On April 19, a passenger car lost control on a metropolitan highway in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, killing Mana Matsunaga (31 at the time) and Riko Matsunaga (3 at the time). The third trial of the former director of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Kozo Iizuka (89), who was charged at his home, took place in the Tokyo District Court on the 14th. That day the declaration of the Defendant’s defense and defense attorney said the cause of the accident was the deterioration of the electrical system of the Toyota “Prius” that the defendant was driving at the time of the accident. He insisted that he made no mistake with the brake pedal.

At 10:01 am, Iizuka entered Court No. 104 in a wheelchair and made a slight bow at the time of admission. At noon on April 19, 19, when the defendant Iizuka had an accident, he left the house by car for lunch and moved to Bunkyo Ward, 5 km from his house, about 20 minutes before the accident. He claimed that he never drove in a hurry and drove a little slower further.

<1> When I changed lanes while driving, I accelerated even though I did not press the accelerator pedal, and I did not decelerate no matter how many times I pressed the brake pedal

<2> Before approaching the intersection at the crash site, I had moved my right foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal.

<3> Although I was in a panic, I visually checked the accelerator pedal and then stepped on the brake pedal, but felt that it had come loose and did not decelerate, leading to a serious accident.

Insist. The Iizuka-powered Prius was launched in 2003 and was purchased by the defendant in 2008, claiming that the electrolytic capacitors and other parts had deteriorated over time.

At the first trial on October 8, Iizuka insisted that he was not guilty and said, “I remember I never kept pressing the gas pedal. I think something went wrong with the car.” On the other hand, the prosecution side accidentally stepped on the accelerator while Iizuka repeatedly changed lanes while driving, accelerating from 60 km / h to 84 km / h, and as a result of continuing to tread on it, accelerated to 96 km at the time of the accident. He explained that it was done. It also notes that the car’s troubleshooting sensor does not record any faults on either the throttle or the brake, and that “the data that the throttle is continuously pressed but the brake is not pressed is recorded.”

In the second trial held on the 3rd, three witnesses who witnessed the accident stood on the stand. The three witnesses testified that they “did not see the brake lights on.” One of them testified: “I was driving so dangerously that I thought it was a steep road. The brake light did not come on even once until (Iizuka’s car) collided with the garbage collection car.” ..