Three people died early Monday after their car plunged into the sea at Kobe harbor. Police said that tire skid marks indicate the car was drift racing, TBS reported.
According to police, the car -- with three men and one woman -- went into the sea at about 3 a.m. A witness alerted police.
A 24-year-old man in the front passenger seat got out through a window, but the other two men, aged 24, and a 21-year-old woman, were trapped, police said.
The survivor confirmed to police that they were drifting.
© Japan Today
47 Comments
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nandakandamanda
To all those talking about stuck windows and salt water, the article mentions the front passenger escaped through the window.
If the car turned upside down as it sank, and if they were wearing seatbelts, then it is possible that the two who didn't make it got disorientated in the cold black water.
bajhista65
That's what you can get when you drift. Influenced by western movies like Tokyo drift har..har..har...
TokyoHipHop
I expected stuff like that to happen, it gave me and erky scary feeling when I used to see people doing that.
Mirai Hayashi
It's not just the window motors that make the windows go down. You have to consider the battery which would be shorted out the instant that the car touches the salt water because the engine compartment (where the battery is)is completely exposed from the bottom of the car. And being a Subaru owner myself, I know that this particular model has a hood scoop (a hole on the the top of the hood) that allows air (and water) into the engine compartment to cool the intercooler for the turbo.
Secondly, there are switches, fuses, and relays, in between the car battery and the power window motor, all of which can be easily shorted by the salt water.
Lastly, even if all the electronic components were working when the car was in the water, the mechanical force it takes to open a closed window in a car that is submerged underwater would be way too much for the motors or even the mechanical parts to overwhelm and move. If you've even been to a car wash and tried to lower your windows while they were still wet, you'd see how slow it is and how much more work they do compared to when they are dry.
YuriOtani
SquidBert, drifting is done by American children destroying cars and hurting and killing people. If they did it only on the track it would be one thing. However they do it in parking lots, on the streets and think it is funny endangering people. About the survivor, unless the people were strapped in their seats it is not possible to know who drove. Regular seat belts would not hold them in place.
Bartholomew Harte
Drifting is just a take on Midget racing back in the day in the good ol' U.S.A.!-A foolish way to go in this case!
smithinjapan
Waste of youth due to extreme stupidity. It's a shame only one of them will hopefully learn from the mistake.
nath
Depends on how high the water has risen inside the cab most windows motors are mounted at mid-height.
So open the windows ASAP and hold your breath and swim outside once the cab is full.
Takuma7
Power windows + salt water = no windows go down
yasukuni
That's why people should be home asleep at that time.
USNinJapan2
scoobydoo
Why? Because drifting, when done by amateurs on public roads and facilties, as in this instance, instead of on controlled tracks, has the potential for causing significant damage to property (personal and public) and causing injury or death to bystanders and participants who aren't trained or properly equipped. Quite a lot of daylight between drifting and organized sports, parlor games, or a sedentary lifestyle?
Ranger_Miffy2
Why couldn't the passengers roll down the windows and escape? More details, please.
Mirai Hayashi
Not necessarily...you can do drifts in AWD cars. People use Skyline GTRs, Subaru Impreza's, and Mitsubishi Evo's (also AWD cars) -Impreza and Evo's are often used on dirt tracks in rally competitions which do a lot of drifting.
Herve Nmn L'Eisa
Stupid is as Stupid does. The driver gave himself, and his passengers, a death sentence.
Probie
In this case, it wasn't "drifting", it was more like "sinking".
scoobydoo
Why is drift racing more stupid than US football where two teams smash into each other or Ozzie rules or dominoes or just being a couch potato?
They chose to enjoy it and try it and some chose to get in the car and trust the driver, so be it. Bad luck it turned out that way but if F1 were not so dangerous people would not go to see it most likely.
Its their choice and only the participants fell to the sport.
Waxman
Fast & Furious : Kobe Drift
Mirai Hayashi
Wrong again Bob! Drifting was often done in dirt racing as well, way before it came to Japan
SquidBert
YuriOtani
Sorry, but drifting has been a well known racing technique since the early 30's. And on top of that, big kids from all over the world has been doing doughnuts since long before the concept of 'drifting' as a sport became famous in Japan.
Akemi Mokoto
That is what happens when you stupid stupid and illegal crap.
nath
Initial D for Dead
gogogo
The driver is dead. I don't think that is going to happen.
This car is a 4 wheel drive, technically drifting requires a rear wheel drive only car, he was doing donuts thinking he was drifting.
