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Elderly couple run over while cleaning highway in Shizuoka

26 Comments

An elderly couple were hit by a minivan Monday morning in Ito City when they were out on Route 136 cleaning up the mess caused by their own accident the day before. Tsubasa Iyama, 74, and his wife Yukiko, 75, both residents of Nishi-Izu, were taken to hospital but confirmed dead upon arrival.

According to police, Tsubasa lost control of his vehicle and damaged his car on the national highway the day before. They found glass fragments and a broom at the scene, and believe the couple were cleaning up Monday morning when they were hit by a minivan around 6.20 a.m. Police are questioning the 19-year-old driver of the minivan for further details.

© Wire reports

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26 Comments
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It's nice of them to be so concerned about the mess from their own accident that they would go early the next morning to clean it up. It's sad though that they weren't aware of the option to inform the relevant authorities and let a professional clean-up crew deal with it.

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With the few details we have here, sounds like an honest accident, and I feel sorry for both the victims and the driver.

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I always wondered why cops never really clean up debris at accident sites, the small stuff is left where it lies & the larger pcs get pushed to the edge of the road where its left, you see this ALL the time.....

Maybe those involved are expected to clean up afterwards or may the glass metal & plastic is biodegradeable.........weird in any case

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To little infos from the text to make a clear statement.

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DTRThing

dont worry this is Jpn the land of everything vague go for it!! You can never be truly wrong, or right for that matter

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Probably no flares, no pylons, no warning, no nothing. And very likely the car before the car that hit them blocked the view ahead until the last minute, swerved, and BAM, no time to react for the 19 year old driver.

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Police are questioning the 19-year-old driver of the minivan for further details.

Surprised they did not arrest him on the spot. Is this an admission that people on spots on the road where they should not be are responsible for getting themselves hit by a car?

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There was an accident near my house and the glass and debris was just swept to the side of the road. I don't know who is in charge of the clean up, the police or the insurance company, but someone's not doing their job.

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"Tsubasa lost control of his vehicle and damaged his car on the national highway the day before." How? By ramming into something or what?

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What is it with old people and the compulsion to sweep the road at the crack of dawn. I leave the house at 6 a.m. everyday and see a number of these elderly folks sweeping and wearing dark clothing -- the driver is not 100% at fault...

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Tatanka - The driver is indeed 100% at fault. Ask the police.

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Possibly the oldies were complacent and stepped onto the roadway with complete disregard for moving vehicles although, I would put my money on the young guy was traveling to fast to avoid hitting them. People just drive too fast in Japan causing too many avoidable accidents. Drivers have got to be aware of and compensate for pedestrian stupidity regardless of the situation. People are stupid and obviously there are many more stupid and reckless people driving cars.

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This is, I assume, why we're supposed to defer to the wisdom of our learned and esteemed seniors. I suppose this saves them the trouble of getting up on their roof to fix a blocked gutter during the next typhoon.

How very, very foolish.

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'Oops'.

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Maybe they wanted to clean up, before police notices there had been an accident caused by them.

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19 yrs old, 6:20 am, sounds as if he was asleep at the wheel.

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Maybe he was playing Midnight the manga on the road, i always hear those young guys race in the early morning over route 102 near my house.

But that elderly couple could have put a Hazard sign on the road, the one you ussualy put out when you have an accident

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Sarge -- yes, I know the driver is 100% at fault, but he should be in all cases. The old people I see are oblivious to cars.

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I meant to say the driver shouldn't be 100% at fault in all cases...

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This is politeness drawn to the extreme. Why do you have to clean the road if you had an accident and glass fragments from your car made the road dirty? Why come next day morning to clean up? Maybe they were so guilty, they couldn't sleep the night before. Poor folks.

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Normally in Japan you are supposed to drive at a speed were you can stop in time if something happens, that why the drivers at fault, but this time the article said it happened on a highway, where there shouldn't be people. Therefore, I doubt they'll lock up the driver.

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SARGE: people are not allow to clean Highways,is too dangerous and there is a personal who make this job,,and the company who clean the highways,always wear neon clothes and they clean behind the clean wagons...sorry for this too old people but is not the driver fault...

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all the old japanese people i know are stubborn and prejudiced anyway.

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This is sad anyways, when you think that they probaby did not sleep well because of the guilt of having spoiled the road. In a way this is admirable of sacrifice for the common good on the other way it is sad they were killed doing a small good action. It is evident that the young man is suffering pangs of distress - one does not kill two innocent without feeling bad. Without mentionning the charges pending over him most probably because he drove too fast.

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This is very sad. I guess the saying "No good deed goes unpunished" is true.

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Who says these two elderly are living off of your hard-earned money? Do you know these people? Are you talking to their relatives on this board?

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