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Tokyo cops: Pedestrian struck, killed by distracted cyclist in Roppongi

A man was struck and killed in Tokyo by a male cyclist who claimed he was distracted by street braille blocks (TBS News)
A man was struck and killed in Tokyo by a male cyclist who claimed he was distracted by street braille blocks (TBS News)

TOKYO (TR) – A man was struck and killed in near the Roppongi entertainment district by a male cyclist who claimed he was distracted by street braille blocks, police said on Friday.

At around 5 a.m. on Friday, Hajime Araki, 41, a social worker, was killed after the 32-year-old cyclist hit him on a sloped passageway some two meters wide, TBS News reports (Dec. 31).

The cyclist was riding down the passageway without his bike lights on when the “pedestrian was in front of me after I was distracted by braille markings on the pavement,” NHK reported (Dec. 30).

“I hit the brakes but it was too late,” the suspect said.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the case as death resulting from gross negligence.

A sign on the passageway warns cyclists that they must disembark from their bikes and descend the slope, police said.