A Porsche driving at 268 km/h runs out of control on the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway…! Elderly couple killed in collision “55-year-old defendant pointed out by the prosecution”, a stupefying motive.

I never drove in an uncontrollable manner, and I never drove with the intention of obstructing anyone.”

The man who allegedly drove his Porsche at 268 km/h and crashed into a passenger car, killing an elderly couple in the car, denied part of the charges against him.

On November 25, the Yokohama District Court heard the first trial of Yoshiyuki Hikota, 55, of Edogawa-ku, Tokyo, who is accused of violating the Automobile Driver’s Life Injury Punishment Law (vehicular manslaughter). In August 2008, Hikota drove a luxury sports car, a Porsche, at speeds between 200 and 268 km/h on the 80 km/h speed limit of the Metropolitan Expressway Bayshore Route in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture. According to prosecutors, the Porsche skidded out of control as it swerved, killing a 70-year-old couple and a 63-year-old man in the passenger car that was hit.

The accident occurred just after 8:00 a.m. on a holiday morning, on a three-lane road with relatively clear visibility. However, it is abnormal to drive at more than three times the speed on a section of road where the speed limit is 80 km/h.

It is believed that Hikota tried to overtake the car in which the deceased couple was riding and crashed into it at a high rate of speed. The impact must have been great. The right rear of the car that was hit was heavily damaged. The deceased woman was thrown out of the car. Immediately after the accident, the section was closed to traffic for eight hours.

The driver’s conduct was extremely selfish and dangerous.

Let’s return to the first trial.

In court, the prosecution argued that the defendant was guilty of manslaughter by endangering others by driving at a high rate of speed. On the other hand, Hikota apologized for causing a serious accident by driving too fast, but denied part of the charge, saying that he was not driving in a way that was difficult to control. The defense argued that a lesser charge of manslaughter was appropriate, rather than the more serious charge of manslaughter by negligent driving.

At the time of the accident, Hikota’s 19-year-old son was a passenger in his Porsche. The prosecution pointed out the following appalling motive for the outburst.

He wanted to surprise his eldest son, who was in the passenger seat, by showing him how well the car performed.”

Mika Yanagihara, a nonfiction writer who is well versed in traffic accident issues, explains.

Even if the defendant did not intend to interfere, as he claims, the fact that the car was going that fast and collided with the car in front without being able to avoid it would be considered ‘difficult to control’. It is true that a Porsche may be able to run at speeds of 200 km/h or more in a stable manner.

However, to drive at such a high speed just because it is stable is an extremely selfish and dangerous act that disregards the flow of cars around it that are obeying the rules. The appropriate sentence is “Dangerous Driving Causing Death. I strongly believe that a precedent should not be set where a fatal accident caused by a driver going 268 km/h is considered ‘negligence.

Hikota is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2014.