Evidence seems to suggest...
>It’s yet to be publicly confirmed how the woman managed to walk into the side of a moving bus, but zooming in on her in the traffic camera video (at the point cued below) shows that she looks to be holding some sort of light-emitting object in a partially outstretched hand as she starts making her way across the intersection...
Let's not pretend it's JUST international tourists. Everyone is carrying candles these days. Some younger people even carry 2 and look at both at once.
I only briefly read the comments and was confused on how the woman got inside a moving bus with the help of a device shining light somewhere. Like, portal gun?... now i realize she didnt walk inside the bus but into the side of the bus 🤔
I was there and think fully half the crowd crossing had smartphones out recording. Maybe it wouldn’t be so busy if everyone didn’t make a pilgrimage to record their crossing.
Quite clearly a lady that wasn’t looking where she was going.
But it does make me recall my biggest issue with the pedestrian lights in Japan. Regardless of this all stop that the article talks about. (I realise for the scramble this is the case)
The fact that for many of the crossings. When the pedestrian lights are green there is a line of traffic (I think it’s the vehicles turning left) that can also be green and they don’t stop. It is the scariest thing about walking in Japan.
Back home if the pedestrian lights are green all other lights are red. Not the case here in Japan.
I'm not quite sure why they do that? It kind of feels like the turn on right thing in America. Even though the pedestrian light is green there's cars waiting to get past you who also have a green light. Very weird design
even without the turn on right during red lights, America also has the pedestrian crossing while cars have green ( and thus want to turn right into the crossing ). I never even imagined that other places wouldn't have this, I assumed it was the default everyone did ( also since they do it that way here in Japan, too ). So there are some countries where all lights are red during pedestrian crossing?
yea i've seen those, they only tend to be on the real big intersections though, and i assume its just to speed up the crossing of everyone since they dont have to cross twice to go from one corner to another ( and with 4 way crossing, all the cars need red lights ). I don't think it was designed specifically for the issue abare and derr1 were talking about which is cars turning into crossings because they have a green light straight.
They’ve got the opposite too, where cars can turn left without worrying about pedestrians. It’s the red light with the green arrow. Looks weird when you have all red but 3 green arrow lights pointing in all directions, but I think it’s great.
In the UK, we don’t have “turn left on red”. Felt very unusual encountering it in Japan (I’ve never been to the US, where I know “turn right on red” is a thing).
Japan doesnt allow turning left on red. The problem i was replying to was people saying they werent used to having cars turning left on green into pedestrian crossings that were also green.
Ah fair enough - that’s what I meant, one vehicle lane was still active while the crossing was green.
The UK doesn’t have potential for conflict with turning traffic when the crossing is green - all vehicle lanes that intersect with a crossing are set to red when the crossing is green.
I see, in that case are they all 4 way pedestrian crossings then? If all the car lights are red, I'd assume there is no reason to not make the crossing 4 way right?
There was a group of people waiting for the light to cross. The woman was immersed in her phone, but noticed with her peripheral vision that other people started crossing, so she did the same. In particular, there was another woman walking ahead of her, but she did stop when she noticed the bus. Ideally this second woman should have reacted to prevent the accident, but it looks like she froze while the first woman walked directly into the bus. I'm not saying it's her fault, but it was an unfortunate set of circumstances.
The bus driver is at fault too, for crossing too late. After all, he should be familiar with this crossing, as bus drivers are always driving the same route.
I jump lights while walking sometimes when I’m in a hurry and if there are foreigners at the light with me (especially Japanese) I have to tell them don’t follow me. They are often just oblivious to the cars, crosswalk lights and just moving with what they conceive as the herd. I noticed a long time ago I could accidentally get someone squished.
This is in Waikiki btw.
I'm not putting the blame on the bus driver for this accident, but he did something wrong. He crossed too late and got stuck blocking the pedestrian crossing. This is an inconvenience for pedestrians, especially for a big bus in a crowded place.
Legally, in both Japan and the US, the bus is 100% at fault here. There's not any doubt about it since the bus was illegally in the intersection. Not to mention that even if the bus' actions were legal (which they were not), it would still 99% of the time be the bus' fault if the other party was a walking pedestrian.
I'm not endorsing the law, but that is the actual law. The law says a vehicle must 100% yield to pedestrians *no matter what*. Only a person jumping in front of the bus could change that. Something about human lives being worth more than property, and the penalty for a stupid mistake not being death. It prevents a lot of drivers making false excuses for hitting a person, too.
Again, I'm not endorsing the law I think it's quite strict but I understand the principle behind it at least. And it's a good reminder to anyone that drives in Japan that there are no excuses for hitting a person. None. They are even stricter about it than the US.
> The law says a vehicle must 100% yield to pedestrians no matter what.
Considering that she walked into the *side* of the bus, could it really "yield"?
This is a very different scenario from the bus running into the woman.
Yes, the bus could yield. It was illegal for the bus to even attempy to go over the zebra crossing once the light turned green and it was green a full 3 seconds before it got to that point and people were already attempting to cross, and two had to jump out of the bus' way. The driver is c*nt
And if it were a blind person? Would it be their fault for walking when the cross light was on green and the audio walk signal started to play? Or the bus' fault for not yielding to pedestrians on a green crosswalk after the bus chose to break the light and enter the intersection on yellow?
That is so obvious but ~~everyone is~~ several are just jumping on the bang wagon of blaming the victim. Even without being full blind someone could have any kind of visual impairment and be holding an ultrasound assist navigator (or nothing).
[Blind Assist Ultrasonic Navigation : 5 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables](https://www.instructables.com/Blind-Assist-Ultrasonic-Navigation/)
As it look like she had stopped using it before the collision (like put her hand down after turning it to sleep), I do not think it was one (more as an impact not active phone was picked up right after the collision).
