Woman dies after being hit by 4 trucks on Shiga expressway

Culpable homicide on his part - no suspended sentences, please.

Culpable homicide on his part

It depends on why she got out.

But if she had wanted out, and he didn't let her out, he could potentially be on the hook for forcible confinement. That's a difficult choice to make.

And 4 truck drivers have been arrested no doubt

Culpable homicide on his part

What?

No doubt she had a barney with her BF and told to let her out. It's also quite plausible she jumped in front of the truck after the argument.

The crap part under Japanese law the truck drivers will be charged.

Hit by four trucks and declared dead at the hospital?

gogogoJUL. 11, 2016 - 08:43AM JST The crap part under Japanese law the truck drivers will be charged.

Why would they not be charged? Have you ever hit someone while driving? These are professional, well supposed to be professional, drivers, they drive for the living. They should have noticed the woman walking along the highway.

It might very well be that she jumped in front of th first one and then was ran over by the other three. But even then, how would they run her over if they kept proper distance from the truck in front of them? So, yeah the truck could very well be charged with negligent driving.

SenseNotSoCommonJUL. 11, 2016 - 07:01AM JST Culpable homicide on his part - no suspended sentences, please.

Do you know the meaning of "homocide"?

he could potentially be on the hook for forcible confinement

A driver has a duty of care to not expose his passengers to lethal danger. This trumps any notions of forcible confinement.

Do you know the meaning of "homocide"?

Cornell University Law School says:

"Homicide is when one human being causes the death of another"

...which is what happened when he let her out of the car, also causing mental trauma to four truck drivers.

The woman was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Seriously? They took a seriously mangled corpse, maybe in more than one piece, and had to wait for the guy the hospital to pronounce her dead?

Really wondering how could none of the 4 drivers have noticed her ... All playing with their phone ? Something special on this road segment ?

when she was hit from behind by at least four trucks one after the other.

How on Earth is this even possible? She continued walking after being hit by the first truck? Poor soul.

Most likely she was hit by the first truck and the other three didn't see her lying on the road and ran over her. It's possible, sitting high up in a truck, not to see a prostrate body on the road, especially if you are driving fast and the particular part of the expressway is not well lit.

Not to come up with an excuses for the truckdrivers but have you ever seen trucks drive here? They were likely tailgating. Which means the 3 trucks behind had probably no idea until it was too late. The first trucker however needs to get checked out.

@The Womp Hit by four trucks and declared dead at the hospital?

Death isn't declared until they are assessed and determined to be dead by a doctor even if it's pretty obvious the person is dead.

Oh dear, most likely an argument and she got out but what an idiotic thing to be walking on the Shin-Meishin. I've driven that route plenty of times, you're going so fast and at night in the dark you really wouldn't see a person unless they're wearing some reflective gear.

And I think some people are confused imagining she was walking and four trucks each hit her separately, whereas what would have happened is one truck hit her and three more trucks driving closely behind the first plowed into each other giving more momentum to the crash.

That was my question. How did she survive all the way through to the fourth truck??

@toguro, she didn't.

@Clair Yoshida, no mention of a crash.

The first truck, at highway speed, killed her on impact. Falling to the road, she was subsequently run over by the other three trucks. Ignorance on the woman and her driver/boyfriend. @SenseNotSoCommon is corrrect; he should never have let her out on the highway.

Damn, 4 trucks! itll be bigger news if she actually survived

Some of you sound as if you have never driven before. If the woman suddenly got out of the car and there was a truck fast approaching the driver might not have time to react even if he sees the woman get out (depending on how close and on speeds -- and it's an expressway not road in town -- s/he might not). One she was hit by the first truck she would have been down on the ground, likely quite mangled. A second truck, third, and fourth, travelling at roughly the same speeds would never notice something coming out from under the tires of that in front.

And no, anyone other than certain medical doctors cannot declare a person dead at the scene (save some police officers when it is very obvious, which this should have been); not even paramedics.

The question is why she got out of the car, and why the car was stopped or slowed down on an expressway so she could.

What if the woman demanded to be let out of the vehicle?

Would you let her out to near-certain death?

A sad situation all around. Maybe the man was thinking that if he let her out near an interchange that it would be relatively safe. The truck drivers wouldn't expect someone walking along the expressway, especially at night without any signs such as a car with hazards on the side of the road. Also, when her body was on the highway, it may have been difficult or dangerous to dodge it and most would just assume it was an animal. I hope that all of those effected by this accident get proper counciling.

They should have noticed the woman walking along the highway.

First off, we don't have an exact course of where she was walking on the highway. Second, it was 10pm at night and Shin Meihan Highway is a pretty dark highway. I have driven it at night several times. Also the first truck hit her and I am pretty sure she fell and was run over by the next 3. Unless she is a zombie, please disregard the last point.

RIP

At any rate, she shouldn't have gotten out of the car only to walk along the driving lane of the expressway. RIP unlucky woman.

Sad way to lose your life. Probably over something very very stupid.

If she's screaming and cursing to get out, then yes.

I won't judge that choice, but it's one I couldn't ever make. Unless I wanted someone dead.

She's an adult; the guy's not a prison guard.

