Police in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, have arrested a 30-year man on suspicion of dangerous driving resulting in death after he hit and killed two women pedestrians on Monday.
According to police, the incident occurred at around 10:25 a.m. Kyodo News reported that Takashi Ugomori was driving a station wagon along a two-lane road with no sidewalk when he hit Sachiko Okayama, 70, and Yoko Doi, 60, both from Ehime Prefecture.
The two women were taken to hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
Police said Ugomori was driving along the road that curves to the right when he hit the two women who were walking on the left side of the road.
© Japan Today
19 Comments
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3RENSHO
Distracted driving...
garypen
It sounds like he may have been going to fast, in addition to other possibilities like being distracted or intoxicated, etc.
Kenji
Talk about QUICK to jump to conclusions. None of this was said in the news article. This could have been just an accident. There are many things that could have happen. No reason to bring judgement so quickly.
Kenji
OR, just an accident.
yokohamarides
The driver was probably using a smartphone. I see it so often when I ride past drivers on my bicycle in heavy traffic. They can’t keep the car in the lane - startles them when I bang on the door to get their attention.
Minikaeru
@Kenji
Distracted driving would still be the cause of the accident. They are not supposed to happen.
piskian
Aichi?
Ehime.
Moderator: Thanks for spotting that. It has been corrected.
Kenji
Not everyone has reflexes like a cat. Accident.
>
thepersoniamnow
yokohamarides
You should quit bangin on cars, even though morally you are in the right, if you bang on cars, you will end up being the one in trouble.
Mat
Then don't drive if you don't have the skills.
kaimycahl
@garypen Sound? It appears!
It sounds like he may have been going to fast, in addition to other possibilities like being distracted or intoxicated, etc.
Peter Neil
KenjiToday 05:19 pm JST
It would help to stop calling negligence an accident.
Harry_Gatto
Perhaps the victims suddenly decided to cross to the other side without warning and stepped into the path of the vehicle? I wasn't there to see what happened so I just thought I'd add my bit of speculation to everyone else's.
When facts are few experts are many.
USNinJapan2
Kenji
You don't get arrested for professional negligence if it truly was a bona fide accident. In Japan you'd know that vehicle operators are always professionally responsibile whereas pedestrians are not, so unless these two old ladies fell out of the sky on to his car, this driver is responsible for being either negligent or making an error which prevented him from avoiding the unfortunate and fatal situation. See you'd know this if you actually lived in Japan... Lol
Peter Neil
I don’t know about “bona fide” accidents. An accident is something you can’t control.
I think all car crashes are caused by someone who did something wrong.
Peter Neil
I’m stealing that.
japancat
Probably staring at his smart phone....as EVERYBODY does nowadays !!!...Its like a new plague. Have you noticed the lights turn green but it takes a few more seconds for people to look up from their phones and start driving !!!
John
Drivers are supposed to slow down on curvy roads that doesn’t have sufficient visibility. In this case, speed of the car must be way over the safe turning speed. If it was a slow hit, they wouldn’t have died.
Harry_Gatto
JohnToday 01:58 pm JST
Drivers are supposed to slow down on curvy roads that doesn’t have sufficient visibility. In this case, speed of the car must be way over the safe turning speed. If it was a slow hit, they wouldn’t have died.
Another expert "witness"!
Are you familiar with this stretch of road?
"way over the safe turning speed", you have no way of knowing that.
"If it was a slow hit, they wouldn’t have died." Ridiculous statement, there are so many variables affecting risk of fatality when pedestrians are struck by a vehicle. I suggest you do some research to improve your knowledge.