Mother, Young Daughter Killed by Reversing Car in Tokyo; 50-Year-Old Driver Arrested

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:48 JST, December 28, 2023

A mother and her 6-year-old daughter were killed while walking on a sidewalk after being hit by a car that was backing out of a shop in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, on Tuesday.

It was apparently an accident, and the Metropolitan Police Department arrested the 50-year-old driver, Kota Urushibara, on Tuesday on suspicion of violating the Law on Punishment of Acts Inflicting Death or Injury on Others by Driving a Motor Vehicle.

The MPD said that the victims were a 43-year-old illustrator who lived in the ward and her daughter, who was a first grader in elementary school.

At the time of the accident, the woman was walking with her husband and two daughters.

Urushibara, who works for an auto repair shop along the street, told investigators he had been test-driving a car after it had undergone maintenance.

Dashcam footage from a truck that was parked nearby showed that Urushibara was traveling in reverse at an estimated speed of between 25 to 30 kph when he hit the victims, MPD sources said.

The mother and daughter were hit as the car was backing out of the shop. It continued in reverse across an 11-meter-wide road and crashed into a fence on the other side.

The mother died from multiple external injuries, and the daughter died from head trauma.