Case 1: Collision between a car making a right turn and a pedestrian crossing the road − pedestrian's head strikes the A-pillar
[Situation]
At around half past 4 on a December afternoon, Driver A (31, male) driving a standard-sized box-shaped car waited at a right-turn sign on a two-lane road for all the oncoming traffic to pass and then started to turn right. While turning to the right at about 20 km/h, he struck and knocked down Pedestrian B (72, female) who was walking on a green light from the opposite direction in the crosswalk on the right. Driver A had not noticed Pedestrian B.
[Pedestrian's injury]
Pedestrian B violently hit her head on the right A-pillar of the car and sustained a skull fracture and brain damage resulting in death.
[Reason for causing death]
The main cause of the collision is the failure of Driver A to confirm safety in the crosswalk when he started to turn right, as his attention was directed at oncoming vehicles, but other contributing factors in overlooking Pedestrian B may include her position in the blind spot behind the A-pillar, and the failure of Driver A to turn on his headlights at dusk; if the headlights had been on, Pedestrian B might have noticed the car approaching and avoided the collision. The reason why Pedestrian B was killed at such a low speed is that the car had a box-like shape without a bonnet. When there is a bonnet in the front, usually the lower part of the pedestrian's body first comes into contact with the bonnet, reducing the vehicle speed, and then the head is hit by the vehicle body. In this case, however, the pedestrian's head hit the hard A-pillar directly without any speed reduction thus sustaining severe damage.
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Case 2: Collision between a truck traveling straight and a pedestrian running into the road − pedestrian is run over
[Situation]
A little after 5 o'clock in the evening in April, Driver A (35, male) driving a truck on a road 6.4 meters wide at about 40 km/h saw Pedestrian B (38, female) on the left and three children on the right about 50 meters ahead and reduced his speed to about 20 km/h to pass them. When his truck was 7 or 8 meters away from them, one of the children moved as if to run into the middle of the road. Driver A continued to proceed forward at a steady speed while watching that child, but he had to stop his truck immediately after he heard the sound of an impact on the left.
[Pedestrian's injury]
Pedestrian B collided with the left front edge of the truck, was knocked down on the road and run over, sustaining fatal abdominal injuries.
[Reason for causing death]
The main cause of the collision is the failure of Driver A to check the left side, as his attention was directed to the children on the right. Pedestrian B may have, without taking a look at the truck, run into the road to try to stop the child who appeared about to jump into the road, although this assumption can never be verified without her. The reason why Pedestrian B was killed at such a low speed is that she was run over. When a truck or other type of car with a flat front collides with a pedestrian, the force is usually great enough to knock down the pedestrian, who is then likely to be run over. This is especially the case with elderly people and small toddlers. Similarly, large trucks having a relatively long distance from the ground to the lower end of the vehicle body are more likely to run over a pedestrian who has been knocked down on the road.
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