Photo/Illutration The defendant's car after a fatal accident in Oita in February 2021 (Provided by a family member of the victim)

OITA—A court here ruled Nov. 28 that a man who caused a fatal accident while driving 134 kph over the speed limit was guilty of dangerous driving and handed him an eight-year prison term.

The lay judge trial at the Oita District Court was held to replace the former indictment against the 23-year-old suspect.

The Oita District Public Prosecutors Office initially charged the man with negligent driving resulting in death, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of seven years in prison.

The court, however, concluded the defendant was guilty of the more severe charge of dangerous driving.

According to the original indictment, the man, who was 19 at the time, was going 194 kph when he entered a prefectural road intersection at around 11 p.m. on Feb. 9, 2021.

The speed limit on that stretch of road was 60 kph.

The man’s vehicle struck a passenger car driven by Ken Koyanagi, 50, who was making a right turn from the oncoming lane. Koyanagi died of hemorrhagic shock from physical trauma and blood loss.

After the charge on negligent driving, Koyanagi’s bereaved family and others submitted more than 28,000 signatures demanding that the charge be changed to dangerous driving resulting in death, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.

In the trial, the prosecution, seeking a 12-year sentence, said the defendant was driving “at a high speed at which it is difficult to control the vehicle's path.”

This is classified as one type of dangerous driving.

“A slight error in steering or braking can cause the vehicle to veer off the road and cause an accident” at such a speed, the prosecution said.

The defense, on the other hand, said the scene of the accident was a flat, paved straight line, and “the defendant was able to drive straight and did not deviate from the course of the road.”

The defense argued the accident was not caused by a mishandling of the steering wheel or brakes at 194 kph. Therefore, the defense said, the applicable charge should be negligent driving resulting in death, not dangerous driving.

The prosecution had also asserted that the driver was “approaching with the intent to obstruct at a speed that would cause serious danger,” another type of dangerous driving.

The defense countered that this classification of driving is “intended to punish distracted driving, such as cutting others off or making them pull over, ” and that the defendant “did not intend to do so.”

Related News