By SHOMEI NAGATSUMA/ Staff Writer
September 12, 2023 at 17:49 JST
Police officers distribute fliers about traffic rules to electric kickboard riders in Tokyo in July. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
A woman was arrested on suspicion of knocking down a pedestrian while riding an electric kickboard on a Tokyo sidewalk and then fleeing the scene.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested the 23-year-old woman on Sept. 9 on suspicion of committing a hit-and-run and for negligent driving resulting in injury.
The victim, who is in her 60s, fractured her rib in the accident in the capital's Toshima Ward on Sept. 6.
The suspect has denied part of the allegations, according to investigative sources.
“I don’t think my kickboard hit the pedestrian, but she did fall because of me,” she was quoted as saying.
A police officer near the site restrained the suspect as she tried to flee.
Starting in July, revisions to the Road Traffic Law allow people to ride electric kick scooters on sidewalks where bicycles are allowed, but only if the kickboard’s maximum speed is set to 6 kph or less.
The suspect admitted to police that she was riding at more than 10 kph at the time of the accident.
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