Netizens have been critical over an incident in which a first grade student was hit by a car after he rode his skateboard lying on his stomach and facing backwards.
Although the boy escaped with a fractured pelvis, netizens don’t think that the driver should be blamed in this case, given that she couldn’t possibly have seen the boy, but the woman is still facing police interviews.
Is the driver to blame? Or should the boy have been better educated about the dangers of the road?
From Saitama Shimbun:
First Grade Student Rides Skateboard On Stomach, Seriously Injured After Being Hit By Car/ Niiza
At around 2:10pm on the afternoon of January 9, a first grade student (7) who was riding his skateboard on a city street in Yodera, Niiza, was hit by a car, and suffered a fractured pelvis. Niiza police are interviewing an unemployed woman (34) also from Niira, who was driving the car, on suspicion of causing injury through negligent driving.
Police also said that the boy was riding his skateboard lying on his stomach, facing backwards, and had come out onto the city street from his home. The woman told police that she had been driving at around 20–30 km/h, but had been unable to avoid the boy.
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
u01*****:
There was a story where someone was lying on the road and got run over, and now this one. Give me a break! We need to revise laws that make everything the driver’s fault.
kon*****:
I feel sorry for the driver.
Look out for your own kids!
kaz*****:
I’m so sorry that the driver is being blamed for this.
rx7*****:
I mean, there are some bastards out there who cause fatal accidents inside parking lots, and get off without even being arrested and just paying a penalty, so this woman should also get a fair penalty.
Because this time, it’s actually the driver who’s the victim.
mr_*****:
From the perspective of the woman who was driving, this is such a huge inconvenience.
ama*****:
“On suspicion of causing injury through negligent driving.
Don’t just blame everything on the driver!!! (grr)
bun*****:
To think that a young child was facing backwards on his stomach on a skateboard…Too dangerous.
The driver did nothing wrong. Let’s just be thankful the kid’s life was saved.
rir*****:
Parents who don’t teach their kids the dangers of the road are at fault! Both the child and the driver are victims here!
eve*****:
So dangerous… (sweat)
Comments from 2ch.net:
キングコングニードロップ(千葉県):
OMG, I just feel so sorry for the unemployed woman (34).
腕ひしぎ十字固め(愛媛県):
WTF is this active landmine.
ヒップアタック(愛知県):
No matter how you look at it, I reckon the brat is the negligent one.
アトミックドロップ(奈良県):
The thing is…I feel sorrier for the one who ran him over.
足4の字固め(大分県):
I bet she really couldn’t have avoided this accident.
断崖式ニードロップ(東京都):
This kind of thing happens when you drive a car. It’s just awful…
ジャンピングDDT(SB-iPhone):
If you’re gonna do something like that, do it in a park, or somewhere where no one goes…
ジャンピングDDT(茸):
I guess that legally speaking the negligence is on the driver’s part, but I wonder…
フルネルソンスープレックス(大阪府):
If he was lying on his stomach, then he’d only be at a height of about 40 or 50 cm. It wouldn’t be at all strange for this to be a blind spot from the driver’s seat, so he wasn’t visible.
アキレス腱固め(埼玉県):
Kid, if you’re going to commit suicide there are other ways.
