First off, the person hit is alive and this is not a gory story. I hope this formats alright as I’m on mobile.
I was out walking with my friend and we sat on a bench to chat for a bit. The bench faced out towards the road and only a couple of minutes later we see an older lady start going into the crosswalk and a car swings around the corner there (going maybe 10km/hr). The driver obviously didn’t see her as they didn’t brake and at first it looked like he’d just barely missed her but she was still in forward motion and they collided with a thwacking sound. She spun in a half turn and crumpled to a sitting position.
I was thinking the worst because you see all of the stories about hit and runs and about how bad drivers are here, but the middle-aged man who hit her had parked around the corner and came running back after a minute or so. By that point my friend and I had gone closer to see if we needed to call an ambulance and I went across the street because she was sitting but the corner was shady and since the two of them were closer to the ground (her sitting and him crouching) and with everyone slowing to stop and see what happened I went over to help keep them from getting hiy a second time.
There was no blood or anything protruding, thankfully. She knew her name and age and tried to refuse the ambulance but the man who hit her insisted that he call both an ambulance and the police. She was more interested in calling her sister so I suspect she was in a bit of shock.
Quite a few people stopped their cars to ask if they needed help and if an ambulance had been called.
It didn’t take long for both the ambulance and the police to show up, as well as the woman’s sister, and the older lady was loaded into the ambulance with her sister. My friend and I waited for a couple of minutes to see if they needed us for anything/questions but they never talked to us so we went on our way.
I guess I wanted to share this because most people really only post about the awful stories and how no one does anything or stops to help. Even though there were a bunch of people who just stopped to stare, quite a few people in a relatively short time expressed concern and offered to help.
18 comments
Have had similar experiences a number of times. People stopping to help, etc. And of course it makes sense that most people will just stare, as especially if others are already helping, there isn’t much the average person can do to help in such a situation
That’s nice that the man still called both the ambulance and police himself even after she refused.
well done you two.
If you call an ambulance and report a traffic accident, the police will automatically turn up, often before the ambulance.
Driver did correct calling the ambulance. Anytime you hit a pedestrian you should.
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Again good neighbouring! 
You are lucky. When I witnessed an accident, they questioned me for a long time as if I was the one that caused the accident. I was an hour late for work. This is one reason people try to get involved, a lot of people are in a hurry to get somewhere.
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A few years back I was quick to the scene of a drunk driver hitting a pedestrian. Was almost the first victim of that drunk driver but he barely missed us and hit this poor guy instead.
Everyone helped out – we pedestrians ended up lifting the car off the man hit so the paramedics could help. Fortunately the driver was arrested too.
A couple years back a guy had a seizure in Akihabara and my cousin and I saw him fall down and start convulsing.
Nobody batted an eye.
They just walked right past him.
So we jumped into action and eventually a Japanese guy asked if we needed help. We said yes and he called an ambulance
The ambulance came and hauled the dude off without a single thank you or anything.
And then the Japanese dude that helped just went on his way.
And my cousin and I were left standing there like did this just happen?
Saw a woman get absolutely destroyed by a car on a Halloween night in osaka.
Blood running out the ear. Never a good sign
Drivers should be careful but some of these pedestrians crossing the road when looking at their phones really make me question their survival ability
A few years ago I saw a guy on a motorcycle get struck by a minivan while I was waiting to cross a huge intersection (if you’re in Osaka, you might know how hellish the Hoenzaka intersection is). I didn’t see what happened at the moment of impact, as I was looking across the other direction, waiting for the light to change, but heard a SMACK that I thought was maybe just the sound of a big truck running over a cardboard box as it sped through the busy intersection at rush hour.
