Man indicted for dangerous driving over high-speed crash killing 4

does the charge of vehicular manslaughter not exist in Japan?

Chip & Big Yen, I think it's more like 1 person. Same thing happened to me last week, and this was also early in the morning. There's someone with far too much time on their hands.

An important piece of information left out from this article is that it was raining at that time (thanks Rainiday for the link). That makes the speeding idiot even more irresponsible, and I hope he gets the maximum penalty

Regardless whether he knew the exact speed he was going, he's a fool if he couldn't tell he was way above the speed limit. 60 kph is a residential speed limit, and at 2.5 times the speed limit he could have easily hit kids or bikes. He deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I've driven over 150km and even hit 170km once in my WRX. I hardly feel like a hardened criminal. 

I've driven at 200km, but it was in on the Autobahn, where it was legal. 150 to 170 even on an expressway/carriageway is dangerous and a serious driving offense if you are caught. On a surface road in Japan, those speeds are complete lunacy and clearly criminal.

You have to know the road conditions, be attentative and know the risk you're taking if you get into an accident

You are not taking the risk alone if you are on a public road. You are risking other people's lives, and they most certainly haven't agreed to it. Who are you to put innocent people into danger for your own amusement?

@Darknuts

I've driven over 150km and even hit 170km once in my WRX. I hardly feel like a hardened criminal. 

If you regularly drive like this anywhere besides a track you are a "hardened criminal" as you put it You might be the nicest law abiding person any other time in your life, but you doing this makes you a menace to everyone else on the road, I'm sorry to say. I drive all the time and when I change lanes and check the mirrors and look over my shoulder, if someone like you comes roaring up so quickly from behind, it would be next to impossible to avoid having you hit me, even on the expressways. There's not enough time to react.

Jesus, 145 kms/hour on a regular surface road. That video clearly shows this knucklehead driving recklessly.

The self-entitled perpetrator's a 58 year old company president driving a fancy white Mercedes. I see jerks like this on the road all the time and hate them with a passion.

If the law would tie speeding ticket rates to one's income level, these rich good for nothings wouldn't be so arrogant and flagrant about the law.

I've driven over 150km and even hit 170km once in my WRX. I hardly feel like a hardened criminal. You have to know the road conditions, be attentative and know the risk you're taking if you get into an accident or pulled over.

If you are doing that anywhere in Japan other than a race track, you are a criminal and you belong in prison. You put the lives of other people at risk with crap like that.

Driving over twice the speed limit is reckless. This man should be locked away for the rest of his life. What a moron.

I've driven over 150km and even hit 170km once in my WRX. I hardly feel like a hardened criminal. You have to know the road conditions, be attentative and know the risk you're taking if you get into an accident or pulled over.

Would have been nice to know where the video came from. 

It came from the dash cam of a car that the suspect raced by just before the collision. You can watch it on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EmDxXDxB0c

Presuming the speeding car was going in a straight line, you’d think he could have realised the danger of such a fast approaching vehicle and not pulled out.

Looking at the video I don't think you can assign any blame to the taxi driver for this. While the car was going in a straight line, it was dark and it was travelling so far over the speed limit that it would have appeared just out of nowhere from the perspective of the taxi driver even assuming that he had properly checked traffic before backing into it.

Also odd is that from the video, the suspect was driving in the right most out of three lanes, furthest from the curbside. The car speeds out of sight of the dash cam in a split second and a couple of seconds later the collision occurs, too far to see in the video. But the driver must have, in addition to speeding, rapidly changed lanes in the split second before the crash, which would also have been something the taxi driver couldn't have predicted.

I hope this guy spends a long time in prison for this.

At the risk of “victim blaming”, taxi drivers here are notoriously bad for suddenly stopping and/or pulling out in to traffic without properly assessing the traffic situation.

I have nearly hit several of them over the years because of this.

Presuming the speeding car was going in a straight line, you’d think he could have realised the danger of such a fast approaching vehicle and not pulled out.

Anyway, of course the driver is a completely irresponsible idiot and deserves a stiff punishment.

How can he not know how fast he was going?! Even without looking at the speedometer, as a driver, I think he would have known he was totally exceeding the speed limit. I mean, 146 on a 60?! He had to have known!

I usually know how fast I am

going by looking at my speedometer.

I hope there was one in the perp’s car?

BS! Anyone driving higher than 80 on the highway know how fast they go. And over 60 on regular road even more.

He wasnt on the highway, if he were, the taxi would have been 100% in the wrong. Read the article, if you didnt already.

In January, video showing Suehiro's vehicle moving at high speed just before the accident went viral online.

Would have been nice to know where the video came from. If this guy took it himself, he should be put away for life without parole!

If someone else took it, he should be put away for life with a chance of parole in about 50 years or so!

said he does not know how fast his car was going at the time, 

BS! Anyone driving higher than 80 on the highway know how fast they go. And over 60 on regular road even more.

Driving over twice the speed limit is reckless. This man should be locked away for the rest of his life. What a moron.