Driving License of Man, 87, to Be Revoked after Fatal Accident

June 1, 2019

Tokyo--The Tokyo Metropolitan Public Safety Commission on Friday decided to revoke the driving license of a man, 87, whose runaway car hit and killed a woman, 31, and her three-year-old daughter in Tokyo in April.

The commission set a hearing for Friday morning to learn what the man, Kozo Iizuka, would say about his suspected offense. But he did not appear, citing bad legs, according to the Metropolitan Police Department of the Japanese capital.

Iizuka's license will be canceled after he or his proxy takes related procedures.

On the early afternoon on April 19, Iizuka's car went through a red light and ran out of control for about 150 meters in the busy Ikebukuro district in Tokyo, killing the mother and the girl, and injuring nine people. Iizuka also suffered injuries.

The police believe that Iizuka mistakenly kept pressing his car's accelerator.

Iizuka has not been arrested for the accident. This is reportedly because there is no fear of him running away or destroying evidence.

But anger grew on the Internet, with some suggesting that he escaped arrest because he was a former senior government official.

Iizuka had served as head of the former Agency of Industrial Science and Technology under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The agency and another MITI affiliate were integrated to create the current National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, or AIST.

The police continue to investigate the accident, suspecting Iizuka's negligent driving resulting in deaths and injuries. A dashboard camera in his car and other physical evidence have been confiscated.

At a press conference held days after the crash, the husband of the woman killed in the incident asked elderly people to think about not driving if they are unsure about their driving skills. Jiji Press