A 90-year-old former top bureaucrat has decided not to appeal a recent court ruling that sentenced him to five years in prison without suspension for negligence over a fatal Tokyo car accident in 2019, sources close to him said Wednesday.
The decision effectively finalizes the Tokyo District Court's Sept. 2 ruling that convicted Kozo Iizuka, a former chief of the now-defunct Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, of negligence resulting in the deaths of a woman and her 3-year-old daughter as well as injuries to nine others.
The high-profile case has stirred debate about the increasing number of older drivers on Japanese roads and the dangers they may pose amid the rapid graying of society. Iizuka had pleaded not guilty, maintaining that a mechanical issue with the car caused him to lose control of it.