YuriOtani
Drifting started in Japan and spread to the rest of the world. Nothing is as STUPID as the children are wrecking rear wheel drive sports cars across the world. The driver should be charged with professional negligence resulting in death.
jessebaybay
Well you clearly never grew up in a western country then. I can tell you for a fact that people in there 20's (late or early) still do this kind of stuff. Are they idiots, yes. But they still do it. You shouldn't think so lowly of young japanese adults. From my experience they are 10 times better behaved than most western punks kids.
Disillusioned
It is still beyond me how and why the flops let these drifters continue. This time they only killed themselves, but it could have been innocents. Obviously, they are not gonna stop it, so the cops should get behind them and organize drift events to keep these hoons off the public streets. The cops did it in Oz and it works well. They have drag races and you can race against the cops. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!"
presto345
So foolish, so sad - a waste of young lives.
Mirai Hayashi
@gogogo
There are open days at most tracks in Japan. As a matter of fact, there are drifting events at these tracks which you can sign up for. I don't think the lack of open track days is the issue, because there are plenty. The real issue is that these kids made a poor judgment call, and paid the ultimate price for it. No one else was at fault except for them.
gogogo
There will always be idiots but I wish there were more legal places for people to drift, they need to have open days at tracks etc.
frontandcentre
Even though these were victims of the driver's stupidity or ineptitude, I still think it's tragic.
What a waste.
Probie
What a shame. I'm sure the local area will dearly miss a few people who drift race.
rickyvee
man, drifting with 4 people in a car? that idiot driver must have been showing off to the chick because it's almost impossible to get any real drift with that many people in the car.
Tawnchan
No, Americans don't drift... we don't know how.. we drag race on city streets instead packed full of pedestrians.
Elbuda Mexicano
ChinaSailor, my guess is that you have never been to Japan, or if you have for way too short of a visit! Japan is full of idiot drivers, drunk drivers, bosozoku motorcycle gang members etc..and this kind of stupid accident happens in Japan all too often, does it make JT every day?? NO! Does it make NHK everyday, NO! Oh the WEST vs EAST?? BS!! I was watching on tv the other day, even in VIETNAM they are trying to be like Japanese bosozoku motorcyle gang members, but in Vietnam they still have those cute Honda Cubs, but let them get more $$$ and they will be on Suzukis or even Harleys in no time??
whiskeysour
it happens !!!!!
Wakarimasen
Drifitng always strikes me as a nit of an odd form of motor racing/recreation.
Hide Suzuki
@Ch1n4Sailor
It's pretty obvious that your generalization is ridiculous when you compared "West" to "Asia". There are so many different countries in both categories so it's impossible to bundle them altogether.
In America, one of the western countries, people may not drift as often as Japanese, but instead they participate in armed robbery, drugs, gun violence, oh year, "westeners" are so mature
Dennis Bauer
maybe they played IntialD and thought it was easy?
Mirai Hayashi
@Ch1n4Sailor
I disagree... People in their early to mid 20's seem to believe that they are invulnerable and do things like this all of time. A lot kids lose their lives doing street and drag racing in the States every year. This isn't a Japan thing, this is a youth thing.
WilliB
Not sympathy from me here. Simply darwinism at work.
OldHawk
I wonder how early this was on Monday. Was it before sunrise? Drifting (or any kind of motorsports) done anywhere but a closed track is not smart, but doing it on a dock, with a full load of passengers, and in the dark, is just asking for trouble. I feel sympathy for the victims, as they've lost their lives due to this. But please, nobody go repeating their mistakes.
Ronald F Stark
Darwinism weeds out the weak!
TumbleDry
I have no sympathy at all for people goofing around and killing themselves. Problem is bystanders and passengers. Well, if they encourage such idiotic behavior, the same thought applies if thet get killed.
Do it on circuits.
nath
Kids... This is one major difference between Asia and the West. Most westerners have got this kind of kiddie stuff out of system, way before they reach 20 yrs old.
In Japan, they are just starting to experiment with drinking, driving, racing and doing crazy stuff, because they never learned that it could kill them.
kurisupisu
Don't drift and drive......****
Ewan Huzarmy
What's with the lack of information, won't the driver be named ? after all, he's 24 , NOT 14.
BigDan
Drift velocity changes with the weight distribution of the vehicle. A small car is actually harder to drift and thus easier to control when just the driver is present.
Difficulty increases almost exponentially with the load on the tires.
Moral of the story, don't drift with a fully loaded vehicle, (unless you can either swim of fly).