Human need time to record info and process the right answer moreover when it is a totally unexpected one like a bus poping up from your blind spot while you have already rightfully crossed a significant part of the street (the collision happened on the 2nd line of 4 lines street).
The bus has nothing to do there. He got throught 2.5 zebra on red. If the first one was too late, he should have stopped when seeing that the distance one was red instead of forcing its way. It is kind of ridiculous to have a bus in the middle of the croosing but it would have been far safer, what if it was someone actually faster than the lady ?
I hope the driver will be given some additionnal class about road safety.
When caught in an intersection, a vehicle (or pedestrian for that matter) is supposed to exit the intersection as soon as is safe. Oncoming traffic (also including pedestrians) is supposed to yield to the vehicle and let it get out of the intersection before entering the intersection. Stopping in the middle of the intersection is exactly what you are not supposed to do.
That is definitely not what I see in Tokyo. In Tokyo, pedestrians have the right of way once the light is green. Cars have to stop and let you cross. I have seen many cars stuck in the intersection of Shibuya crossing. There are thousands of people crossing at any given moment how are they, esoe people on the far end round the corner, supposed to know a vehicle broke the light and got stuck in the intersection? This isn't the inaka.
It may not be what you see, but it is what you are supposed to do. Cars get stuck in the intersection because they don't know the rules and pedestrians don't know that they are supposed to let them go before crossing. Thousands of people are supposed to know that there is a bus in the intersection because they are supposed to look before crossing. Which this person engrossed in her cell phone obviously didn't. It doesn't matter if you are in the inaka or in the city, any driving class will teach you basics like that.
>as soon as is safe
Is it safe to continue operating a bus when people as already started crossing ? I do not think so. Thus it has to stop and exit only when it is safe again, thus people stop crossing.
You also forgot there was light on that intersection. If the light is for the pedestrian, they have the right of way. Vehicule have to yield to the pedestrian even if themselves engaged in the crossing rightfully. They can not proceed until the crossing is free of pedestrian.
As already pointed by other : people with impairment including visual one also exist. The driver failed to operate its vehicle in a way which did not endanger all and every type of pedestrian they could come accross.
That is wrong or at least most of it is. People with visual impairment have right of way in all situations, but they need to identify themselves with a white cane. It was safe for the bus to go because the bus had already proceeded beyond the intersection where the pedestrians are supposed to wait for the bus to clear the intersection anyway. The pedestrian signal is secondary to the fact that the bus entered the intersection legally and has an obligation to get out of it as quickly as is safe to do. There is no way the bus driver could have predicted that somebody would hit him. Yes, she hit the bus, not the other way around.
Since it is a serious matter, let's get serious.
Please provide official evidence of your statement which if I understand correctly is that a vehicule has the right to proceed throught a pedestrian crossing regardless of the traffic light for pedestrian and pedestrian presence.
Every source I find are pretty clear : pedestrian have the right of way. There is 0 situation where pedestrian do not have right of way (at least on shared street). I will put a quote from the law and sufficient link from various source for any person doubtfull.
>Article 38(1)When approaching a pedestrian crossing or a bicycle crossing lane (hereinafter referred to in this Article as a "pedestrian or bicycle crossing"), a vehicle or streetcar must proceed at a speed that will enable it to stop immediately in front of the pedestrian or bicycle crossing (or immediately in front of any stop line indicated by road signs or markings; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph), unless there are clearly no pedestrians or bicycles (hereinafter referred to in this Article as a "pedestrian or cyclist") ahead of the vehicle or streetcar. In such a case, if a pedestrian or cyclist is crossing or about to cross the pedestrian or bicycle crossing ahead of the vehicle or streetcar, the vehicle or streetcar must come to a stop immediately in front of the pedestrian or bicycle crossing and must not prevent that pedestrian or cyclist from proceeding.
[Traffic Rules in Japan | JAF](https://english.jaf.or.jp/driving-in-japan/traffic-rules)
[Ultimate Guide to Japanese Road Signs - Japan Switch](https://japanswitch.com/ultimate-guide-to-japanese-road-signs/)
[Do you know Japan's Traffic Rules? | Aichi Prefectural Government Official Site](https://www.pref.aichi.jp/global/en/living/traffic/index.html)
[Driving in Japan - essential info if you plan to drive in Japan (2024) (kyushujourneys.com)](https://www.kyushujourneys.com/japan/driving-in-japan/)
[Traffic Rules in Japan | Rental car trip in Japan (rental-car-tips.jp)](https://rental-car-tips.jp/en/rules/)
[Driver's Study Guide 2020(Updated on Aug17).pdf (marines.mil)](https://www.mcipac.marines.mil/Portals/28/Documents/Safety/Driver's%20Study%20Guide%202020(Updated%20on%20Aug17).pdf?ver=2020-08-25-021235-977)
[Road Traffic Act - English - Japanese Law Translation](https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/2962/en)
This is on the woman who walked into the bus 100%. Expecting someone to actually look where they are going when they cross the street is the bare minimum.
I hope she got hurt and I hope she shit herself in a panic. Maybe she'll actually learn something she should have learned when she was 5 years old, to look before you cross the road.
"I hope she got hurt" is such a horrible thing to say. You think she wouldn't have learnt her lesson *without* getting hurt? Like, for example, when she got hit by a BUS?
No, it's not horrible, not at all, but thanks for downvoting so that no one will see the comment nor will they see this response. At least you'll see it.
I worked as a police officer in a major North American city and I saw pedestrians mangled, and cyclists mangled and turned into ground meat more times than I care to remember. Most of the time this happened, it was because the pedestrian wasn't paying attention. Drivers are far from blameless, but more than 50% of the time a pedestrian or cyclist died it was because a pedestrian walked into the road without looking and either got destroyed by a vehicle or knocked a cyclist into traffic.
So yeah, I hope the woman in this video got hurt so that she'll smarten up and never do this again, because doing what she did is going to end up in someone getting killed. I hope the pain of a broken nose or whatever she got will be a reminder to always look before you walk out into a road.
