A 47-year-old woman somehow managed to cause eight traffic accidents in the span of 35 minutes between 7 a.m. and 7:35 a.m. on January 19 in Osaka. To clarify, this isn’t like a single crash that involved eight vehicles or people. This woman managed to get into eight separate collisions at different times and in different places between Osaka Prefecture’s Minoh City and Yodogawa Ward in Osaka City.
All of the incidents took place on Shin-Midosuji Street, a main artery that runs through the northern center of Osaka City. Although busy, Shin-Midosuji is a relatively wide and straight street that’s one of the easier routes to drive along.
Apparently it’s a 29-minute drive so she made surprisingly good time when taking all the collisions into account.
The first collision happened at 7 a.m. when the woman hit a car driven by a 46-year-old man and drove off. Six minutes later she hit another car driven by a 49-year-old man and drove off yet again, only to collide with a third car driven by a 60-year-old man two minutes later.
The woman fled that scene as well and managed to drive accident-free for five minutes until crashing into a 49-year-old woman riding a scooter at 7:13 a.m. After driving away from that, she then struck a 57-year-old male pedestrian at 7:21 a.m. and drove away from him for eight minutes before hitting an 82-year-old pedestrian with her car.
With six hit-and-runs under her belt, she then hit a wall along Shin-Midosuji street and then struck a 33-year-old male motorcyclist, both around 7:35 a.m. It would seem the police caught up with her shortly after that to prevent any further mayhem.
Fortunately, only the two pedestrians and the motorcyclist suffered injuries and none of them appeared to be severe. No alcohol was found in the woman’s system but when she was questioned by police she reportedly said, “I am not driving dangerously enough to cause an accident,” and “I am not driving a car,” suggesting she may have had a break with reality.
Readers of the news couldn’t help but compare the incident to their own performance while playing open-world games like "Grand Theft Auto."
“I’d totally do that in a game, but not real life.”
“Tell her to stop playing GTA.”
“Even if I was playing a game I’d limit myself to five accidents per half hour.”
“That’s almost impressively bad driving.”
“That’s exactly how I play Mario Kart.”
“The fact that she was sober is even more frightening.”
“I hear a lot of people tell police they don’t remember what they did. I wonder if that’s some kind of defense mechanism in the brain.”
“Is that a world record?”
As you might expect, there is no official world record for most traffic accidents caused in a certain period of time as that’s not really the kind of behavior anyone wants to honor. However, for the sake of comparison, there were about 300,000 reported traffic accidents in Japan in 2022 which boils down to about one accident per two minutes. This means that for a brief period, this woman was causing about one accident per four minutes and was nearly at pace with the entire nation of Japan.
Source: ABC News, Hachima Kiko, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
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-- Getting a driver’s license in Japan the hard way: The End
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2025/01/23/osaka-woman-causes-8-separate-traffic-accidents-in-35-minutes/
42 Comments
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Saki Endo
I dislike the irreverence of this writing style, she could have killed someone. Would we be having quotes like "Yo dude that's how I play Mario Kart!" if someone had been due to her reckless actions?
factchecker
Japanese are terrible drivers. This hopeless woman ought to have here licence permanently cancelled.
Newgirlintown
The story is written in a kind of casual, conversational, jokey tone despite the fact that the woman just endangered the lives of multiple people.
jeffb
This is an article from SoraNews so the humorous tone is expected. And no, I will NOT be making any jokes about female Asian drivers!
BeerDeliveryGuy
From other news sources, it appears the vehicle was a Nissan Juke.
Never would’ve imagined a juke was that tough. From the pictures of the victims vehicles, these were no minor fender benders, and the front end of the Juke itself was half gone.
BertieWooster
This article deals with a very serious subject but reads like something written by a Junior High student. Why the frivolity?
"Tee hee hee. One accident every four minutes!"
tora
Our lady's favourite game is the GTA series.
tamanegi
This was big news in Osaka...last Sunday!
Jacobo
Japanese are good drivers but always there are exceptions.
ThonTaddeo
I agree on the irreverent tone, and this line in particular stands out:
Fortunately, only the two pedestrians and the motorcyclist suffered injuries and none of them appeared to be severe.
