Woman in wheelchair dies after being hit by drunk driver in Gifu

Sadly, I think that had Sugiura not been drinking he wouldn't be found guilty of negligence causing death. Having consumed alcohol beforehand however will certainly bring a jail sentence as it is a crime. I hope for his sake the penalty is not too harsh but that he never drives again. I really don't like the idea of having to share the road with someone who thinks that drinking and driving is not a problem.

Old people are always walking around in the middle of the road. Serves her right.

Whether he was drunk or not, he hit and killed a woman. The fact that he was drinking came to light after, and is going to bite him in the ass, verdict-wise. He's not a city employee, so no suspended sentence.

If she was in a non-motorized she should still not wheel chairing on a highway. They are meant for limited mobility not crusing down the highway.

I see those motor operated wheel chairs everywhere here in the US and always wonder, it would be so easy to hit one of those. People use them as cars. They will go as far as to a Walmart that is miles from where they live using the side of the road for emergency stops as their road. Also, going up hill. I think they are too dangerous. I don't think they were meant for what many people use them for.

Just watched a video clip of the news. It's a four-lane highway. She was in the middle of the left of the four lanes, in a regular non-motorized push-type folding canvas and aluminum/aluminium wheelchair and the car 'hit her from behind'. Dunno whether she was crossing the four lanes diagonally, or just going in a straight line, but it does seem very odd.

Police have not yet released any further information as to why she was on the road in her wheelchair at that time of night

Sorry, is there a curfew for those with physical disabilities in Japan? Why on earth shouldn't she have been out at 10:40pm? She may have been on her way home from work.

meiwaku being unemployed seems to be the biggest crime here, may she R.I.P

Tragic for both parties. Yes, I think that his being unemployed is crucial to the outcome. He should be given a stiffer sentence based on this.

fatloser, he doesnt have a job. law says no booze, he broke it and someone died, do the time.

As fatloser indicated, this could have happened to anyone with or without alcohol in their system. Complacency towards motor vehicles in this country is at extreme epidemic levels.

S

Drivers on the road shouldn't drink at all. Instead they should stay at home and enjoy their life with their family, perhaps even watching TV. They should think twice before seat behind steering wheel. In their mind should always be a question; 'what will happened if I drive on the roads under influence of alcohol, and no one deserve to die on the road because of alcohol?' Drink at home and stay there.

National highways in Japan can be as small as 1 lane roads. We're not in Kansas little boys.

Woman in wheelchair dies after being hit by drunk driver

Ok.... Where's all those idiots that think bicycle riders should be arrested and tried for murder... for riding a fricken bicycle...

You see... these are the kinds of REAL problems japan has... And people are complaining about bicycles...

Motor vehicle PLUS Alcohol = Death or Serious Injury

Is this "wheelchair" as in manually operated traditional wheelchair, or "wheelchair" as in battery operated small buggy-type thing that many old folks use to get around (those things with lights attached). The difference could help explain while this old lady was on the road.

With regard to the person arrested, he seems to be another member of the most popular employment category among Japanese criminals (unemployed). Let's hope that the victim's next of kin sue him and his family into pauperism. Let's also hope that any trial of this case results in a nice long sentence of 10+ years hard labor (hope springs eternal, however, I won't hold my breath).

RIP

I don't think the alcohol had much to do with it. Sounds like a suicide to me.

Japanese cant handle liquor,,, Yes she should not be on the high way in a wheel chair, but when driving expect the unexpected.... Dears, dogs and inoshishi not suppose to be on the reoad either but they sometimes are.

He would have hardly been drunk with that low alcohol blood count. That fact that the old lady was cruising on the highway in her wheelchair at 10:40pm got her killed. Wheelchairs do not have tail lights and by the time this guy would have been close enough to see something on the road, It would have been too late. Still the law in Japan states that you cannot drink nothing so he should have not been driving but I still cannot help but feel sorry for him.

Drunk or he hit something he couldn't see? Drunk hits wheelchair with no lights-reflectors operating on national highway. He could have been sober and sending e-mail, lighting a smoke, talking to his pal or chum or adjusting his radio. Does it matter?? Wheelchairs don't belong on the highway! Send him to prison for ten years, but suspend it for 10 and a day. Then take away his license and car for 10 years. He can take a cab or move closer to work.