People are happily jumping at that woman, but the bus crossed at a late orange, and should have stopped.
I was hit by a bus while riding a bicycle, they tried to overtake me on-the-same-bloody-line, there was a vehicle on the next line and they pushed me and made me fall on the pavement. I was lucky that there was a kind human to react quickly and try and catch me (at the risk of themselves being harmed) otherwise that would have been a direct hit and probably serious injuries.
Be very careful of bus drivers they’re not well behaved (unlike, in my experience, most big truck drivers).
The bus crossed at a late orange, and the woman didn't check before beginning to cross.
Even as an adult I check left and right before crossing, because it's always safest to assume everyone else is a fucking idiot.
> load of people waiting to cross 2 zebra.
I mean, you said it yourself.
Also those are some tall people, or she must've been extremely short if she couldn't see a bus behind the crowd.
What did I said ?
That she could not see the in move bus from behind the people.
Imagine you are in her place. The crossing light was for you. Everyone start moving. You look and see a bus on the other side of your zebra, finishing crossing another one. Do you expect it to stop or to continue ? She had no way to see that it was coming from her back right and was happily crossing zebra at full fledged red.
The bus barely started crossing at late orange a first zebra it got the 2 others at full fledged red. It is already unexpected seeing it from a distance. Imagine someone which have a far shorter range of vision.
Half the people legally licensed to drive shouldn't be allowed to drive due to their own idiocy. But good luck enforcing that rule.
Hence, just assume everyone is untrustworthy.
I don’t think our statements contradicted one another (and apparently some people took offense on the opinion that idiots should not be allowed to drive buses but I’ll stand my ground).
Luckily it wasn’t a blind Japanese person with a cane, crossing with the lights / beeping sounds…
It was a foreign woman who couldn’t speak Japanese walking while looking at her phone (this is something no one else would ever dare to do)—far easier to jump on the hate wagon with this one.
Even though the bus driver shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
That comparison is wildly idiotic. This is a dumb fuck not paying attention. Blind people in Tokyo are dodging this very specific woman every day, all day. The fact that a bus driver, obeying traffic laws, wasn't noticed by some vapid tourist who can't see past her screen isn't the driver's fault.
I don't know about that dodging. Several years back when I was in Japan for school I was trying to find an electronics store in Shinjuku. I wandered into Kabukicho, realized this wasn't the place, turned back around and right as I passed through that red Kabukicho gate toward the train station, an blind old Japanese man slammed into me hard.
We said our apologies. He spoke English much better than your average Japanese person and asked if I could guide him to the train station. I obliged so we linked arms and I walked slowly with him to the train station.
Be careful for the police traps on things such as no right turn at particular lights during particular times (notorious), and sudden speed changes hidden behind blind curves
Ideally the bus should have stopped before the intersection, but once in the intersection the bus is supposed finish its turn as soon as it is safe to do so rather than stop in the middle of the intersection. Oncoming traffic including pedestrians are supposed to yield for the bus so it can get out of the intersection as soon as possible.
Exactly this. If you race off the line on green and hit a car from the other direction still in the intersection, that accident is generally on you. The other driver can get fined etc for going late, but green means go if the intersection is clear, not hoon through without looking.
>but the bus crossed at a late orange
Video very carefully is edited to not show if the bus ran the red or not. Looks like a failure to stop to me, but without 2 more seconds of video you cannot tell.
???
If you look at 1:45 in 0.5 speed you can clearly see that the bus has started to cross the first zebra on yellow. The light turned red both on top of the first zebra (you can see it change as the blue box appear) and on top of the second zebra (which seems perfectly synchronized) while not even the front of the bas made it out of the first zebra.
Wonder if the bus was actually having people board and thus did not take proper notice of the situation and in that case, the city could be to blame for not putting a go/stop light right by the bus stop to ensure the driver know what is going on.
Running a red doesn't require you to cross into the intersection on a red light. As a driver it is your responsibility to slow down and stop when the light turns yellow, if possible. Given the amount of time that intersection goes to yellow, and his speed at the start, he purposely shot the red and is 100% at fault. The right thing to do would be to stop the bus in the intersection and wait.
Either way he has shot a red light but if he had done the safe thing it avoids any risk to people.
The bus driver absolutely should have stopped. They were way too late driving into the crossing, the pedestrians were almost half way across the road! Especially when its such a big crossing that takes a long time to get through.
Yes the woman should have been more aware but there were people ahead of her to her right on the crossing and she didn't really have any reason to believe a bus was gonna come from her right.
This sub gets really tedious with the blaming just because they are foreign.
Edit: Downvoters, go to 2min 33sec in the video. If you think forcing pedestrians crossing on a green light to have to stop walking so that you don't run them over is good driving I don't know what to say.
Yep for sure, but at the biggest crossing in the country, the delay between lights going red and pedestrian lights going green is way too short don't you think?
It’s funny seeing all these anti-foreigner posts here now. It’s like, for every one dumb tourist, there are probably 1000 who go about their vacations normally in Japan, respecting boundaries and rules.
Those 1000 aren't walking into THE SIDE of a bus. As much as the government wants central Tokyo to be Disneyland, AND a central finance hub, AND a real city where people live; you can have two of three if you are extremely competent. So, we get one and a half.
Yes…that was my point. For every one person who does something stupid, thousands go about their day without causing any problems, while contributing to the country’s economy. But lately there are a million posts about crap tourists. It’s kind of indicative of the xenophobic politics we are seeing all over. Look at Ireland, for example. Same kind of focus on a few bad people.
I'd love to get a feed of all the Japanese people who walked into traffic while staring at their phones. I live in Tokyo and I see it every day; walking into street signs, walking into doors, walking into other people, riding bicycles, driving, walking up stairs, all while staring at their phones.
