A narrow road is all that connects Oe-Mach from Densha Dori past Aeon Mall, scissoring two high schools (Keisei and Kyugaku) to get to the other side of town. White stripes indicate a walking area about as broad as one’s shoulders, usually crowded with students and elderly on their way to shop, and while it is barely wide enough for two cars to pass safely (regardless of pedestrians), many drive it at an unsafe speed. My wife was walking home from Aeon the other day and was clipped by a passing sedan which propelled her against a nearby wall, thereby leaving her with bruises on both shoulders and a shopping bag of broken eggs.
Her treatment by the Kitakumamoto Keisatsu Police Station has been very disappointing. Their lack of sympathy is remarkable: while they promise to check into it (the road is so dangerous that both high schools have cameras recording drivers installed), all they’ve done to date is to advise her to take a lesser-traveled road which adds a hundred meters to her trip and has no night lighting.
It’s only a matter of time until someone is killed on that road. Kumamoto must pay more attention to these types of priorities. I will keep you up to date with the glacial progress (if any) of the police. - William