A woman was killed in a hit-and-run in Sapporo on Monday morning.
According to police, the incident happened at around 2:20 a.m. in Chuo Ward. NTV quoted a taxi driver as saying a car was passing him when it hit Michiko Chihara who was crossing the street from the right side. The car kept going, police said. Chihara was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Police said a car matching the description given by the taxi driver was found in Toyohira Ward later Monday and that they are questioning the driver.
© Japan Today
11 Comments
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ramses68
^ This... Common sense isn't very common.
TranslucentMicrocosm
Reading all the comments and all I can offer is that most drivers can't drive. Everyone that applies for a license should attend a drivers school. Learn car control etc. Also, 2:30 am is usually the time many are going home from bars. From what I gather about the laws in Japan is that you can be held responsible for someones demise being parked and getting hit by someone that dies. ? Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't common sense come into effect at some point?
Frungy
I agree that there are many reasons, and prefaced my post with "it sounds like", which means it is speculation.
However any experienced driver in Japan will tell you that taxi drivers have a nasty habit of pulling into traffic inches from your car and then slamming on brakes unexpectedly as their passenger yells some directions from the back of the car. This leaves you with two equally unpleasant options, either:
Slam on brakes and hit them from behind. In this situation the insurance company and police will find YOU guilty, and you'll be paying 90% to 100% of the damages, plus if someone is injured or dies you'll be arrested.or
Swerve to avoid the taxi. This means you're pulling into another lane (if there is one) with very little time for a blind-spot check, and no idea what's happening in front of you.It has happened to me twice in my time in Japan, and now I pull onto side-streets and wait rather than drive behind taxis. They're a menace.
Disillusioned
What's the bet the driver says, "I didn't know I hit someone!"?
sakurala
Wow...typos galore! The taxi may have been aware of the pedestrian and slowed down or stopped not to hit her.
sakurala
Frungy: There are many reasons why a car would pass a taxi. It's hard to know why in this situation but one may speculate that the taxi was going too slowly. The taxi nay have been aeare of the pedestrian and therefore dlowed diwn or stopped as to not hit her. Either way, if you pass or go around a stopped vehicle, it is your responsibility to make sure that you will not hit a pedestrian.
Frungy
Why did the car have to pass the taxi? It sounds like the taxi driver (in fairly typical fashion) just stopped wherever it wanted, obscuring visibility of the pedestrian crossing and causing this accident. Now the driver SHOULD have stopped, but I think the taxi driver should also be arrested for his part in creating the conditions that led to this tragedy.
Nessie
That's some wicked powers of description. The writer must mean that the taxi driver got the plate number or a partial.
Jack Stern
We all know our feelings on this matter. Hit and run seems to occur almost every week in Japan. It should be a primary source of driver education here.
Robert Dykes
RIP.... You hate cars in general? ummm okay.
Mikune Hara
I really hope that the driver will be punished harshly i hate cars in general but thats just me.
RIP Michiko.