Woman hit, killed by two cars; one driver arrested, one doesn’t stop

Of course.... there could be another side to the story that maybe we're not being told.... maybe that stretch of road was being used by Street racers who were going back & forth at high speed. In which case... throw the proverbial book at the first driver, and use the thumb screws to find out who his competitor was.

Nasty bit of victim blaming there.

Elderly, yes. Slow and jay walker, we don't know that, you just made it up.

victim blaming? Have you seen 86yr olds move rapidly? If there is no designated crossing on a street and someone crosses it, is that not j walking? I didn't make anything up I suspect you stopped reading after you found the gist of the story and formed an opinion. What's that called willful ignorance?

 My point is, these kinds of deadly accidents are inevitable with the huge amount or ratbag drivers in Japan who totally disregard speed limits and signals.

No responsibility on pedestrians to follow the laws of the road then? You make a lot of assumptions about the two drivers. Perhaps the second driver didn't even know they have hit a person. If it was a large truck you would never know unless she was catapulted directly in front of the vehicle. I drive every day in Japan as well, bikes through to buses. Yes I see idiot drivers and I see very naive pedestrians as well.

How do they know she was hit by another car ? It was dark, raining, and presumably not well-lit (as it wasn't a crossing location). Feel sorry for the first driver - under those conditions the "Reckless driving" accusation does not seem right, but someone other than the dead person has to be blamed right ?

People need to learn that if they step in front of a moving vehicle, they are putting their lives at risk.

Roads are for cars. Sidewalks and designated crossings are for pedestrians. Once the distinction is blurred as public policy, then expect pedestrian deaths to rise.

Does anyone happen to know how we know that the second car hit the old woman? Is it just from a statement from the arrested driver?

I don't care if the victim fell out of the broad blue sky, running makes it criminal even if wasn't to begin with.

At 86 she is not going to be too sprightly, Luddite, and the article says there was no crossing where she was hit. How would you rephrase it?

One of our students hit a pedestrian on a rainy evening; a student from a neaby university hit the victim again, going the other way. They were both arrested, but what I found puzzling was the way we in the faculty meeting were required to make a decision on apportionment of blame. The university has to come up with their own raft of punishments, regardless of what the police might do. Instead of banning him from classes for four weeks, for example, he was banned for two weeks, "because the other student was 50% responsible...".

We can't hold the drivers completely to blame.

i have seen many a time elderly people wandering out onto the road without a care or even being aware of oncoming vehicles. There really needs to be more education for the elderly about road dangers.

a slow elderly jay-walker

Nasty bit of victim blaming there.

Elderly, yes. Slow and jay walker, we don't know that, you just made it up.

@simon g - Raining, at night, and a slow elderly jay-walker. Tough on any driver in those conditions not to have hit her.

I disagree. A driver should adjust their caution level to match the conditions. Furthermore, you can bet your private parts both drivers were exceeding the speed limit. Sorry, did I say, "speed limit"? I meant, "speed guideline". A sensible and cautious driver would be driving at 5-10k under the speed limit in such conditions, especially in a built up area with a large population of oldies. - I drive nearly every day in Japan and have done for nearly two decades. I have driven all over the country. I have never had an accident nor have I ever had a fine. I have a gold licence, of course. However, I cannot count the amount of times I have been abused by Japanese drivers for driving at the speed limit (or a little under in the rain) and for stopping at red lights and pedestrian crossings. I had one clown swing around me at a pedestrian crossing and he narrowly missed a mother and pram as he flew through the crossing. My point is, these kinds of deadly accidents are inevitable with the huge amount or ratbag drivers in Japan who totally disregard speed limits and signals.

As for the second driver: He was probably drunk at 9:30 at night and kept going to avoid a conviction, which is another common driving stature in Japan. Drink driving is rampant in Japan, despite having severe penalties for it. It's one thing to have severe penalties, but it's a completely different thing to have a very low chance of being caught due to the advertised police campaigns at predictable and regular places. It's pretty easy to avoid an RBT if you know where and when they will be.

I've always said, Japan is a safe country and gambling is illegal, until you get on the roads. Then you gamble with your life!

I don't feel for the first driver at all. It's his fault for driving too fast for the conditions (dark and raining). He should have been driving slower.

I do feel for the 2nd driver though. No way to predict an old woman would fly and land in front of your car. I'd be pissed if somebody else's mistake caused me to get arrested.

From the limited details. Got to feel some sympathy for the arrested driver. It's always partly the drivers fault in Japan even when it isn't.

2nd driver? Hit and run... Go directly to jail!

Raining, at night, and a slow elderly jay-walker. Tough on any driver in those conditions not to have hit her. Perhaps jay-walking should have stronger penalties to discourage this habit? Too often old people jay walk holding up a hand expecting traffic to stop, and to drivers' credit, they usually do. Driver about 5% liability?

She was flung into the path of the other car. He probably had no chance to avoid an accident and he would have been at fault. I wouldn't have stopped either.

Gee, I wonder why the other car didn't stop?

"The driver of one car stopped and was arrested..... there is no crossing at the spot where Suzuki was hit..."

Ah, that explains it.