Man dies after being hit by truck, several cars in Ibaraki

Driver arrested again, huh? ... because of a nut trying to cross a 'four-lane highway' ... one would think that entering a highway by foot is against the law.

It's illegal to enter a highway on foot - pedestrians should be fair game.

Every single car that hit this geezer is going to be liable under stupid J-law.

Why do the police always arrest the driver immediately whenever an accident like this happens in Japan, before they have even had time to investigate? It's weird. Shouldn't the police conduct their investigation first to decide whether the driver really was negligent and then press charges?

smartacus, i don't think you're allowed to use the words 'police' and 'investigation' in the same sentence

Driver arrested again, huh?

Yep. It ain't weird, by the way. smartacus. As doedel and Altria say, it's just stupidity, and institutionalised stupidity at that. Which is par for the course in this country, it often seems.

If the police didn't arrest the drivers immediately then said drivers might have time to contact a lawyer, which might interfere with the confession-coercion stage of the police 'investigation'.

Where in the world was gramps going at 2:15am across a Highway? Was the line for the other neighborhood's Co-op starting that early? Hyaku yen pajama pants?

The old man blatently crossed a dangerous highway and got killed up by traffic that probably just got a quick glimpse before it was too late. I believe the truck driver.

"arrested and CHARGED with NEGLIGENCE" ... no comment

Mr. truck driver, you have been negligent. You could have avoided hitting that poor man. You could have sped up and taken off in the air with that truck of yours like in an instant. You could have swerved to the left and gone through the guardrail and crashed somewhere else perishing in a spectacular ball of fire. Or you could have chosen a completely different carreer track, become a cop or something. But since you haven't, your actions practically amount to willful murder.

Stupid J-law says that when an accident occurs between a pedestrian and a motorised vehicle, the vehicle must always bear most of the responsibility regardless of who`s at fault, thats why you always see moron pedestrians and idiots on bikes crossing the road without looking, they know that if they get hit its not their fault. Japan spends trillions on accident compensation every year. Its why car ownership is so expensive here.

J-Cop: you are under arrest for negligence. Trucker: It was unavoidable. The senile old fart attempted to cross a 4 lane highway and ran straight into my path. What would you have me do? J-cop: why didn't you hit the turbo boost button like I saw on Knight Rider yesterday back in the Koban? Trucker: But thats fiction, not reality and on the subject of being negligent, why did some cops give a guy soaked in kerosene a lighter and smoke? I didn't read about any arrests for that! J-cop: You are now being charged with murder!

Once again though, I dont seem the point in J-Bashing. It happens in the UK to. You knock somebody over even though it wasnt exactly your fault, you still get shafted.

Maybe the truck driver was liquored up. If it was a delivery driver, you know he was zipping that LAWSON's truck at least 30 kilos over the speed limit....and probably on the sidewalk too, or backwards to park in the "no parking" area.

Maybe the truck driver was liquored up

If he was the headlines would have simply involved the words "drunk lorry driver" in the caption and article. In this case its clearly not.

what happens if a police car hits somebody on a highway?probably the ped will be drunk or commited suicide....

These driving laws are frightening; I'll stick to the train.

These driving laws are frightening; I'll stick to the train.

http://www.japantoday.com/search/train