Oita District Public Prosecutor’s Office requests to change the cause of action.
– Accident on a public road at 194 km/h: to be Dangerous Driving Causing Death or Injury –
We have previously written this right-turning-straight-ahead collision accident that occurred on a public road.
However, this accident was not a simple right-turning-straight-ahead collision accident. The straight-ahead vehicle was running at an unimaginable speed of 194 km/h. Moreover, the accident did not take place on a highway. So, it was on a public road with pedestrians and bicycles. (Speed limit 60Km/h)
However, the decision issued by Oita prosecutors determined that this accident was not applicable of the act on Dangerous Driving Causing Death or Injury, but rather it was applied the act on Negligent Driving Causing Death or Injury.
It appears that Oita prosecutors stated to family members of right-turning vehicle, “The straight-ahead vehicle was controlled straight until the collision, which means that the driver was able to control the motor vehicle” as the reason for the charge of Negligent Driving Causing Death or Injury.
We believe it “dangerous driving” just to drive at 194 Km/h on a public road, regardless of whether there is an accident or not.
We have mentioned that Oita prosecutors will urgently need to prove that a car moving at 194Km/h can be controlled correctly without causing an accident even if it stops at a traffic light turns red or a front car put on the brakes suddenly.
By the way, in the case of a car moving at 194km/h, the stopping distance should be around 300 meters even if it is assumed that the tire is very good condition on a dry road surface.
Since the vehicle moves about 269 meters in 5 seconds at 194Km/h, the driver must predict and put on the brake 6 seconds of more before the traffic light turns red.
On December 1st 2022, the situation changed.
Oita prosecutors requested to change the cause of action. So, it will be “Dangerous Driving Causing Death or Injury”.
We believe that the thoughts of the family members of right-turning vehicle and supporters have moved them to change mind.
this is just the fist step.
We hope that the change of cause action will be approved and the lay-judge system, will be a proper hearing as a next step.
We feel that there are dangerous accidents that cannot be dealt with by “the Road Traffic Act, “Act on Punishment of Acts Inflicting Death or Injury on Others by Driving a Motor Vehicle, etc” , and other motor vehicle laws, not just this case.
There was an accident (incident) that occurred in Sakai City, in which a car intentionally hit a moving motorcycle and killed the driver. Although the murder charge was applied in this case, we believe that there are still many cases in which the bereaved families and victims are treated lightly.
A vehicle is said to be a deadly weapon on wheels. Sometimes the law only treats it as a normal motor vehicle accident, even though the vehicle is actually treated like a deadly weapon.
Certainly, the law has been revised to be more stringent with regard to road rage.
However, we strongly believe that someone in the Diet, should examine past vicious driver cases and legislate/revise a law that can apply more strict laws such as murder charge.
Reference: JAPANTODAY(2023/01/06)
Thanks.
2023/01/07