He Was Simply Crossing the Street—Then Tragedy Struck. The Unexpected Blind Spot on a Child’s Daily Route

“It seems the boy was on his way to school. Perhaps the school or police had contacted his family. I still can’t get the sound of what seemed to be his mother screaming and crying at the scene out of my head.” (Local resident)

Just after 9 a.m. on July 15, Rikuto Takashima (8), a third-grade elementary school student who lived nearby, was struck and killed by a cargo van while crossing a pedestrian crossing at an intersection in Nishitokyo City.

“On the 16th, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested Takeshi Tabuki (59), an employee of a delivery company who had been driving the vehicle, on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter. Tabuki, who was delivering books to a library, was making a right turn at the intersection when he struck Rikuto, who was crossing the intersection at the time. Apparently, there was a trail of about 3.5 meters on the road at the scene, as if the boy had been dragged after the collision.

Tabuki reportedly admitted to the allegations, saying, ‘I am sorry for taking the life of a child with a future ahead of him.’” (National newspaper social affairs reporter)

The scene was an intersection on a metropolitan road with one lane in each direction. The sidewalk was once narrow and accidents were reportedly common, but they decreased after the sidewalk was improved. From the direction in which Tabuki’s vehicle was traveling, visibility at the intersection is good, and there are no apparent obstructions that would make it difficult to see someone attempting to cross the pedestrian crossing on the right.

Tabuki reportedly told investigators, “I know the conditions because I drive this road many times. There were no oncoming vehicles and the road was clear, so I simply assumed there would be no one crossing the pedestrian crossing,” and “I had not checked for safety at all.” Police are investigating on the assumption that he was distracted by checking for oncoming vehicles and failed to pay attention to the pedestrian crossing. On the 17th, they also searched two locations, including the delivery company where Tabuki worked, to determine whether there were any problems with its operational management system.

Why did the tragedy occur at an intersection with such good visibility? Munenori Kumagai, a former traffic investigator and head of the Traffic Accident Investigation and Analysis Office, offers the following analysis:

“I suspect the suspect normally drove through this location at around this time of day. Around 9:30 a.m., when the accident occurred, is normally a time when there are few children on their way to school. Since there are usually not many pedestrians, he may have made the turn without checking carefully. Public roads are places where all kinds of people and vehicles pass through, so you cannot assume that everything will be fine because it’s the usual situation.

There are also many accidents in which drivers strike people hidden in blind spots when turning left, but blind spots also exist when turning right. One such blind spot is the front pillar on the right side of the vehicle. A pedestrian crossing from the right can become hidden behind it, so it is possible that the victim was not visible for that reason.”

However, it seems that saying the child was hidden in a blind spot and therefore could not be seen is not an acceptable excuse.

“If you make the turn slowly, the pedestrian will move out of the blind spot. The basics of driving require you to move your body back and forth if necessary to see what is beyond a blind spot. From the perspective of accident investigation, the fact that he could not see the child means that his safety check was insufficient.

When making a right turn at an intersection, you must avoid obstructing oncoming traffic while also watching for pedestrians at the crossing. There are many things to check at once, so extra caution is necessary.”

“It’s the road I always take.” That seemingly minor lapse in attention led to an irreversible tragedy.

The van driven by Tabuki. There was a dent in the right bumper.