Better prison guard than executioner.

The woman was probably distraught after an argument. I have been in the man's shoes before.

Best course of action for him is to not give in to any kind of demand by her to get out on a highway. But take the next exit and let her out at the nearest, relatively safe location, if she so demands.

Remember, she may be emotionally unstable and not thinking rationally. He should not assume she'll keep her own safety in mind until she has calmed down.

I'm not saying he should be criminally responsible or not. But he should have assumed the worst state of mind of the woman at that time.

Pokemon hunt gone bad?

I have been in the man's shoes before.

Me too, and got a punch in the jaw at 80mph. Didn't let her out, though. Not until she was safe.

Definitely hope that truck guys are not charged, its basically same as jumping under train.. do you charge the train driver? In fact her family should be liable for ambulance, hospital and cleaning work as well as any car repairs. Stupidity should be punished, the guy that let her out tried as murdered / property damage accomplice

sumobody, wait until you get your own driver's license and drive at night a bit before commenting, OK?

@smithinjapan,

If the woman suddenly got out of the car and there was a truck fast approaching the driver might not have time to react even if he sees the woman get out...

We don't know:

1) which lane the car was in (assuming more than one on my part)

2) left or right-hand steering on the vehicle (makes a big difference!)

3) the woman got/jumped out while the car was in motion.

If she got out at highway speed, the landing did a significant number on her. If the vehicle was a typical right-hand, she would have exited on the shoulder side, if the vehicle was in the slow lane on a multi-lane road.

Sounds like yet another Japanese women with severe psychological issues. Could have been more or less a suicide.

Mr. Noidall,

Would you let her out to near-certain death?

If she's screaming and cursing to get out, then yes. She's an adult; the guy's not a prison guard.

No, you wouldn't let a person out, not on the Shin-Meishi at 10:00 at night, no matter how much screaming and cursing he or she did. Unless you were in imbecile or didn't care whether she got killed or not.

To let someone out of a stopped vehicle on a very well travelled expressway where traffic is moving in excess of 100kph at night is for all intents a death sentence.

No, you don't let them out.

____.

Peter Qinghai,

If she got out at highway speed, the landing did a significant number on her.

While not explicitly stated, it can be inferred from the article with a high degree of confidence that the woman did not step out of a moving car on the Shin-Meishi Expressway and continue walking along it. Clearly, the car was at a rest when she stepped out and walked away for some as-yet unknown reason.

Okay, here's a question for armchair Columbos... where was the car parked? If on a 'hard shoulder' as we call it in the UK then the lorries had no right to driving down there. If on the motorway itself how come the car wasn't hit?

ebisenJUL. 11, 2016 - 02:17PM JST sumobody, wait until you get your own driver's license and drive at night a bit before commenting, OK?

Now that's the most asinine assumption from your part if there ever was one. You have no idea about my driving experience so stop making stupid comments like that.

The only way the second, third and fourth trucks hit her was that they were following each other too closely, Also, when the first truck hit her the driver should have stopped immediately and the other trucks would have noticed that something has happened. I never understand drivers who say they didn't notice they hit something. I hit animals before, heck I ran over a cat a few months ago by accident, and I DEFINITELY noticed.

Also, we don't know what kind of scene she has made in the car so until we find that out the driver of the car she got out of may not be at fault here. There simply aren't enough details here to speculate as to why or how she got out.

However it is a fact that she was ran over by four trucks and that shouldn't have happened if the drivers were paying attention.

where was the car parked? If on a 'hard shoulder' as we call it in the UK then the lorries had no right to driving down there.

The Shin-Meishi Expressway is a four lane highway -- two going in one direction, two going in the other -- separated in the middle in most places by either a high concrete barrier or a strip of land and high concrete barriers. The barrier side has no shoulder, however, there is what you'd call a hard shoulder on the left-hand side of the left-most lane. About 3 meters deep (wide), it can easily accommodate a passenger vehicle without impeding traffic.

So, yeah. Good question. Where were these trucks driving that this woman got hit? Four times?

Or another question might be, where was this woman walking in relation to the shoulder that it was so easy for four big rigs to hit run over her in rapid succession?

gaijinfo: in Japan ambulance consists of drivers only, hardly any paramedics. That's why all the news reads the same. Pronounced dead at hospital.

4?!?!

Unfair to blame the lorry drivers for not stopping - we don't know how large the trucks were and some can take a long time to stop if carrying heavy loads. Hitting the brakes too hard would cause them to jack-knife and that would cause a nasty pile-up. Roadtrains can take a long long distance to stop, up to a kilometre.

Those who drive only cars know only the stopping distance of a car. Try being on a 2-wheeled vehicle for example.

And it was at night - no-one expects a person to be walking around on an expressway - there was low visibility and no time to react.

Just be relieved that her actions resulted in only her death, not countless others.

Are the ambulance crew not certified to pronounce death? is it only possible that has to be done by a doctor, who was back at the hospital? she might have been dead at the road side, just a thought.

Are the ambulance crew not certified to pronounce death?

They are not.

is it only possible that has to be done by a doctor, who was back at the hospital?

Yes, that's correct.