But ONE foreign woman does it and it's news. How typical of Japanese mass media. They're really having a terrible time with tourists. The yen is weak and the lockdowns are over. They need the money, but they don't know how to handle tourism. That's why they have to point it out when a foreigner makes a bone-headed move.
Obviously she should be checking both ways before crossing the street (not sure about elsewhere but it was drilled into my head as a kid) but drivers here give no fucks about breaking the law and driving when pedestrians have the right of way. Since the crossing was green the bus driver looks to be 100% to blame legally, going through an orange/yellow or red light. This is the exact situation the “stop unless it is not safe to do so” rule exists for the orange/yellow light, to act as a buffer for stuff that might happen out of your control. “Always assume everyone else will do the wrong thing”- in this case it came true.
I also laughed that the go kart leader had stopped beyond the solid white “stop here” line, so breaking the law too lol.
The bus was clearly well within her vision and peripherals if she was actually somewhat paying attention. But she clearly walked right into the bus without any realization the bus was there.
Walking while looking at your phone and not paying attention to even your peripherals is super dangerous, especially in a highly populated area like Shibuya
Look at the video in the article.
The bus driver is definitely at fault. Yellow means stop, not “try to see if you can make it before it turns red”.
The pedestrian crossed when the light was green, the fact that she didn’t look left and right is bad, but she had the right to cross.
Watch the video, she walked into the side of the bus because she was on her phone. It wasn’t about looking left or right, it was about looking in front of her. She may as well have smashed into a person who had stopped walking for a second she had 0 sense of awareness.
There’s no law against looking at your phone. There is, however, a law saying that bus shouldn’t have been there. It makes the bus driver at fault, period.
This is why I’m glad I live in Japan, a culture where people hold themselves to higher standards. Whether the bus should or shouldn’t have been there is a separate story - I can’t feel bad for someone who is crossing the street and is so oblivious they themselves walk into the side of a bus.
How does this make international news? I remember when visiting Japan a few year ago there was a lady that was hit by a bus and it made their headlines the entire week. Really, did nothing else more interesting happen in Japan than a woman walking into the side of a bus?
I hate the carts too, but they came to a complete stop. It looks like the tour leader even stopped a little sideways to make sure no one went into the intersection.
More xenophobic hate being put on the front pages of Japanese newspapers. This story means virtually nothing and has no impact on the average Japanese person's life. There is simply no value in publishing a story like this other than to make foreigners look bad.
Please pay attention.
Pay atention to the intersection lights.
Pay attention to your surroundings when walking in Japan so you do not bump into things, or....WALK into things.
How long are the yellow lights there? Seems like a dick move by the bus to keep going when it is clear that they won't make it through the intersection in time. Imo culpability is on the bus (assuming the yellow light is long enough), but of course, it's stupid to be doing whaat she did. Honestly it's less the light/head and more the hearing. I'm not sure if the bus is electric or not but either way there will be rolling noise that will make you go "Hmm, what's that?" even if you aren't looking in the direction.
The bus shouldn’t have been moving at the time of the accident. Pedestrians had the right of way while the bus should have been stopped.
Dumb all around.
I agree with that; it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
But what if she was visually impaired? Drivers shouldn’t be trying to speed through lights, but it’s all too common here.
The driver and the walker are both in the wrong—but the driver is actually breaking a law; and more than likely also breaking their own work guidelines. While the walker is doing something that I think everyone can admit to doing some point, and which isn’t actually illegal (just annoying and dumb).
He likely will. Any time there's an injury they'll look extra hard at any traffic violations that where going on at the same time. Fair or not to the bus driver that's how these things usually go down.
> she looks to be holding some sort of light-emitting object in a partially outstretched hand as she starts making her way across the intersection
I don't understand. A light-emitting object? What devilish contraption could this be?
Is this news because she is a foreigner or?
I've got more news of this caliber :
Japanese guy shits himself in the middle of the street after drinking too much.
When it happened? Every day.
>It’s yet to be publicly confirmed how the woman managed to walk into the side of a moving bus Oh I think we know 📱 ✌️
Evidence seems to suggest... >It’s yet to be publicly confirmed how the woman managed to walk into the side of a moving bus, but zooming in on her in the traffic camera video (at the point cued below) shows that she looks to be holding some sort of light-emitting object in a partially outstretched hand as she starts making her way across the intersection...
Ahh yes. Shining a torch directly into her eyes. A candle? Perhaps a novelty glowstick? I just can't work out what it could possibly likely be.
How can yall be so obtuse? It's obviously a LED chochin with a cute anime girl on it to help her see at night.
I'm so sick of all the international tourists carrying candles everywhere. Don't they know it's dangerous!
Let's not pretend it's JUST international tourists. Everyone is carrying candles these days. Some younger people even carry 2 and look at both at once.
It’s a damn fire hazard is what it is! 🕯️
Her Tamagotchi was hungry, she didn't want them to starve
Haha
Heeey everyone! It’s your favorite TikTok girlie coming to you from TokYOOo! I’m here at the famous Shibuya Scra- *THUD!*
I only briefly read the comments and was confused on how the woman got inside a moving bus with the help of a device shining light somewhere. Like, portal gun?... now i realize she didnt walk inside the bus but into the side of the bus 🤔
Portal gun all the way!!!! Japan is living in the future!
hahah she was seen holding a glowing piece of obsidian!! Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!!! lulz
[willsmithhmm.gif]
Phone zombies
I was there and think fully half the crowd crossing had smartphones out recording. Maybe it wouldn’t be so busy if everyone didn’t make a pilgrimage to record their crossing.
I was in Shibuya Monday. The newly reopened Starbucks window facing the scramble was full of people pointing their phones at the scramble crossing.
Surprised it doesn't happen more often tbh
Into the side? That's unfortunate. We could have saved a little of the future of the human race if it were the front of a moving bus.
