A municipal assembly member in Kagoshima Prefecture said Thursday that a desperate search for a toilet prompted him to break the law by driving his car at 169 kph on an expressway in April.
Masataka Hisai, a 28-year-old member of the Shibushi Municipal Assembly in Kagoshima Prefecture, was indicted without arrest Oct. 29 in violation of the traffic law and will soon have the first court hearing in the case.
"I was hurrying to find a toilet because I had a stomachache when driving. ... I failed to observe the law," Hisai told Kyodo News.
He said he was alone in the car on a personal trip to a hot spring in Oita Prefecture when he exceeded the speed limit of 80 kph on April 9.
The assembly said it will consider what punitive action to take based on the result of the trial.
Hisai won an assembly seat after running in an election as an independent in January.