Regarding the Dec. 13 article "Man gets 4 1/2 years for fatal drunken driving": I am absolutely outraged at the sentence. Not only did the court let the family down, it also added insult to the death of this little girl.
The man is said to have drunk "five or six cans of beer" before driving his vehicle. His action was therefore premeditated. In his drunken hands, the vehicle became, in fact, a weapon that the man used to kill the little girl. This, therefore, was murder.
The man should have been charged accordingly and given the full 20 years. For the judge: Yes, it's that easy! The sentence is a joke and an insult to all those who, like me, have lost a family member at the hands of drunken drivers.
I thought that Japan was finally getting serious about tackling the drunken driving problem. How wrong I was. There are no awareness campaigns on television, no posters in public places such as bars, supermarkets or convenience stores to educate and warn people of the dangers of drinking and driving. Nothing!