Man Gets 8-Yr Term for Driving at 194 kph to Cause Fatal Crash

Oita, Nov. 28 (Jiji Press)--Oita District Court in southwestern Japan on Thursday sentenced a 23-year-old man to eight years in prison for driving a car at 194 kilometers per hour in 2021, causing a fatal accident.

The man, who was 19 at the time, was found guilty of dangerous driving resulting in death. The prosecution had sought a 12-year sentence.

"(The defendant) was driving at an abnormally high speed of more than three times the legal limit," said presiding judge Yasutaka Karashima. The judge added that he habitually drove at high speeds and that his desire to enjoy the feeling of acceleration and the sounds of the car muffler and engine was "selfish."

According to the ruling, on the night of Feb. 9, 2021, the man drove a car through an intersection on a prefectural road at a speed of 194 kph, well over the legal limit of 60 kph, and his car collided with a car turning right from the opposite lane, killing its driver, a 50-year-old corporate employee.

In his lay judge trial, the main issue in dispute was whether the case constituted the crime of dangerous driving resulting in death under the law on punishments regarding automobile driving, with the defense claiming that the crime should not apply to the case because the man was driving straight down the road.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]