September 6, 2017

A large U.S. military vehicle towing a tank drove into pedestrian guardrails on an Okinawa public road at around 10 a.m. of September 5, destroying about ten meters of guardrails.

Reportedly, the army vehicle failed to negotiate a curve, apparently caused by excessive speed, and collided with the guardrails in Higashi Village in Okinawa. The vehicle strayed onto the opposite lane and stopped some tens meters away from the accident site. The tank the vehicle was towing was overturned.

Japanese Communist Party member of the Higashi Village Assembly, Isa Masatsugu said, “Probably the truck could not negotiate the turn due to excessive speed,” adding that many villagers say they often feel scared when driving past oncoming military vehicles.

He said, “They always drive fast. It was lucky that no one was walking there and no cars were passing, but it could have been a serious accident. I think that U.S. forces should leave or at least should keep to the Japanese legal speed limit. The Japanese government should tell the U.S. military to abide by Japanese traffic laws.”