A one-year-old boy was hit and killed by a car driven by his mother in Uonuma City, Niigata Prefecture, on Saturday.
According to police, the accident occurred on the road right in front of the family’s home at around 12:30 p.m., Fuji TV reported. A member of the family called 119 immediately after the incident. The boy, in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest, was rushed to hospital. However, he died due to severe head injuries.
Police said the mother, Mika Kawabe, 21, told them she was backing her minivan out onto the road but was unaware that her son, Kira was behind her.
© Japan Today
20 Comments
Isa
what a tragic accident, I can't imagine how the mother must be feeling
Satedaya
Are you sure it was accident?? Or maybe she did it deliberately?
What was 1 year old doing outside, behind the mini van??
MaikuC
A tragedy. Who and where was the responsible adult looking after the child at the time?
WilliB
Haven´t we heard this same story many times before. So many people leave little toddlers wander around near vehicles.
Mr Kipling
The driving test needs to have a driving with toddler section added.
Put kid in safety seat BEFORE starting the engine... its really not that difficult.
finally rich
I might be wrong but I guess the current driving tests already require you to go check the surroundings of the car before getting inside. I remember even checking if there wasn't anything under the car to secure those points. The problem is when drivers get way too confident and forget/neglect all these 'pesky' details that cost points during your test but they are there for a reason.
Bugle Boy of Company B
It’s like putting your shoes on before you put your socks on. Put your kid in the car FIRST! Then drive! So sad, yet avoidable.
Disillusioned
Why wasn't the kid in the car? Why didn't she know he was behind her? She has the rest of her life to answer these questions over and over again.
Strangerland
A lot of assumptions here that the mother was intending to take the child with her in the car.
The article doesn't say anything about that. Is everyone here also reading another article from somewhere else?
John Beara
One does not simply backing a minivan with a child behind it.
Strangerland
How would one be supposed to know if a child were behind the minivan if one were not able to see the child behind the minivan and no expectation of a child being behind the minivan?
John Beara
I am curious... what was her speed? No excuses about the time.. it was daylight.
We have a total of 6 childs in our family.. 2 for me and 4 from my sister in law, we have 4 cars... never killed anyone. I just don't understand how it can happen. I don't even have a back camera... but when i back up... it's 5km/h, not 20 nor 30!!!
Satedaya
Well actually guys the car wasn't backing it was moving out of the garage. So it was front of the car not back.
You can see the video here:
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/videonews/jnn?a=20191214-00000050-jnn-soci
Bugle Boy of Company B
Good video link Satedaya. Maybe the mother is used to being able to make a racing start from that position. I can see how bad timing between her departure and her kid running out could have led to the tragedy.
smithinjapan
I'm not going to read the article yet... I'm going to assume this is yet another case of mom or dad backing out, the kid left outside of the car as they do so, when she hit him... let's check...
"Police said the mother, Mika Kawabe, 21, told them she was backing her minivan out onto the road but was unaware that her son, Kira was behind her."
More or less on the nose. In other words, we're hearing this yet AGAIN, when time and time again you'd think a parent might read or hear about this and make sure they know where their kids are when backing the car out or pulling in.
proxy
If I'm not mistaken both the US and Canada now require all new cars to have back up cameras to avoid these tragic accidents.
Chip Star
Tragic.
I’m curious why the mother was unaware of where her one-year-old was. Was someone else meant to be caring for the child?
I am am always aware of where my chihuahua is or who is taking care of it. It’s hard for me to imagine not being aware of where a child is or who is taking care of it.
blue in green
Oh God, how tragic.
This woman made an error that will haunt her the rest of her life.
RIP baby boy.
shogun36
Good job. You know of one place where the boy was NOT, inside of the car, where he should have been.
It's real simple people:
If no kids are in the car, do not start it. If all of the kids are in the car, start it.
smithinjapan
shogun36: "Good job. You know of one place where the boy was NOT, inside of the car, where he should have been."
Well, not necessarily. That was my assumption, too, but it's possible he should have been in the house with someone taking care of him. There's not enough context, except that we know mom clearly had no idea where her child was.