Mother and daughter killed by oncoming car…26-year-old man “drunk and driving at a high rate of speed” for an appalling reason.

It is a Sunday morning and traffic is light. On this deserted road, a one-box car is driving at a high rate of speed. The speed is far above the legal speed limit. The car was so fast that it swerved into the oncoming lane, and a minicar was approaching from the front.

On September 11, the Takahagi Police Station of the Ibaraki Prefectural Police arrested Sho Kobayashi, 26, a company employee living in Kitaibaraki City, on suspicion of violating the Automobile Driving Punishment Law (manslaughter) and the Road Traffic Law (driving under the influence of alcohol). The accident occurred at around 8:30 in the morning on the same day. On a city street in Takahagi City, the one-box car driven by Kobayashi crossed the center line and collided head-on with a minicar in the opposite lane.

The minicar was driven by Sachiko Obara, 53, a resident of Hitachi City, and her mother, Teiko, 79, was riding in the passenger seat. When the car collided with the Kobayashi suspect’s car, both were struck hard all over their bodies and died. They were transported to a nearby hospital, where they died instantly. The cause of death was hemorrhagic shock. The Kobayashi suspect suffered a bruised head and minor injuries.

Alcohol far exceeding the legal limit

The road at the scene was a single lane with gentle curves. The visibility was not bad. Why did the tragedy occur?

The suspect was driving at a high rate of speed, exceeding the legal speed limit (50 km/h). The front part of the mini-car was wrecked and the glass was shattered. When a breathalyzer test was conducted on Kobayashi at the hospital where he was taken, far more than the standard limit (0.15 milligrams per liter) of alcohol was detected.

In response to the police investigation, the suspect Kobayashi admitted to the charges, saying, “There is no doubt that I drank alcohol and drove. The reason why he drank alcohol and drove at a high rate of speed can be found at …….

The suspect was scheduled to attend a grass baseball game at a ballpark in Takahagi City. It is unclear whether he drank until dawn and overslept or drank from morning and lost track of time, but he was going to be late for the game. The suspect Kobayashi was wearing his uniform.

The accident scene was nearly 10 km away from Kobayashi’s home. It would be outrageous for him to drive such a long distance under the influence of alcohol. Former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist Taihei Ogawa said, “No matter how small the local area is in terms of public transportation, it is still a very dangerous place to be.

Even in a rural area with few public transportation options, drunk driving is absolutely unacceptable. Considering the fact that the suspect crossed the center line at a high rate of speed, he had probably been drinking to the point of being unable to make normal judgments. Even if he was in a hurry, he could not have driven considering the weight of human life. From the perspective of the families of the deceased mother and daughter, this was not just a fatal accident. I think they feel that they were ‘killed’ by the suspect.”

Although the number of accidents caused by drunk drivers is on the decline, there are still about 2,000 accidents a year. In order to prevent a repeat of this tragedy, drivers must be made more aware of the danger of driving while under the influence of alcohol, and the enforcement of the law must be more thorough.