Sure, only the people who weren't protected by the metal armor of an automobile were injured! How "fortunate"! Let's not think about the nightmares and flashbacks they might endure following being hit by a reckless automobile driver.
I would feel differently about the tone if she hadn't hit any human beings with her car and had just run into a pole or ditch. As it is, it's a little insensitive.
Random
Sora News, the Jerry Springer of journalism.
Cosell
You'll get over it.
browny1
Considering the almost absurd nature of the string of accidents, shouldn't comments and the article be more focused on her words-
We don't know anything atm, but this fits into a pattern of behaviour when someone has a Transient Global Amnesia (TGA) episode.
Such episodes are more common than people would think, just that they occur when the person is not driving.
rainyday
As is the complete lack of wit or writing skill.
These articles usually cover interesting tidbits of Japanese news, but the grating writing style - that needlessly drags each story out with way more paragraphs than necessary - almost always prevents me from reading them.
syniksan
But you went ahead and punished yourself anyway.
GuruMick
This story reads like a challenge to me.....OK I'm off....I reckon I can beat that record ....
GuruMick
Fact checker above......I doubt she will be suspended from driving.
Probably a sticker for her rear window warning others...maybe a nifty cartoon image of multiple car crashes...
BeerDeliveryGuy
What makes you assume so?
Fleeing the scene of an accident is a criminal offense, and automatically disqualifies you from being able claim insurance.
She should consider herself lucky if she avoids jail time, gets off with only a revoked license and several million yen in fines.
grc
factchecker - couldn’t agree more, especially when comparing Japanese drivers to those in major SE Asian countries. I agree also with the comment about irreverence - ‘luckily only two people were injured :’. For goodness’ sake.
リッチ
She basically drives like people walk constantly saying “sumimasen” as they bump into people all day. I sometimes wonder why there aren’t more of these with the total lack of care when walking and driving and repeated “sumimasen” that I’m sure some ladies say 1000 times a day while they click down the road in their wooden heal shoes. I bet she said sumimasen each and every time and kept going.
kohakuebisu
Bouncing off a few cars in a supermarket car park is funny. There's footage of a Japanese old timer doing it an Autobacs type store with the staff heroically trying to stop him. He hits one and then reverses at high speed into another. And then forward into another! Hit and runs on folks on a main road, though? Including those on two wheels? Not my idea of humour.
Its great that noone was seriously hurt, but we are still talking humungous rigamarole to report all this, file all the insurance claims (I hope they pay), and fix all the vehicles. What a huge waste of human time.
falseflagsteve
Sounds like my ex.
Big
More evidence Osaka drivers are the worst in Japan.
Big
Not defending SoraNews, but ironic you criticize writing style with a three-line sentence.
rainyday
The guy who writes these articles would have taken thirty.
I'm a connoisseur of bad writing. Soranews articles are to writing what The Room and Samurai Cop are to film making - their main entertainment value lies in appreciating and discussing how awful they are.
Newgirlintown
‘Their’ main entertainment value lies in appreciating and discussing how awful they are.
Oh, the irony.
rainyday
Was my use of "their" incorrect?
falseflagsteve
rainyday
Your usage of their was correct
garypen
This should have been a serious news article posted directly on JT, not a jokey share from SoraNews, which is more suited to articles about conbini chicken or mascot fistfights.
iron man
Serious stuffs, any vehicles are potential killing machines. So, was her insurance cancelled after hit no. 2. Not funny. Any confirmation of her nationality yet?? accident, Jute= japanese person? let's bash the host nation again.
Chico3
Actually, from my driving experiences in Japan, some of the best and courteous drivers have been from Yokohama and Kobe. The worst - the south and eastern part of Osaka, parts of Kyoto near the tourist areas, and downtown Osaka and Tokyo. Parts of south Osaka to me resembles GTA.
shogun36
People always tend to miss the positives in the situation. /s
cocaine is a hell of a drug.
rainyday
The driver may have had an epileptic seizure.
Something similar happened to a relative of mine. As a teenager he suffered a head injury in a car accident that left him in acoma for several weeks, but recovered and led a seemingly normal life for about 30 years thereafter.
