A 26-year-old man pleaded not guilty Monday at the Yokohama District Court to a charge of dangerous driving in connection with an alleged road-rage incident near Tokyo last year in which a couple died and their two young daughters were injured.

Kazuho Ishibashi was initially arrested on charges including negligence resulting in death or injury, but prosecutors later applied the stricter charge of dangerous driving resulting in death or injury over the incident, which occurred on the Tomei Expressway in Kanagawa Prefecture in June last year.

The tougher charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.