Saitama Prefectural Police arrested an 84-year-old man on Tuesday after he hit a 6-year-old girl with his vehicle in the city of Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, leaving her unconscious.
The man, Hideo Aoki, arrested on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in injury, has admitted to the charge, according to police.
The incident occurred at around 2:40 p.m. Tuesday on a street in Kumagaya when a group of six or seven children including the first-grade girl, who had just left the nearby elementary school, were crossing the street.
Investigators said they had the green light at the pedestrian crossing when they walked across the road, heading to an after-school club.
The girl hit her head hard and is in a critical condition.
Aoki, who was driving a minicar, reportedly told investigators, "I knew the light was red. I noticed when it was already too late to stop."
He also indicated that he might have confused the traffic light with another green light further down the road.
The accident took place on a straight road approximately 4 kilometers south of Chichibu Railway's Oaso Station.