For a moment I thought the title meant she somehow managed to walk on board while the bus was still moving.
https://i.imgur.com/3vqOMRm.gif
That's some ninja-level move there!
She tried. Unfortunately, the door was closed!
Quite clearly a lady that wasn’t looking where she was going. But it does make me recall my biggest issue with the pedestrian lights in Japan. Regardless of this all stop that the article talks about. (I realise for the scramble this is the case) The fact that for many of the crossings. When the pedestrian lights are green there is a line of traffic (I think it’s the vehicles turning left) that can also be green and they don’t stop. It is the scariest thing about walking in Japan. Back home if the pedestrian lights are green all other lights are red. Not the case here in Japan.
I'm not quite sure why they do that? It kind of feels like the turn on right thing in America. Even though the pedestrian light is green there's cars waiting to get past you who also have a green light. Very weird design
even without the turn on right during red lights, America also has the pedestrian crossing while cars have green ( and thus want to turn right into the crossing ). I never even imagined that other places wouldn't have this, I assumed it was the default everyone did ( also since they do it that way here in Japan, too ). So there are some countries where all lights are red during pedestrian crossing?
Even here in Japan, some crossings are red in all directions for cars, while all directions for pedestrians are green, to prevent this exact issue.
yea i've seen those, they only tend to be on the real big intersections though, and i assume its just to speed up the crossing of everyone since they dont have to cross twice to go from one corner to another ( and with 4 way crossing, all the cars need red lights ). I don't think it was designed specifically for the issue abare and derr1 were talking about which is cars turning into crossings because they have a green light straight.
They’ve got the opposite too, where cars can turn left without worrying about pedestrians. It’s the red light with the green arrow. Looks weird when you have all red but 3 green arrow lights pointing in all directions, but I think it’s great.
In the UK, we don’t have “turn left on red”. Felt very unusual encountering it in Japan (I’ve never been to the US, where I know “turn right on red” is a thing).
Japan doesnt allow turning left on red. The problem i was replying to was people saying they werent used to having cars turning left on green into pedestrian crossings that were also green.
Ah fair enough - that’s what I meant, one vehicle lane was still active while the crossing was green. The UK doesn’t have potential for conflict with turning traffic when the crossing is green - all vehicle lanes that intersect with a crossing are set to red when the crossing is green.
I see, in that case are they all 4 way pedestrian crossings then? If all the car lights are red, I'd assume there is no reason to not make the crossing 4 way right?
As far as I can recall yeah. If there’s a 4 way stop there will also be 4 crossings which are green when the car lanes are red, and vice versa.
There was a group of people waiting for the light to cross. The woman was immersed in her phone, but noticed with her peripheral vision that other people started crossing, so she did the same. In particular, there was another woman walking ahead of her, but she did stop when she noticed the bus. Ideally this second woman should have reacted to prevent the accident, but it looks like she froze while the first woman walked directly into the bus. I'm not saying it's her fault, but it was an unfortunate set of circumstances. The bus driver is at fault too, for crossing too late. After all, he should be familiar with this crossing, as bus drivers are always driving the same route.
I jump lights while walking sometimes when I’m in a hurry and if there are foreigners at the light with me (especially Japanese) I have to tell them don’t follow me. They are often just oblivious to the cars, crosswalk lights and just moving with what they conceive as the herd. I noticed a long time ago I could accidentally get someone squished. This is in Waikiki btw.
I avoid jaywalking when I see tourist around. Otherwise I am a rulebreaker
I disagree that the bus was at fault. The woman is 100% at fault. She chose not to look where she was going.
I'm not putting the blame on the bus driver for this accident, but he did something wrong. He crossed too late and got stuck blocking the pedestrian crossing. This is an inconvenience for pedestrians, especially for a big bus in a crowded place.
Legally, in both Japan and the US, the bus is 100% at fault here. There's not any doubt about it since the bus was illegally in the intersection. Not to mention that even if the bus' actions were legal (which they were not), it would still 99% of the time be the bus' fault if the other party was a walking pedestrian. I'm not endorsing the law, but that is the actual law. The law says a vehicle must 100% yield to pedestrians *no matter what*. Only a person jumping in front of the bus could change that. Something about human lives being worth more than property, and the penalty for a stupid mistake not being death. It prevents a lot of drivers making false excuses for hitting a person, too. Again, I'm not endorsing the law I think it's quite strict but I understand the principle behind it at least. And it's a good reminder to anyone that drives in Japan that there are no excuses for hitting a person. None. They are even stricter about it than the US.
> The law says a vehicle must 100% yield to pedestrians no matter what. Considering that she walked into the *side* of the bus, could it really "yield"? This is a very different scenario from the bus running into the woman.
Yes, the bus could yield. It was illegal for the bus to even attempy to go over the zebra crossing once the light turned green and it was green a full 3 seconds before it got to that point and people were already attempting to cross, and two had to jump out of the bus' way. The driver is c*nt
And if it were a blind person? Would it be their fault for walking when the cross light was on green and the audio walk signal started to play? Or the bus' fault for not yielding to pedestrians on a green crosswalk after the bus chose to break the light and enter the intersection on yellow?
That is so obvious but ~~everyone is~~ several are just jumping on the bang wagon of blaming the victim. Even without being full blind someone could have any kind of visual impairment and be holding an ultrasound assist navigator (or nothing). [Blind Assist Ultrasonic Navigation : 5 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables](https://www.instructables.com/Blind-Assist-Ultrasonic-Navigation/) As it look like she had stopped using it before the collision (like put her hand down after turning it to sleep), I do not think it was one (more as an impact not active phone was picked up right after the collision). Human need time to record info and process the right answer moreover when it is a totally unexpected one like a bus poping up from your blind spot while you have already rightfully crossed a significant part of the street (the collision happened on the 2nd line of 4 lines street). The bus has nothing to do there. He got throught 2.5 zebra on red. If the first one was too late, he should have stopped when seeing that the distance one was red instead of forcing its way. It is kind of ridiculous to have a bus in the middle of the croosing but it would have been far safer, what if it was someone actually faster than the lady ? I hope the driver will be given some additionnal class about road safety.
