Police inspect the car, right rear, that crashed into a garbage truck, foreground, on a Tokyo street on Friday. Photo: Kyodo
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3007009/elderly-driver-crashes-car-tokyo-killing-mother-and-child East Asia
Elderly driver crashes car in Tokyo, killing mother and child
- Mana Matsunaga, 31, and her 3-year-old daughter Riko were killed when a car driven by an 87-year-old man rammed into their bicycle
- The driver, Kozo Iizuka, was quoted by police as saying that the accelerator pedal became “stuck”, though no evidence of mechanical failure could be found.
Police officers inspect the scene of the car accident in Tokyo. Photo: Kyodo
Police in Tokyo suspect a car crash on Saturday that killed a 3-year-old girl and her 31-year-old mother may have been caused by human error, in the absence of evidence suggesting mechanical trouble.
Mana Matsunaga and her daughter Riko were killed when a car driven by an 87-year-old man rammed into their bicycle in the city’s Ikebukuro district. The car also struck another cyclist, injured the driver of a garbage truck and mowed down four pedestrians before coming to halt some 150 metres after first striking a guard rail.
The city’s metropolitan police department identified the driver as Kozo Iizuka, who was admitted to hospital with broken bones. His wife, who was in the car with him, suffered similar injuries.
He was quoted by the police as saying the accelerator pedal became “stuck”.
An aerial view of the crash site. Photo: Kyodo
The police found no evidence that the driver was suffering from any serious health problems or was under the influence of alcohol or medication at the time of the accident.
Nothing was found that could have impeded the movement of the accelerator pedal, either.
A neighbour of the driver told local media that in recent months he had seen the man walking with a cane and having trouble parking his car in his garage.