A one-year-old girl and her two-year-old brother were killed and four others injured when a car rear-ended a minivan on the Chugoku Expressway in Mimisaka, Okayama Prefecture, early Saturday.
According to police, the accident occurred while it was raining at around 12:15 a.m., Fuji TV reported.
The children’s father, Yuya Ohata, 30, who was driving the minivan, told police that just before the accident, he was driving in the left lane on a curve when what he thought was an animal ran onto the expressway. He said he instinctively turned the wheel to the right to avoid hitting it and moved into the right lane, where he stopped the minivan. Almost immediately, the car behind them rear-ended the minivan, sending it crashing into a guardrail.
Ohata’s son Shion and his daughter Mion suffered severe injuries and were taken to hospital where they died about 90 minutes after arrival. Ohata and his 24-year-old wife sustained injuries and are in a stable condition in hospital, police said. The two occupants of the car that hit the van, a 25-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, also suffered light injuries.
The two lanes were closed for about five hours after the accident, police said.
© Japan Today
24 Comments
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Bubblegun
They may have had child seat but there is no point if they are not buckled up.
I have seen so many cars with kids seats and they aren't used. On top of that kids shouldn't be in the front seat and this is so bad during the morning school run.
Gotta feel bad for everyone when a childs involved.Hindsight. So easy to blame.
Personally I blame the cops and the government for not making the laws tighter, TV campaigns, radio campaigns and posters.They should fine people, and give them points.
NO MORE EXCUSES! (imho)
Clare Yoshida
You DO NOT put a young child in the front passenger seat of a car. He should have been in the back, preferably rearfacing and he would have survived.
You can’t fault the Dad though, you shouldn’t swerve for animals and stopping was stupid but in the moment when there’s no time to think you can do mad things.
Horrigan
Hard to understand why he would stop the car on an expressway no matter what the circumstances -- especially near a curve. Panicked?
ebisen
It is not reported, but it could well be that the two kids were not properly seated - or the childseath belts were not properly buckled, OR that the child seats were not properly secured with the car's seatbelts. Two simultaneous deaths in a normal car is very suspicious.
cleo
*he instinctively turned the wheel*
ie it wasn't a conscious decision.
Mike Wyckoff
My heart goes out to those poor children.
How about NOT:
STOPPING in the passing lane
of a HIGHWAY
with a BlIND turn
at NIGHT
in the RAIN!i don’t care what your love for animals tells you, care for ones passengers should be paramount.
The seatbelt usage is irrelevant in this case as the people in the backseat, adults or children are sitting ducks. Although, it is a MAJOR issue that needs addressing in Japan. I’ve seen it far too often and it’s sickening.
oldman_13
This is why you never swerve, just hit the animal.
DaDude
They were in a "minivan" which means a 6-8 seat family car. If they said "mini car", you are free to make your argument.
Speed
Wow, they were both in their child seats and they were still killed. It must've been a pretty heavy collision. It's one of my worst nightmares. Poor family.
kohakuebisu
As others have pointed out, a "minivan" is NOT a kei. Its a people carrier. From the video, the children were in a big boxy Toyota that looks like a Hi-Ace. The Japanese press is also reporting that there were two child seats in the car.
What a horrible accident. RIP.
Himajin
" NO SEAT BELTS!!!!"
False. The car was fitted with two child seats, the older child in front, the younger and the mother in the back.
techall
Don't know if this is the case here but Japanese mothers have been using babys as air bags for decades, ie, holding them on their laps.
cleo
From Ebisen's link (which saiaku obviously didn't bother/was unable to read) -
大畑さんの車には、助手席とその後ろの後部座席にチャイルドシートがあり、助手席に詩音ちゃん、後部座席に美音ちゃんが座っていたとみられる。
(Ohata's vehicle was fitted with a child seat on the passenger seat and another child seat on the back seat. It appears that Sion was sitting in the passenger seat and Mion in the back seat.)
So they (some nameless generic Japanese) don't wear seat belts, and that is the reason for the death of these two children?
No.
Poor kids. Poor parents.
Hiro
My condolence. Poor parents. Losing both their child the most painful experience ever. Hope they can stay strong!
Ah_so
Even if it is not required, ask her what happens to objects in a car if the car has a collision when travelling at speed.
If she has forgotten her Newtonian laws of physics, it is that the objects will keep travelling at that speed until they meet something that stops them.
That could either be a seat belt or a windscreen. I know which I would rather hit first.
Do the hustle
It became law in 2006.
saiaku
@Vince Black yup, they don't wear seatbelts.
It seems they don't understand their purpose lol.
My gf told me it's not required for those in the backseat in Japan.
I told her that can't be true.
It certainly doesn't help that their driving skill isn't exactly the best either..
ebisen
The car was equipped with at least one child-seat:
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL9H3628L9HPPZB003.html
gogogo
NO SEAT BELTS!!!!
The JP media needs to report on this!
albaleo
@Vince, seat belts are not appropriate for one and two-year olds. A proper child restraint is required. (Perhaps that's what you were meaning.)
Larry
Vince
spot on
Disillusioned
Vince, I know exactly what you are saying and I see it every day too. However, they were in a K-car. Seatbelts make no difference when you are driving an aluminium can. If you have an accident in a K-car, it will fold up around you. They have no impact zones or safety reinforcement, especially side impact. Some of those little boxy K-cars have the back seat right at the back door. That's just a death waiting to happen. It is more likely they would have survived if they were a real car. I would never own a K-car, better less put my kids in one.
Vince Black
Poor kids, might have been a lot different had they been wearing seat belts. And yes, I know all the people on this site will say "how do you know they weren't?!"
Go to any road in Japan and take a look inside cars carrying children, so it's safe to assume they weren't wearing seat belts