3 Children Mourned 20 Years after Fukuoka Drunken-Driving Crash

Fukuoka, Aug. 25 (Jiji Press)–The southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka on Tuesday marked the 20th anniversary of a high-profile drunken-driving crash that killed three young siblings, with a rally held to remember the victims and vow to eradicate intoxicated driving. The event was attended by Seitaro Hattori, governor of Fukuoka Prefecture, members of the public and Kaori Onuma, 49, mother of the three children. The Fukuoka prefectural police department will conduct a crackdown on drunken driving Tuesday evening in concerted action with the police departments of the seven other prefectures in the Kyushu region and the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, south of Kyushu. It will be the first such joint crackdown by the eight prefectural police departments. In Fukuoka Prefecture, checkpoints will be set up at about 60 locations, including downtown areas. The accident, which prompted the introduction of tougher penalties on intoxicated driving, occurred Aug. 25, 2006. A car carrying Onuma, her husband and the couple’s three children was rear-ended by a vehicle driven by a drunken man on the Uminonakamichi Ohashi bridge in the city of Fukuoka and plunged into the sea. The children–first son Hiroaki, 4, second son Tomoaki, 3, and first daughter Saya, 1–died. The following year, Japan revised the road traffic law to raise penalties for intoxicated driving and hit-and-run incidents. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]