Man gets 18-year prison term for 2017 expressway road rage deaths

The Yokohama District Court convicted Kazuho Ishibashi of dangerous driving after he overtook the car of Yoshihisa Hagiyama, 45, and his family on the Tomei Expressway in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, on June 5, 2017, and forced it to stop in the passing lane where it was rear-ended by a truck.

The court recognized that Ishibashi's actions constituted dangerous driving, which was the main focus of the trial, and described them as "relentless criminal acts based on a strong intent."

The prison term was handed down by Presiding Judge Kiyoshi Aonuma as sought by prosecutors, who argued Ishibashi was liable for dangerous driving for repeatedly slowing down in front of the family's car. His defense had said there was no causal link between his driving and the accident.

But Aonuma, in handing down the ruling, rejected the argument, saying, "There was a causal relationship."

The judge said the defendant had advanced directly in front of Hagiyama's car four times and repeatedly engaged in obstructive driving by slowing down and approaching the vehicle. Ishibashi's dangerous driving led Hagiyama to take the risky action of stopping the car on a highway.

According to the ruling, Ishibashi was enraged after being warned by Hagiyama about the way he had parked his car in an expressway parking area just before the incident. Ishibashi pursued Hagiyama, who was traveling with his 39-year-old wife Yuka and their two daughters.