7th LRT-car accident, car wrecked, collision with another car
Shimotsuke Shimbun reported as follows
Around 1:50 p.m. on the 26th, a car driven by a male office worker (74) from Utsunomiya collided with an upbound light rail transit (LRT) on a road in Mine 4-chome, Utsunomiya. The car then collided with another car driven by a male office worker (40) from Oyama, which had stopped.
According to Utsunomiya Higashi Police Station, the accident occurred between Yoto 3-chome and Mine stops. The two men and the approximately 60 passengers on the LRT were not injured.
The LRT resumed operation at 2:07 p.m. Around 1:50 p.m. on the 26th, a call was made to 110 reporting an accident in which an LRT Utsunomiya Haga Light Rail collided with a car.
This is the seventh collision with a car. If we add the two collisions in October this year, this is the ninth accident. Looking at the photos of the wrecked car, the repairs for the LRT will be huge. Basically, if there is a collision with an LRT, the driver is 100% at fault, so if you don't have voluntary insurance, it will be a big problem. Even if you have insurance, the burden on the insurance company on the driver's side will be huge.
There have been several accidents near the site of this accident, and the intersection where Kinu Street and the old Yanagida Street cross diagonally about 300 meters east of the accident site is very dangerous and always makes me nervous.
In addition, there are several dangerous intersections (effectively railroad crossings) without traffic lights in the Hiraishi area, and I am worried that a personal injury accident will occur at any time.
Local residents in the Hiraishi area have requested an overpass and a change in route to avoid the construction of a dangerous intersection, but these requests have been ignored and the intersection has been built.
Photo 1: A wagon vehicle collided with an LRT = 2:45 p.m. on the 26th, Mine 4-chome, Utsunomiya City
Photo 2: Investigators investigating the area around the scene of the collision between an LRT and a wagon vehicle = 2:50 p.m. on the 26th, Mine 4-chome, Utsunomiya City
