A 79-year-old woman was arrested in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, on suspicion of hitting a woman who was walking her dog and driving away without stopping. The woman crossing the road, 69, broke a bone in her right hip.
Police identified the suspect as Kamako Asai, a part-time worker from Nisshin. She is accused of striking the woman with a kei car — a small-engined vehicle taxed and regulated more lightly than a full-size car — shortly after 7:40 a.m. on Tuesday in the Fujieda-cho district of the city.
Security cameras nearby showed a yellow kei car that Asai was driving, which led police to her, according to the account. She has admitted the allegation, police said.
A stop sign stood on Asai's side of the road, and police are investigating how the collision happened.
The case adds to a run of collisions involving drivers in their late 70s and 80s that has kept the rules for renewing licences for older drivers under scrutiny. Under the current system, drivers aged 75 and over must pass a cognitive test when they renew, and those with a history of certain violations must take a driving course.