4-year-old girl dies after being hit by car driven by father

It sounds like a tragic accident but if you’re gonna place blame on anyone I’d say it’s the mother. Who lets a 4yo child play in a road? Unsupervised at that.

Tragedies like this happen very regularly - because cars are inherently dangerous and kids will be kids.

Seeking an individual to blame shifts the blame away from the dangerous condition(cars). - it’s an age old ploy of factory owners and car manufacturers - and relieves the cognitive dissonance of drivers who need to believe “it will never happen to me”.

This happens in other countries as well. Was reading about the same thing in Australia recently. Always check before reversing a car is the number one rule.

Also it seems that there are old fashioned ideas among the comments here. Only the mother is responsible for watching the children. It’s time to update our way of thinking.

tragic family event.

always remember-most dangerous road and traffic are on front of your own house.

How can he ever receive or obtain a driving license when he doesn’t see even the own daughter on the road? With such bad attentiveness and eyesight I wonder how he even can find the car and the keyhole for starting the engine.

Coincidentally I have a 4 year old daughter myself and if something like this ever happened it would basically be the death of me too.

I don’t drive but my wife does and I am insanely careful about supervising the kids when the car is being parked or leaving from our home. If the kids are going in the car, the car does not move until they are in it, nor do they get out until it is parked and the engine is off. None of this insanity where the kids pile out of the car on the street before the car is parked, which is just so stupid. If the kids aren’t going in the car, then they are not allowed to go anywhere near it or the street and have to stay in our little yard until the car is gone.

Kudos to you rainyday, actually these actions are protecting not only your daughter but also future generations as she will grow up with these life lessons in mind and will probably be extra careful with her kids as well.

@Gaijinjland

Why do you assume the mother was present and supposed to monitor the child? There are many situations where a mother may not be present or capable of supervising a child at all times. Same as the father.

Coincidentally I have a 4 year old daughter myself and if something like this ever happened it would basically be the death of me too.

I don’t drive but my wife does and I am insanely careful about supervising the kids when the car is being parked or leaving from our home. If the kids are going in the car, the car does not move until they are in it, nor do they get out until it is parked and the engine is off. None of this insanity where the kids pile out of the car on the street before the car is parked, which is just so stupid. If the kids aren’t going in the car, then they are not allowed to go anywhere near it or the street and have to stay in our little yard until the car is gone.

Look all around the car and underneath it too. You never can tell where kids are going to pop up.

How awful for the family, especially the dad having to live with this accident for the rest of his life.

A child's death is always tragic.

It sounds like a tragic accident but if you’re gonna place blame on anyone I’d say it’s the mother. Who lets a 4yo child play in a road? Unsupervised at that.

That is my single greatest parental fear. Poor family.

I'm worried more about balconies and kitchen, I still remember when I was a toddler and tried to parachute from the 2nd floor wearing a plastic bag on my back after watch some cartoon, my grandma grabbed me before I could climb the fence. When my son was born I made a point of installing strong nets and also put some big flower pots with tall plants to prevent my toddler from getting near the fence.

Sorry but these deaths are totally preventable.

I agree, especially if you are driving to/from your house and you know you have a toddler. Like, how is that even possible? Condos, combini parking etc are another story, reason I drive really slowly whenever I'm around these places, you never know when a kid will jump right in front of you.

Maybe I missed something in the article, but where did it say the father was reversing out of the driveway?

I agree with all the experts on here that say checking your area before reversing out of the driveway is mandatory. Just don't know if that caution applies here. Maybe the guy was coming home from the store or work, (yes, I know it says around 2 p.m., but we all don't work 'normal' shift hours).

I do agree with the comment above asking who was supervising the girl and allowed her to play in the street unattended.

At any rate, it's a very sad story and the father will likely never recover from this.

MatToday  08:52 am JST

You reverse off a driveway slowly and this guy clearly didn't. You can't kill someone driving slowly.

You can if you drive over them.

Sorry but these deaths are totally preventable. Heywabokei make people overly confident on the streets and causes such tragedies. Watch you kids closely keep them close and use logic and common sense to judge where and when danger is. Don’t just let them roam and think it’s going to be ok.

Unbelievably tragic... :-(

@BigP, the child didn't need supervising, the driver is responsible for paying attention and driving safely.

You reverse off a driveway slowly and this guy clearly didn't. You can't kill someone driving slowly.

It's all too common in Japan for drivers to reverse their car out of a parking space before seating the kids.

Put the kids in the car in a safety seat BEFORE starting the engine!

that's just awful. to hit your own child with the car. my prayers go out to the father.

Who was supervising the child?