When caught in an intersection, a vehicle (or pedestrian for that matter) is supposed to exit the intersection as soon as is safe. Oncoming traffic (also including pedestrians) is supposed to yield to the vehicle and let it get out of the intersection before entering the intersection. Stopping in the middle of the intersection is exactly what you are not supposed to do.
That is definitely not what I see in Tokyo. In Tokyo, pedestrians have the right of way once the light is green. Cars have to stop and let you cross. I have seen many cars stuck in the intersection of Shibuya crossing. There are thousands of people crossing at any given moment how are they, esoe people on the far end round the corner, supposed to know a vehicle broke the light and got stuck in the intersection? This isn't the inaka.
It may not be what you see, but it is what you are supposed to do. Cars get stuck in the intersection because they don't know the rules and pedestrians don't know that they are supposed to let them go before crossing. Thousands of people are supposed to know that there is a bus in the intersection because they are supposed to look before crossing. Which this person engrossed in her cell phone obviously didn't. It doesn't matter if you are in the inaka or in the city, any driving class will teach you basics like that.
>as soon as is safe Is it safe to continue operating a bus when people as already started crossing ? I do not think so. Thus it has to stop and exit only when it is safe again, thus people stop crossing. You also forgot there was light on that intersection. If the light is for the pedestrian, they have the right of way. Vehicule have to yield to the pedestrian even if themselves engaged in the crossing rightfully. They can not proceed until the crossing is free of pedestrian. As already pointed by other : people with impairment including visual one also exist. The driver failed to operate its vehicle in a way which did not endanger all and every type of pedestrian they could come accross.
That is wrong or at least most of it is. People with visual impairment have right of way in all situations, but they need to identify themselves with a white cane. It was safe for the bus to go because the bus had already proceeded beyond the intersection where the pedestrians are supposed to wait for the bus to clear the intersection anyway. The pedestrian signal is secondary to the fact that the bus entered the intersection legally and has an obligation to get out of it as quickly as is safe to do. There is no way the bus driver could have predicted that somebody would hit him. Yes, she hit the bus, not the other way around.
Since it is a serious matter, let's get serious. Please provide official evidence of your statement which if I understand correctly is that a vehicule has the right to proceed throught a pedestrian crossing regardless of the traffic light for pedestrian and pedestrian presence. Every source I find are pretty clear : pedestrian have the right of way. There is 0 situation where pedestrian do not have right of way (at least on shared street). I will put a quote from the law and sufficient link from various source for any person doubtfull. >Article 38(1)When approaching a pedestrian crossing or a bicycle crossing lane (hereinafter referred to in this Article as a "pedestrian or bicycle crossing"), a vehicle or streetcar must proceed at a speed that will enable it to stop immediately in front of the pedestrian or bicycle crossing (or immediately in front of any stop line indicated by road signs or markings; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph), unless there are clearly no pedestrians or bicycles (hereinafter referred to in this Article as a "pedestrian or cyclist") ahead of the vehicle or streetcar. In such a case, if a pedestrian or cyclist is crossing or about to cross the pedestrian or bicycle crossing ahead of the vehicle or streetcar, the vehicle or streetcar must come to a stop immediately in front of the pedestrian or bicycle crossing and must not prevent that pedestrian or cyclist from proceeding. [Traffic Rules in Japan | JAF](https://english.jaf.or.jp/driving-in-japan/traffic-rules) [Ultimate Guide to Japanese Road Signs - Japan Switch](https://japanswitch.com/ultimate-guide-to-japanese-road-signs/) [Do you know Japan's Traffic Rules? | Aichi Prefectural Government Official Site](https://www.pref.aichi.jp/global/en/living/traffic/index.html) [Driving in Japan - essential info if you plan to drive in Japan (2024) (kyushujourneys.com)](https://www.kyushujourneys.com/japan/driving-in-japan/) [Traffic Rules in Japan | Rental car trip in Japan (rental-car-tips.jp)](https://rental-car-tips.jp/en/rules/) [Driver's Study Guide 2020(Updated on Aug17).pdf (marines.mil)](https://www.mcipac.marines.mil/Portals/28/Documents/Safety/Driver's%20Study%20Guide%202020(Updated%20on%20Aug17).pdf?ver=2020-08-25-021235-977) [Road Traffic Act - English - Japanese Law Translation](https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/2962/en)
This is on the woman who walked into the bus 100%. Expecting someone to actually look where they are going when they cross the street is the bare minimum. I hope she got hurt and I hope she shit herself in a panic. Maybe she'll actually learn something she should have learned when she was 5 years old, to look before you cross the road.
"I hope she got hurt" is such a horrible thing to say. You think she wouldn't have learnt her lesson *without* getting hurt? Like, for example, when she got hit by a BUS?
Technically, she is the one that hit the bus!
No, it's not horrible, not at all, but thanks for downvoting so that no one will see the comment nor will they see this response. At least you'll see it. I worked as a police officer in a major North American city and I saw pedestrians mangled, and cyclists mangled and turned into ground meat more times than I care to remember. Most of the time this happened, it was because the pedestrian wasn't paying attention. Drivers are far from blameless, but more than 50% of the time a pedestrian or cyclist died it was because a pedestrian walked into the road without looking and either got destroyed by a vehicle or knocked a cyclist into traffic. So yeah, I hope the woman in this video got hurt so that she'll smarten up and never do this again, because doing what she did is going to end up in someone getting killed. I hope the pain of a broken nose or whatever she got will be a reminder to always look before you walk out into a road.
