“A court has convicted a restaurant owner for serving alcohol to a car driver who later caused a fatal accident with two cars.
The Saitama District Court on Thursday sentenced Hiroaki Okubo, 45, the operator of a restaurant from Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, to two years in prison, suspended for five years, for violating the Road Traffic Law.
"The defendant served liquor for the sake of sales at his restaurant. The act is self-indulgent," Presiding Judge Yoshifumi Otani said in handing down the ruling.
According to the ruling, Okubo served about eight glasses of "shochu" liquor to a regular customer, Kiyoshi Tamagawa, 32, during approximately a five-hour period from around 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 17.
An hour later, Tamagawa caused a head-on collision with another car after hitting yet another vehicle while he was driving on a road in Kumagaya, leaving two people dead and seven injured. Tamagawa has been indicted on charges of dangerous driving resulting in death and injury.”
What is your opinion on this matter? Should a restaurant owner have responsibility in a drunk drivers accident?
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080606p2a00m0na003000c.html it is also on http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/2008/06/in-japan-a-lot.html
