangerous diving resulting in death after the vehicle he was driving hit and killed a 60-year-old man last Thursday.
Police said Monday that Seiya Kuwata, a university student, who was arrested on Sunday, has partially admitted to the charge, Sankei Shimbun reported. Police quoted him as saying he thought he might have hit something but doesn’t remember what it was.
According to police, a woman called 119 at around 2 p.m. last Thursday and said she was driving when she saw a man lying on the street. Police said the man, Hideaki Kobayashi, bleeding from a head injury, was taken to hospital where he died about two hours later.
An analysis of street surveillance camera footage led police to Kuwata’s car.
Police said Kuwata returned home after the incident and told his parents he thought he might have caused an accident. His parents called 110.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
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Inaka Life
There is no way you could hit someone in broad daylight and not know what it was. This coward ran over someone and left him to die on the side of the road. He knew exactly what he did.
Albert
This is a standard excuse in Japan.
"I do not recall" "I do not remember" "I am stressed" "I wanted to kill someone"
Many people with mental issues and maybe Japan should accept mental issues.
shogun36
what is that?
Anooooo, yeeeaaaah, I was there, and something happened, but I don’t remember what happened. Eto eto, you sure it was my car?
give me a break.
please revoke this fool’s license for life.
purple_depressed_bacon
So he went crying to mom and dad instead of being the responsible adult he should be and getting out of the car to check what happened. Very mature... He probably just threw a good chunk of his life away with his feckless actions.
Danielsan
This is proof that 20 year olds are not yet mature enough to accept the responsibility of safe driving.
Perhaps by raising the minimum drivers age to 30, there would be less mayhem on the highways.
Stewart Gale
@Danielsan,
You can’t be serious
I’ve never heard that idea proposed in my life.
garypen
It's equally as ridiculous as the calls to ban drivers over 65.
Tom San
I find that here in the "inaka", housewives in minivans are just as dangerous.
Spidey
Not saying whether the driver is innocent or guilty, however I can say that it can be virtually impossible to avoid some cyclists on these roads. Especially the ones that are completely oblivious to the multiton machines bearing down on them. For all we know the driver did nothing wrong, aside from fleeing the seen. And as he was driving the larger vehicle, he would have known that he would be arrested and charged.
S
Elena Cano
How does the man ‘not remember’ what it was he hit? Being that it was a younger student, it may be the fact that there was alcohol or other types of drugs involved with the incident. Crazy how the man was apparently still alive after the hit and run and passed while being at the hospital. Not too sure on the time frame that is being laid out, but I could bet if Seiya Kuwata had reported the incident immediately after it took place, the man would still be alive. He could have been treated faster and the hospital could have taken measures to save his life. If he had already told his parents anyways that he believed he caused an accident, he should have dealt with it right then and there at the scene. What I believe happened is that he realized he hit another person, was too scared to see whether or not that person was still alive, fled the scene and went to the comfort of his parents to hide from the consequences of his actions. Very cowardly and irresponsible. Needs to be held accountable.