Tag - traffic-accidents

 
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July 28, 2024
 

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TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

A truck driven by a drunk man collided with a group of schoolchildren and killed two pupils in Yachimata, Chiba Prefecture, in June 2021.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 15, 2024
Japan to toughen penalties over drunken truck drivers
The annual number of traffic accidents caused by drunken truck drivers has remained between 30 and 50 a year since 2012.
Takuya Matsunaga (right), whose wife and daughter were killed by a runaway car in Ikebukuro in April 2019, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in October. Two men have allegedly defamed Matsunaga.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 5, 2024
Charges loom for pair accused of defaming families of traffic accident victims
The defamatory remarks were made on social media, including toward a man who lost his wife and child in a high-profile car accident in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district.
Traffic cones mark the site where a drunken driver plowed into a group of elementary school students two days earlier in Yachimata, Chiba Prefecture, on June 30, 2021.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 28, 2024
Alcoholism seen as factor in increase in drunken driving in Japan
There were approximately 2,300 drunken driving collisions reported last year, marking an increase from the previous year.
A test is conducted using a dummy to replicate an accident in which the leg of a child riding on the back seat of a bicycle strikes a pole.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 21, 2024
Accidents involving children in rear bicycle seats on the rise
They can easily injure themselves on utility poles or guard rails that they can’t see because of the adult sitting in front of them, Japan's consumer watchdog warns.
An 84-year-old man has been arrested after missing a red light and hitting a girl with his car in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 5, 2024
Saitama police arrest elderly man after hitting first grader with car
Hideo Aoki, arrested on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in injury, has admitted to the charge, according to police.
The National Police Agency aims to have the Road Traffic Act and other relevant regulations revised to halve the speed limit on narrow roads in residential areas to 30 kilometers per hour by September 2026.
JAPAN
May 30, 2024
Police plan to halve speed limits on Japan's residential roads
The proposed amendment will reduce the limit on roads without a centerline to 30 kph.
The room where a meeting between the bereaved relatives and Kozo Iizuka took place.
JAPAN
May 30, 2024
Bereaved relatives meet perpetrator of 2019 Ikebukuro car crash
After the visit, Takuya Matsunaga, who lost his wife and daughter, said that he hopes the perpetrator's words can provide "hints" on how similar incidents can be prevented.
A new system under which bicycle riders pay fines for minor traffic violations to escape criminal punishment is expected to be introduced in Japan no later than 2026.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 17, 2024
Japan passes bill to introduce 'blue ticket' fines for cyclists
The new system will be applied to offenders aged 16 and above who breach traffic regulations.
Takuya Matsunaga reads a reply from Kozo Iizuka, imprisoned for killing Matsunaga's wife and daughter in 2019 in a high-profile accident in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, at his home in Tokyo earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 19, 2024
Five years after fatal Ikebukuro crash, bereaved man works to prevent repeat
A man plans to meet with the driver who accidentally killed his wife and young daughter, hoping to learn what went through the driver's mind.
Police officers issue a warning to a person riding a modified bicycle during a traffic crackdown conducted in Tokyo's Nakano Ward in December.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 17, 2024
Police report surge in moped and powered bicycle violations
When questioned, many riders claim to be unaware of the requirement for a license to operate such vehicles.
Tesla says that Autopilot enables its vehicles to steer, accelerate and brake automatically, but that the system’s features require "active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 9, 2024
Tesla settles over fatal Autopilot crash on eve of trial
The case centered on a 38-year-old Apple engineer whose Model X veered off the highway and slammed into a roadside barrier on his way to work.
People ride bikes without wearing helmets in Tokyo in March 2023, just before a law revision over helmet wearing on April 1 that year.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2024
One year after road law revision, few cyclists in Japan wear helmets
The helmet wearing rate among cyclists killed or injured in accidents between April and December 2023 was 14.7%, the National Police Agency said.
Tourists ride go-karts on a street in Tokyo's Asakusa area in October.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 19, 2024
Tokyo go-karts draw over 100 complaints in 2023
Common grievances include riders exiting karts at traffic lights for photos and disregarding red lights, according to the police.
In 2019, Japan tightened penalties for the use of smartphones and other mobile handsets while driving.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2024
Record high number of distracted drivers causing death or serious injury
In 2023, 25 incidents were fatal and 97 caused serious injury, with about 10% of drivers using mobile phones to talk and 90% looking at screens.
Police stations in Tokyo's Minato Ward hold a cycling safety event in Tokyo in August.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2024
Japan to introduce 'blue ticket' fine system for cyclists
Fines are expected to be between some ¥5,000 ($33) and ¥12,000, the same as those for traffic violations by motorized scooter riders.
The Tokyo High Court ruled that there was a causal relationship between Kazuo Ishibashi’s driving and the fatal crash that followed, upholding the Yokohama District Court’s findings and 18-year prison term.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 26, 2024
Tokyo court upholds 18-year prison term for driver over 2017 road rage
Kazuho Ishibashi had deliberately slowed down his vehicle in front of the victim’s car on an expressway, resulting in its rear-ending by a truck.
A car is seen wrecked near the Todaiji temple in the city of Nara on Sunday after its 79-year-old owner mistakenly hit the accelerator and hit two people, including a man from Taiwan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 25, 2024
Elderly driver fatally hits Taiwanese tourist near UNESCO temple in Nara
The driver, who runs a nearby souvenir shop, admitted to mistaking the accelerator for the brake pedal.
Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum wins the 2023 London Marathon on April 23, 2023. Kiptum and his coach were killed in a car accident on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Feb 12, 2024
World marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum dies in traffic accident
World marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach Gervais Hakizimana died in a traffic accident on Sunday.
The Aichi Prefectural Police department holds an event in Nagoya in December to advocate safe electric scooter riding.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 9, 2024
Nagoya man arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run with electric scooter
According to the police, the suspect went the wrong way down a one-way street and hit a 47-year-old man, breaking his collarbone and ribs.
A railway crossing in Japan. A railway crossing gate in Osaka city opened before a train passed through on Tuesday, scraping a car that had proceeded to cross.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 7, 2024
Train scrapes car in Osaka after railway crossing gate opens prematurely
No one was hurt in the incident, which was caused by stray bolts causing a malfunction of a system that detects approaching trains.
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
Yen melt-up nudges Japanese stocks into correction territory
Japanese stocks are down 10% from their July peak as the yen strengthens.
‘Crazy’ yen rally is at risk of shattering as soon as Wednesday
Some investors are warning that a yen rally is fragile, as was on show this week when the yen rapidly retraced an advance after Thursday’s stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth figures.
Japan's average life expectancy rises for first time in three years
A decline in COVID-19-caused deaths likely helped boost the average life expectancy for Japanese men and women to rise for the first time in three years in 2023.
The Japanese Olympians looking to shine in Paris
Rim Nakamura, who is attempting to win Japan's first Olympic gold medal in cycling, will be one of the top Japanese athletes to watch at the Paris Games.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan eyes gold — and the future — as Olympic men's soccer campaign begins
Japan midfielder Yu Hirakawa controls the ball during a match against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.

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