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2-year-old boy run over by school bus in Ibaraki

I do not think it is fair to place judgement on the parents of this child with such scant details, but I must from my experience with my own (Japanese) wife, her parental supervision skills are certainly lacking, though I must say no more so than my sisters, so I hesitate to call it a "Japanese problem".

Still leaving a child unattended in a parking lot is a recipe for disaster. My wife did exactly that yesterday - after taking our 1.5yr old out of the child seat, she put him on the ground to roam freely while she retrieved her purse from the dashboard. I suspect she does that all the time, and was furious. Rather than consider the danger of her actions, however, she accused me of overreacting since it was only "a few seconds". Unfortunately a few seconds can be the difference between life and death, especially for a curious toddler.

 

Have you considered that you may be taking the behaviour of a minority to be the norm here in Japan?

Most people somehow manage to get through each day without bumping into anyone (or running them over for that matter)The high population density here means that there is a higher chance of seeing non-standard behaviour, that's my theory. Of course, it's unusual behaviour is more likely to stick in your mind, isn't it?

That said, I must admit to having the same feeling as you on occasion, and then make some ill-considered outburst about the Japanese, but then I remember all the people at train stations who skillfully avoid each other without even seeming to look, and hang my head in shame. Well, I would if I had any shame. Or a head. ahem.

 

the blind spot on buses is pretty big. i live in a tourist town and we have tour buses galore, accidents like this one happen there all the time WITH ADULTS who should (hypothetically) be more vigilant than a 2 year old and are definitely more visible, fortunately most aren't fatal. i don't think there is enough information to start blaming people. just enough information to feel sorry for all those involved.

 

Go into any big store here in Japan and you will see kids running loose and getting into dangerous situations - whilst all around are ignorant of what is happening.

Case in point: A few weeks ago I was down at my local UNIQLO. Up front, near the tills there was a small kid playing around - using one of the wire-frame displays as a jungle gym. The only problem was the presence of 2 heavy mannequins atop the display. He could easily have toppled them over - seriously injuring himself or others. Everyone was unaware, save me the westerner.

I've experienced this blindness to danger many times. Maybe there's a lack of lateral thinking (i.e. "Hey, what might happen if that kid gets too genki on the display?") or maybe it's related to the fact that dangerous actions are only prosecuted (thinking of the Keystone Cops and traffic accidents here) when they result in an accident. Parent who lets their kid run wild - no problem; parent who lets their kid run wild and causes an accident - criminal!

 

I feel for that bus driver. Also, I and my wife both have returned wandering kids to their parents a few times.

 

Power to you VoXman. I'm too afraid of a close encounter with the Keystone Cops to do that. I grab an official/shop assistant everytime.

 

Fair point. I should have said that I was talking about spatial awareness around oneself. I have seen at least two kids come close to death here, one of them at the edge of a train platform, and another under the wheels of my car (Thank God for ABS!). On both occasions it was the mother and grandmother not thinking of what might happen.

It's fair to say, I think, that there is an institutionalised "it'll be okay" mentality to child safety in some situations here in Japan. Take, for example, the fact by law, kids don't need to be restrained in the rear seats of cars. This can lead to parents driving with their kids on their laps. I've seen it!

What's needed is some serious changes to those laws and lots of public awareness campaigns to get people to think more clearly. I imagine that's what happened in my home country of Australia back in the seventies and eighties, which incidentally is now looking at banning smoking in cars so that kids don't get free nicotine fixes. Funny how things progress, isn't it?

 

At least they had the good sense to not demean the boy by using a child leash./sarcasm

I doubt the bus driver bears any fault. What is he supposed to do? Get out the bus and check all around? By the time he got back to the driver's seat he would have get out and check again because a two year old might have wandered by in that time. Neither omniscience nor x-ray vision do humans possess. Mostly likely nothing he could do.

Anyway, very tragic. Its hard to really "blame" anyone, but certainly the key to preventing this was the parents. They held all the cards.

 

Sad to hear about these avoidable accidents happening so often.



Soothsayer and several others are right. Better to worry about being paranoid then to have to endure the outcome of an accident like this.



Way to go VoXman! Hopefully others will follow your lead and help us all make the world a safer place.

Its very rare in NYC that one sees a child unsupervised or in a potentially dangerous situation because of unattentive parents. Its been my experience that most parents, at least in the US, are not "put out" when someone intervenes and points out that their child is in a potentially hazardous situation. In fact, when we take our 2 year old to the park for example, I quite frequently see other parents offering guidance and assistance to children other than their own, and my wife and I always do the same when necessary.

 

I feel bad for the driver equally. as mentioned above I often see toddlers running loose in Japan while their parents chat or whatever but wouldnt approach one for fear of being arrested. I attempted to help a woman with her baby buggy down a flight of stairs and she literally shrieked at the top of her lungs and drew a large crowd...infuriating and very embarrassing experience.

 

Heavy equipment, large vehicles should have an assistant, be it the tour guide or a designated person like an assistant on the bus, to check and watch the back of the vehicles as they back up and manuver. It is a basic mandatory safety requirement for any large vehicles where I work.

 

I used to think it was cruel and barbaric to put little ones on child leashes, but now I think they should be mandatory-better safe than sorry.

 

should never let go of a 2-year old if there are vehicles in the vicinity. Period.

 

Abso-frickin-lutely.

Just yesterday, I was leaving a shop and ahead of me were three young mothers with five kids ranging in age from 3 to 6, who laughed and talked while their children ran wild in a busy mid-day parking lot. These kids were running in and out from between parked cars without stopping once to check if there was any traffic coming. 'Cause that's what kids do. They aren't aware of the vast majority of dangers that exist. Nor should they be. That's what parents are supposed to be for – to protect and teach.

What actually made me break out into a run was when the 3-year old ran right out into the middle of an intersection in the lot, just as cars were entering. The mothers' reactions? Still nothing. They seemed entirely unconcerned with the danger their kids were obviously in, and were all smiles and laughs. You know who picked up on my panic? The 6-year old. She started herding the younger kids towards their mothers. I stood there dumbfounded – And angry. As I left the parking lot, I pulled up next to the still-gabbing moms and told them very plainly that a parking lot was no place for children to play in and that they should value their children's' lives a little more, which was met quickly by multiple 'sumimasens' and 'moshi wake nais.'

All it would have taken to make the day a tragedy was someone simply backing out of a spot or turning a corner. And I have no doubt that any driver unlucky enough to strike one of these kids would have received the bulk of the blame for the accident - both legally and publicly.

It's horrible that the 2-year old in the above story had to die needlessly. Common-sense vigilance on the part of the parents would have made this story nonexistent. What horrible way to learn that lesson. I can't imagine the horror the bus driver must be feeling at this point. Two lives ruined out of sheer stupidity.

 

Kudos on your actions.

This is a dark thought but, if a society places no more value on life than this,
how guilty does the bus driver need to feel? I think my overwhelming emotion would have been anger at the parents.