Just on the off chance, I turned my head to the right and saw a guy in the second lane down, sprawled out in the intersection, his bike smashed up a little distance away from him, pieces of it spread all over the lanes. I didn’t see anyone else around, it was like 7am and there weren’t many other peds walking there, so I ran out there to see if he was ok (not knowing what the hell I’d do if he wasn’t, it was just an instinct to try to help). Fortunately, the guy who hit him did pull over and got out of his car. It was some old codger, and he started yelling at the guy, like, “Why did you keep going??”…I’m guessing the guy on the bike tried to speed across the intersection a few too many seconds after the light turned red and the other traffic was already plowing through. Fortunately, the minivan driver took out his phone after that. I leaned down to check the guy out and he was shocked but conscious and did have a helmet on, thankfully. Only…his knee wasn’t so ok. The knee of his jeans was ripped from the impact down to the ankle, and…his knee right along with it. Wide open, but hadn’t started bleeding yet. All I could think to do was tell him not to move and that he’d be ok. There was another guy who had gotten across the intersection by that time and was also on the phone, while other passersby and the minivan driver were helping pick up his bike and all the pieces of it off the road so traffic could proceed. Eventually a man came and we helped him get up, and we walked to the corner…where the blood suddenly remembered to start flowing from his knee. That was something, alright.
So anyone around at that time did help any way they could, and it wasn’t a hit and run, even though that driver is going to be screwed 6 ways to Sunday whether it’s his fault or not. The only thing that shocked me was when the ambulance showed up, they made the poor guy walk to the stretcher and get on by himself, even though it was placed on the ground. That…looked painful. I still think about that guy when it gets close to Christmas time, and wonder if he healed up ok.
I recently saw a woman on a bicycle get hit by a car running a red just past the Shibuya scramble. She was right next to me and had she not been hit, the car may have hit pedestrians on the crosswalk just a meter away. She appeared to be okay luckily, but everyone just kind of watched for a few seconds then continued about their evening. I was going the same way so I tried to ask if she was okay but it seemed like she just wanted to get out of there and away from the attention.
In a way this is a good news story.
I mean, Japanese drivers seem fucking hopeless about zebra crossings. But at least the driver insisted they see a doctor and do the right thing.
You know what grinds my gears. Reading other people’s comments made me remember. I’ve been a lifeguard so I’m first aid trained and whatnot so when things happen I’m often the first one to sprint over. I usually don’t mind being othered in odd ways by Japanese but in these cases it really pisses me off. I always start handling the scene and checking on the injured doing my thing as trained and then as soon as other Japanese come over I’m just shoved out of the way. My Japanese is perfectly fine, it’s not that. Of course no one can tell from looking at me that I’m trained. I would think you could tell by how I’m handling things but whatever
Got hit by a car once when riding my bicycle. Bicycle got totaled but I didn’t get hurt. The driver was an old lady. Guess what; she panicked and fled…
/r/mildlyinterestingjapan
Nice one for helping, man.
Earlier this year when I was walking in Ueno, I saw a man, maybe mid to late 50s, riding a scooter and get hit by a truck! I, as well as others around me audibly gasped. The man was thrown pretty far from his vehicle, parts of the scooter everywhere, and even though he had been wearing a helmet, it seemed to have slipped off of him after the initial impact. His clothing was also pretty shredded up. Thankfully he began to move because for some time he had just laid still. The driver seemed young, maybe 30s and ran out immediately to attend to him. My husband called an ambulance as well as several others around us, the driver included. Everyone seemed really worried. Cops and paramedics came very fast though, and I hope he recovered.
Just the other day I saw an old lady desperately grasping a telephone pole. People didn’t notice and walked by, her face was full of “please help me” energy. When I asked her if she was ok she immediately reached out and grabbed me. She was 90 years old! She lost all feelings in her legs all of a sudden and she said it never happened before. We wanted to drive her home but she only accepted a drive to her car. She was feeling better by then but we wish she would have let us help her more. She then forced her untouched coffee, pan and ¥800 on us as a thank you. She was very sweet.
Another time, my husband was waiting at a crosswalk and a girl fainted. They were all trying to help and realized her heart wasn’t beating. My husband is an ex soccer player so he ran to get an AED. Someone in the crowd knew how to use it and an ambulance came. All we know is they got her heart beating again before the ambulance took her away.