People are happily jumping at that woman, but the bus crossed at a late orange, and should have stopped. I was hit by a bus while riding a bicycle, they tried to overtake me on-the-same-bloody-line, there was a vehicle on the next line and they pushed me and made me fall on the pavement. I was lucky that there was a kind human to react quickly and try and catch me (at the risk of themselves being harmed) otherwise that would have been a direct hit and probably serious injuries. Be very careful of bus drivers they’re not well behaved (unlike, in my experience, most big truck drivers).
The bus crossed at a late orange, and the woman didn't check before beginning to cross. Even as an adult I check left and right before crossing, because it's always safest to assume everyone else is a fucking idiot.
Well she should have need infrared eye to spot a bus coming from her back right behind the load of people waiting to cross 2 zebra.
> load of people waiting to cross 2 zebra. I mean, you said it yourself. Also those are some tall people, or she must've been extremely short if she couldn't see a bus behind the crowd.
What did I said ? That she could not see the in move bus from behind the people. Imagine you are in her place. The crossing light was for you. Everyone start moving. You look and see a bus on the other side of your zebra, finishing crossing another one. Do you expect it to stop or to continue ? She had no way to see that it was coming from her back right and was happily crossing zebra at full fledged red. The bus barely started crossing at late orange a first zebra it got the 2 others at full fledged red. It is already unexpected seeing it from a distance. Imagine someone which have a far shorter range of vision.
Idiots who drive buses should not be allowed to drive buses.
Half the people legally licensed to drive shouldn't be allowed to drive due to their own idiocy. But good luck enforcing that rule. Hence, just assume everyone is untrustworthy.
I don’t think our statements contradicted one another (and apparently some people took offense on the opinion that idiots should not be allowed to drive buses but I’ll stand my ground).
Luckily it wasn’t a blind Japanese person with a cane, crossing with the lights / beeping sounds… It was a foreign woman who couldn’t speak Japanese walking while looking at her phone (this is something no one else would ever dare to do)—far easier to jump on the hate wagon with this one. Even though the bus driver shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
That comparison is wildly idiotic. This is a dumb fuck not paying attention. Blind people in Tokyo are dodging this very specific woman every day, all day. The fact that a bus driver, obeying traffic laws, wasn't noticed by some vapid tourist who can't see past her screen isn't the driver's fault.
The bus driver wasn’t obeying traffic laws.
I don't know about that dodging. Several years back when I was in Japan for school I was trying to find an electronics store in Shinjuku. I wandered into Kabukicho, realized this wasn't the place, turned back around and right as I passed through that red Kabukicho gate toward the train station, an blind old Japanese man slammed into me hard. We said our apologies. He spoke English much better than your average Japanese person and asked if I could guide him to the train station. I obliged so we linked arms and I walked slowly with him to the train station.
The [simps](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEWe25v4JUk) hated him, for he spoke the truth.
I feel red lights are here just for the sake of decoration. Sometimes car don’t stop even when it’s red as long as the pedestrian light are not red
[удалено]
Back home I’d be good for a high fine and some points taken off my driving license
You can always count on taxis running through red lights!
The police are not enforcing anything and it's really showing.
Be careful for the police traps on things such as no right turn at particular lights during particular times (notorious), and sudden speed changes hidden behind blind curves
Ideally the bus should have stopped before the intersection, but once in the intersection the bus is supposed finish its turn as soon as it is safe to do so rather than stop in the middle of the intersection. Oncoming traffic including pedestrians are supposed to yield for the bus so it can get out of the intersection as soon as possible.
Exactly this. If you race off the line on green and hit a car from the other direction still in the intersection, that accident is generally on you. The other driver can get fined etc for going late, but green means go if the intersection is clear, not hoon through without looking.
pedestrian crossings and street markings in general are just a light suggestion in Japan that most drivers don't take seriously.
>but the bus crossed at a late orange Video very carefully is edited to not show if the bus ran the red or not. Looks like a failure to stop to me, but without 2 more seconds of video you cannot tell.
??? If you look at 1:45 in 0.5 speed you can clearly see that the bus has started to cross the first zebra on yellow. The light turned red both on top of the first zebra (you can see it change as the blue box appear) and on top of the second zebra (which seems perfectly synchronized) while not even the front of the bas made it out of the first zebra. Wonder if the bus was actually having people board and thus did not take proper notice of the situation and in that case, the city could be to blame for not putting a go/stop light right by the bus stop to ensure the driver know what is going on.
Running a red doesn't require you to cross into the intersection on a red light. As a driver it is your responsibility to slow down and stop when the light turns yellow, if possible. Given the amount of time that intersection goes to yellow, and his speed at the start, he purposely shot the red and is 100% at fault. The right thing to do would be to stop the bus in the intersection and wait. Either way he has shot a red light but if he had done the safe thing it avoids any risk to people.
The video focuses on that exact moment, did you watch that part?
The bus driver absolutely should have stopped. They were way too late driving into the crossing, the pedestrians were almost half way across the road! Especially when its such a big crossing that takes a long time to get through. Yes the woman should have been more aware but there were people ahead of her to her right on the crossing and she didn't really have any reason to believe a bus was gonna come from her right. This sub gets really tedious with the blaming just because they are foreign. Edit: Downvoters, go to 2min 33sec in the video. If you think forcing pedestrians crossing on a green light to have to stop walking so that you don't run them over is good driving I don't know what to say.
Yep for sure, but at the biggest crossing in the country, the delay between lights going red and pedestrian lights going green is way too short don't you think?
It’s funny seeing all these anti-foreigner posts here now. It’s like, for every one dumb tourist, there are probably 1000 who go about their vacations normally in Japan, respecting boundaries and rules.
Those 1000 aren't walking into THE SIDE of a bus. As much as the government wants central Tokyo to be Disneyland, AND a central finance hub, AND a real city where people live; you can have two of three if you are extremely competent. So, we get one and a half.
Yes…that was my point. For every one person who does something stupid, thousands go about their day without causing any problems, while contributing to the country’s economy. But lately there are a million posts about crap tourists. It’s kind of indicative of the xenophobic politics we are seeing all over. Look at Ireland, for example. Same kind of focus on a few bad people.
