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Tokyo man killed by street cleaning truck

25 Comments

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© 2012 AFP

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This is no country for old men.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Anybody remember Soylent Green? Here come the scoops.......

0 ( +0 / -0 )

How did they know it was his sweeper?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This driver is telling absolute bull! You can't miss something that big, a human being for crying out loud. This guy is covering up. Either he was busy with his phone, etc - or he drove over the guy intentionally. There is no way one can overlook that.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It would be interesting to know if the old guy was a drifter or not. If he wasn't, then he could have fallen over and not been able to get up, been drunk, or just got very sick.

Barring the case that the guy commited suicide by runniing up behind the truck and jumping in, the truck driver is in trouble. All drivers of any vehicle at any time are supposed to be alert to what is on the road, even lying down, and if something goes wrong it is always the driver's fault if he or she was not able to react in time. That's sometimes unfair, but it's the current system.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Some people can't even see when a pregnant lady is standing in front of them while they are sitting down in a priority seat. Why would you expect the driver to even be that alert?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

In Tokyo, it's not the gangs that you have to worry about late at night but those damn roving street cleaning marauders!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

old men and street cleaning trucks don't mix

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Wow! New street cleaning service. No thanks.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Too much information is missing from this story to make any sort of informed reaction.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Elbuda Mexicano:

" some of these so called workers are also working for the Japanese mafia, yakuza, especially out in Bunkyo ku "

So how many city street sweeper drivers do you know, why do you think they are only "so-called workers", and how do you know they work for the mafia?

Sounds like a lot of imagination to me.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

But this story does not add up some of these so called workers are also working for the Japanese mafia, yakuza, especially out in Bunkyo ku, not too sure if Sumida is the same. If this driver is really that dense well not only FIRE him but throw his ass in jail for a long, long time!!

What a crazy knee-jerk reaction. Even though the story doesn't make sense to you, it's OK to simply disregard all the possible variables and unknowns, and just get things over with by having the driver fired and jailed? I think that kind of mentality is the exact one that occasionally allows juries to find innocent people guilty while letting criminals go free.

Personally, without being blinded by emotions, I hope that a thorough and proper investigation is done and the right action is taken where needed. That includes getting a warrant for the driver's phone, checking any traffic cameras, taking in the truck for inspection, asking the family permission to carry out an autopsy, etc. You know, a sensible, level-headed investigation without thinly-veiled accusations of an underworld assassination.

RIP old guy.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

They must be using different sweepers than the one that goes by my place in Minato Ward. The trucks over here are slow, have headlights that illuminate the road in front it, flashers, a warning buzzer, sensor rods to detect the curb, and there's hardly enough clearance underneath to drive over a body unnoticed. This story and the reaction to it would be much different if the vic was a child.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The driver of the truck has told police that he did not notice anything unusual while operating the machine, other reports said.

He didn't notice anything unusual while he was sending a text message and reading a newspaper is more like it.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Let's not get swept away with false accusations on the driver. The old man should not have been lying down in the street.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

It is thought the victim was lying down in the street in the early hours of last Tuesday morning when he was hit

Well there is why he wasn't seen. What idiot decided to lie down in the street?

Is there area well lit? I can easily seen a large truck driving over or hitting something on the street and not seeing it - more so if the truck didn't actually hit the man and was just swept up. No idea why everyone is screaming about the driver when clearly the man lying in the street wasn't exactly with it.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

asleep at the wheel...obviously.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

waltery:

" How can driver in a vehicle that crawls along miss that? "

Have you seen the things they use in Tokyo? They don´t crawl, they move pretty dam fast, and they are huge too. The driver would not have needed to take his eyes off the curb for a long time at all.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Difficult to believe that the driver didn`t see the man lying on the street. I also think the driver might have been playing with his phone or maybe reading. Being inside the cab and with all the noise the trucks make, I doubt he would have heard any screams though (if there were any).

1 ( +1 / -0 )

What a messed up way to die! But this story does not add up, and some of these so called workers are also working for the Japanese mafia, yakuza, especially out in Bunkyo ku, not too sure if Sumida is the same. I hope there is a CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION! How in the hell can you NOT see a body in the road??? How can you NOT tell that that body is not a bunch of leaves?? Paper?? If this driver is really that dense well not only FIRE him but throw his ass in jail for a long, long time!! RIP poor old dude in Sumida Ku

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

I dunno, if you lie down in the middle of a street in Tokyo late at night for a prolonged period, you can well expect a bit of misery and violence. If not swept up, he stood a good chance of being run over. Six of one, half dozen of another, I reckon.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

I saw this on the TV last night and it is hard to believe that a trash sweeper does not have sensors in case it sweeps up a large object. It is not hard to see a person lying on the road unless he was not paying attention to what he was picking up. Also, if the man was alive when he was hit, wouldn't there be screams or a small jolt, anything? This is completely out of context. Checking the drivers text messages, incoming outgoing history and and comparing that with his work time is a must before letting him continue driving that vehicle. Next time it could be a child or worse a mommy with her child. Nonethess, this is a very unfortunate occurrence for the driver and the old man involved.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The driver of the truck has told police that he did not notice anything unusual while operating the machine, other reports said.

Maybe to him sweeping up a human being from the streets is "usual" ..... WTF?

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Agree with Carbon. How can driver in a vehicle that crawls along miss that? On the phone sleeping at the wheel not possible when you must track the curb. Negligent or intentional.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

What the actual what.

This story is full of glaring Japanese-ness.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

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