Mother of 3 Kids Killed by Drunken Driver Gives 1st Lecture

   Fukuoka, July 12 (Jiji Press)--The mother of three young children who were killed in a drunken driving accident in Japan in 2006 has given a lecture for the first time on the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol.
   In the lecture at Hakata High School in the southwestern city of Fukuoka on Friday, Kaori Ogami, 48, told its students, "I hope you will become adults who can choose by their own will not to drink and drive."
   On the night of Aug. 25, 2006, a vehicle driven by a drunken man crashed into a vehicle carrying Ogami and four other members of her family in Fukuoka, causing it to fall into the sea. The accident resulted in the deaths of Ogami's first son Hiroaki, 4, second son Tomoaki, 3, and first daughter Saya, 1.
   The man, a former Fukuoka municipal government employee, was convicted of charges including dangerous driving resulting in death and injury, and given a 20-year prison sentence. The incident led to the introduction of stricter penalties for drunken driving.
   In the roughly 30-minute lecture, Ogami reflected on the night of the accident. She said that she was able to retrieve Tomoaki and Saya from the sinking vehicle but had to give up saving Hiroaki after being unable to find him. "I had to make a very scary decision," she recalled. Tomoaki and Saya died later.

(2025/07/12-20:10)