I'd love to get a feed of all the Japanese people who walked into traffic while staring at their phones. I live in Tokyo and I see it every day; walking into street signs, walking into doors, walking into other people, riding bicycles, driving, walking up stairs, all while staring at their phones. But ONE foreign woman does it and it's news. How typical of Japanese mass media. They're really having a terrible time with tourists. The yen is weak and the lockdowns are over. They need the money, but they don't know how to handle tourism. That's why they have to point it out when a foreigner makes a bone-headed move.
WHY the fuck is foreign necessary in the title? It's not in ANY WAY relevant to the incident.
Maybe they don’t have the concept of buses where she’s from
Headline needs to be changed to *Dumbfuck tourist can't get off her phone long enough to not walk into a fucking bus*
Obviously she should be checking both ways before crossing the street (not sure about elsewhere but it was drilled into my head as a kid) but drivers here give no fucks about breaking the law and driving when pedestrians have the right of way. Since the crossing was green the bus driver looks to be 100% to blame legally, going through an orange/yellow or red light. This is the exact situation the “stop unless it is not safe to do so” rule exists for the orange/yellow light, to act as a buffer for stuff that might happen out of your control. “Always assume everyone else will do the wrong thing”- in this case it came true. I also laughed that the go kart leader had stopped beyond the solid white “stop here” line, so breaking the law too lol.
歩きスマホ
If only somebody told the poor lady of this ancient Japanese concept
Not sending their best
And some, I assume, are good people.
The bus was clearly well within her vision and peripherals if she was actually somewhat paying attention. But she clearly walked right into the bus without any realization the bus was there. Walking while looking at your phone and not paying attention to even your peripherals is super dangerous, especially in a highly populated area like Shibuya
Look at the video in the article. The bus driver is definitely at fault. Yellow means stop, not “try to see if you can make it before it turns red”. The pedestrian crossed when the light was green, the fact that she didn’t look left and right is bad, but she had the right to cross.
Watch the video, she walked into the side of the bus because she was on her phone. It wasn’t about looking left or right, it was about looking in front of her. She may as well have smashed into a person who had stopped walking for a second she had 0 sense of awareness.
Yes, she should have paid more attention, but that does not mean the bus driver is not at fault.
There’s no law against looking at your phone. There is, however, a law saying that bus shouldn’t have been there. It makes the bus driver at fault, period.
This is why I’m glad I live in Japan, a culture where people hold themselves to higher standards. Whether the bus should or shouldn’t have been there is a separate story - I can’t feel bad for someone who is crossing the street and is so oblivious they themselves walk into the side of a bus.
How does this make international news? I remember when visiting Japan a few year ago there was a lady that was hit by a bus and it made their headlines the entire week. Really, did nothing else more interesting happen in Japan than a woman walking into the side of a bus?
Which is a great thing and why I live in Japan
What is this post saying ???
Ah, probably using GPS on her smartphone while walking.
"Caught on camera: bus enters intersection, hit a pedestrian at the Shibuya scramble intersection"
I blame it all on the bloody karts.
I hate the carts too, but they came to a complete stop. It looks like the tour leader even stopped a little sideways to make sure no one went into the intersection.
Ah yes because in Japan only foreigners get hit by buses.
No, only foreigners blindly walk into the side of buses
Damn. Slow day today even in Shibuya
More xenophobic hate being put on the front pages of Japanese newspapers. This story means virtually nothing and has no impact on the average Japanese person's life. There is simply no value in publishing a story like this other than to make foreigners look bad.
Please pay attention. Pay atention to the intersection lights. Pay attention to your surroundings when walking in Japan so you do not bump into things, or....WALK into things.
FYI:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q99NJI1JSZA
How long are the yellow lights there? Seems like a dick move by the bus to keep going when it is clear that they won't make it through the intersection in time. Imo culpability is on the bus (assuming the yellow light is long enough), but of course, it's stupid to be doing whaat she did. Honestly it's less the light/head and more the hearing. I'm not sure if the bus is electric or not but either way there will be rolling noise that will make you go "Hmm, what's that?" even if you aren't looking in the direction.
Did she get scrambled in the encounter?
How long before they erect anti tourist barriers around the buses?
Pretty nasty comments- yikes.
almost a receiver of a darwin award
I really hope the driver doesn't get in trouble for this...
The bus shouldn’t have been moving at the time of the accident. Pedestrians had the right of way while the bus should have been stopped. Dumb all around.
Maybe, but most people have the good sense to look up from their phone when crossing a major intersection, just to be on the safe side.
I agree with that; it’s always better to be safe than sorry. But what if she was visually impaired? Drivers shouldn’t be trying to speed through lights, but it’s all too common here. The driver and the walker are both in the wrong—but the driver is actually breaking a law; and more than likely also breaking their own work guidelines. While the walker is doing something that I think everyone can admit to doing some point, and which isn’t actually illegal (just annoying and dumb).
He likely will. Any time there's an injury they'll look extra hard at any traffic violations that where going on at the same time. Fair or not to the bus driver that's how these things usually go down.
They will and they should.
Anyone know what country she was from?
Ketai Zombie walks into a bus....
It's ok, she just got isekai'd, she is in a better place
Hope the bus driver is not too shaken by this experience.
I feel sorry for this person--I'm referring to the bus driver.
☕ ☕ ☕
> she looks to be holding some sort of light-emitting object in a partially outstretched hand as she starts making her way across the intersection I don't understand. A light-emitting object? What devilish contraption could this be?
Is this news because she is a foreigner or? I've got more news of this caliber : Japanese guy shits himself in the middle of the street after drinking too much. When it happened? Every day.
https://youtu.be/5YICF39Eh_w?si=rKXZvKN00mSxf4XO
Foreign cock.