Keep children safe when they travel to school
An everyday scene of children walking to school was turned into tragedy in an instant.
On Monday morning, a crane truck slammed into a group of children walking on the sidewalk of a national road to a primary school in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture. Six children were taken to hospital, but were later pronounced dead.
This is the deadliest traffic accident in recent years involving children on their way to or from school.
How did such a terrible accident happen? The cause must be thoroughly investigated so steps can be taken to prevent any repeat of this tragedy.
Between 20 and 30 children were walking in lines on the five-meter-wide sidewalk. The 12-ton crane truck coming from the opposite direction crossed the center line, mounted the curb and ran right through the middle of the group of children, hitting one after another. The sidewalk had no guardrail.
The accident occurred on a two-lane, straight road with good visibility. When children come into sight, even a passenger car driver will naturally take extra caution such as by slowing down. It should be all the more so for the driver of a heavy-duty vehicle. The truck's speed at the time of the accident is still unclear, but there were no signs of skids that indicate hard braking found near the accident site.
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Safety measures
The driver, who was arrested on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in injury, reportedly looked dazed and confused after getting out of the truck, telling people at the scene, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Police said he was not under the influence of alcohol.
After analyzing the details of the accident and pinpointing how it happened, it is necessary to implement measures to ensure the routes children travel to school are safe. Installing pedestrian barriers and reinforcing curbs are some measures that could be taken.
Traffic accidents involving children on their way to or from school or kindergarten happen too frequently.
In September 2006, a group of children who were taking a walk under the supervision of day care center staff along a road in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, was struck by a car whose driver was trying to adjust a music player and was not paying attention to the road. Four children died and 17 were injured, some seriously.
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Tougher punishments
After this accident, a new crime of negligent driving resulting in injury and death was added to the Penal Code in 2007. This crime is punishable by up to seven years in prison, a heavier penalty than the five years in prison that can be imposed for professional negligence resulting in injury and death.
Even so, families of traffic accident victims still complained that the maximum punishment is too light when considering the serious consequences that accidents have. These voices likely will grow louder in the wake of Monday's accident that took the lives of six children.
In regard to vehicle accidents, the crime of dangerous driving resulting in injury and death, which carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison, came into force in December 2001. The maximum punishment for drunken driving also has been raised. Legal revisions have been made to impose heavier penalties on people who cause traffic accidents.
We ask all drivers to once again take extra care when they get behind the wheel. It is too late to regret one's actions after causing a serious traffic accident.
Kan must refrain from taking makeshift measures
Prime Minister Naoto Kan's administration should honestly reflect on what went wrong in its initial response in dealing with the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and improve the way it is handling the ongoing crisis.
On Monday, the House of Councillors Budget Committee discussed issues related to the earthquake, tsunami and the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Masashi Waki, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Diet Affairs Committee of the upper house, said the government failed to respond promptly to the nuclear crisis because Kan's inspection of the plant and a meeting of leaders from the ruling and opposition parties on the day after the disaster delayed appropriate action.
He also complained that it took more than 2-1/2 hours for the government to declare a state of emergency for the plant after receiving a report that the emergency core cooling system had been knocked out of commission.
Kan said his inspection of the plant helped the government institute the necessary measures and that the government's initial response was adequate.
Naturally, it was difficult for the government to come up with appropriate measures as the situation was extremely complex, with a number of crises occurring around the same time.
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Confusing array of task forces
Even so, it is obvious politicians and bureaucrats failed to take concerted action. Instead, a large number of special task forces and councils were created, causing confusion in the chain of command and hindering the government from taking prompt action.
Needless to say, the responsibility lies with Kan.
In various public opinion polls, the majority of the people expressed concern over Kan's lack of leadership. The major setback the ruling Democratic Party of Japan recently suffered in the first round of the nationwide local elections is considered due to Kan's bungled handling of the crises.
Restoration and reconstruction work is progressing slower than anticipated. The timetable drawn up by Tokyo Electric Power Co., the nuclear power plant operator, to bring the nuclear crisis under control also is fraught with problems.
Rather than stubbornly insisting, in response to a Diet question, that "the government's actions as a whole have been well received by the public," Kan must levelheadedly consider how the government and the ruling parties should deal with the disaster as a whole.
It is also important for the ruling parties to rebuild a relationship of trust with opposition parties.
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Cooperate with opposition
In the so-called divided Diet, in which the ruling parties have a majority in the House of Representatives and opposition parties control the upper house, it is vital for the ruling camp to win the cooperation of the opposition parties for the Diet passage of a supplementary budget and special laws needed for reconstruction efforts.
The administration's often makeshift responses have hindered collaboration between the ruling and opposition parties.
It proposed adding three ministers to the Cabinet, implying that it was ready to form a grand coalition with the LDP and other parties.
After LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki turned down a request that he join the Cabinet, Kan then approached New Komeito and, completely out of the blue, proposed that Goshi Hosono, an assistant to the prime minister, be put in charge of the nuclear plant issue as a new minister.
As long as Kan takes a stance that the opposition parties should cooperate with the government and the ruling parties during contingencies, the opposition parties will keep the DPJ at arm's length.
During the upper house committee meeting Monday, Kan again made clear his intention of adding three ministers to his Cabinet. Before he does this, he should sincerely and humbly ask for the cooperation of the opposition camp.
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