One day when he was in his early 50s while driving down the street he did something similar to what the woman in the article is described as doing. He suddenly crossed the median line, made a glancing blow off a car going the other way and forced several others to take evasive action, and eventually crashed into a tree.
He then calmly got out of his car, noticed that it was seriously damaged and drove it to his mechanic to have it fixed as though nothing happened.
The police apprehended him at the mechanics and stated that he was completely lucid and conversing normally, but had no memory of what he had done. When examined in the hospital it was determined that he had suffered an epileptic seizure while driving. During the seizure he was able to continue driving for several minutes before the tree stopped him, but he had no awareness of what he was doing and no memory of it afterwards.
He had not had any such seizures beforehand and had been in good health for decades following the accident so he was cleared of a dangerous driving charge, but hasn't been able to drive since.
Big
100%. Going to Kobe from Osaka is like stepping into another world. In Kobe you don't need to play chicken at crosswalks because cars actually stop and give way to pedestrians... In Osaka you're taking your life in your hands stepping onto a crosswalk if there is a car visible on the horizon. Even when they do give way to pedestrians Osaka drivers expect to be acknowledged, just for following road rules.
Some dude
Actually, from my driving experiences in Japan, some of the best and courteous drivers have been from Yokohama and Kobe. The worst - the south and eastern part of Osaka, parts of Kyoto near the tourist areas, and downtown Osaka and Tokyo. Parts of south Osaka to me resembles GTA.
I've only had occasion to drive for around a year here, and my pet peeve was that people on a side road (who had to give way to the drivers on the main road) had this really bad habit of only looking left the instant before they pulled out into the main road. I don't know if they teach them that in driving school but I lost count of the number of times I had to brake or take evasive action because someone basically pulled out right in front of me.
I'm lucky that I'm from a left hand drive country, so I don't have to factor in the confusion that comes from "driving on the other side of the road". That would be double the stress.
Lindsay
You seem to forget the Japan Today is a tabloid. If you want serious news without any sarcasm or satire you should read the Japan Times.
Hopefully, this lady gets put off the road for good and receives the mental help she needs.
iron man
dude,
I am afraid of your driving.. You come from a LHD drive country, and drivers only look to the left for milli-seconds before pulling out. I have similar peeve, in RHD place when all other drivers glance to their right and just say F to the GW sign. Maybe you are the one confusing the locals. When in Osaka I drive a rightie on the left, just stand and u'stand lights etc then talk to the car jpn way for bhp stuffs.
3RENSHO
"When in Osaka I drive a rightie on the left, just stand and u'stand lights etc then talk to the car jpn way for bhp stuffs."
What is 'bhp stuffs'?
"Jute= japanese person? let's bash the host nation again."
'Juke' is the name of a particular model of car produced by Nissan Motor Company from 2011 until 2017. It has been described as "funky-looking" by Consumer Reports website. In my experience, the typical owner of this vehicle model is often a woman; has more disposable income than average; and has a more extroverted personality... (the driver's emotional state may have had some relevance to the traffic accidents described in this news story).
smithinjapan
Saki Endo: "I dislike the irreverence of this writing style, she could have killed someone. Would we be having quotes like "Yo dude that's how I play Mario Kart!" if someone had been due to her reckless actions?"
You ever stop to think that the "irreverent style" of writing is due to the fact that the author KNOWS no one was killed and no one even severely injured?
purple_depressed_bacon
She needs to be rubbed down with salt and go bathe in some mystical hot spring that has been blessed by the gods because she is clearly carrying heaps of bad luck. What a way to start the morning! Yikes.
DanteKH
On a serious note, I was always saying that, if in Japan the driving license exams would be simmilar as in the other developed nations, with proper Psychological examinations, and exams done with a Police officer, more than half of the candidates would not pass. And that's being generous.
In this article case, a proper psych examination before the driving test exam would have canceled her for sure.
garypen
Which nations conduct psych evals as part of their standard licensing procedure (as opposed to commercial license)? I'm curious.
The prefectural police do conduct the exams here, at least in my prefecture. And, many don't pass. I'd say ~80% failed the driving course test on the day we took ours. (My wife and I were in the 20% that passed, thankfully.)