Japanese police investigate a deadly collision just outside the main gate for Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Japanese police arrested a local man on suspicion of negligent driving early Wednesday after a motorcyclist died in a collision just outside the home of the U.S. 7th Fleet.
It’s the second motorcycle fatality here in less than two weeks.
Motorcyclist Wataru Teruya, 36, of Yokosuka, was eastbound on Route 16 around 12:50 a.m. when fellow Yokosuka resident Yu Seki, 38, turned right in a passenger car and struck Teruya broadside, a Kanagawa Prefectural Police spokesman said by phone Wednesday.
The accident occurred at the intersection just outside of Carney Gate, the base’s main entrance.
Teruya, a restaurant owner, was pronounced dead at 1:36 a.m. at a local hospital; Seki was uninjured, the spokesman told Stars and Stripes.
The accident happened less than two weeks after a Navy sailor on a motorcycle was killed in an Aug. 24 collision near Yokosuka’s southeastern entrance. Base spokesman Randall Baucom on Wednesday identified the sailor as Petty Officer 2nd Class Miguel Cortes, 24, of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
Police on Wednesday arrested Seki on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in injury. Police plan to investigate the case as negligent driving resulting in death, TV Kanagawa reported that day.
Japanese police investigate a deadly collision just outside the main gate for Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Japanese police investigate a deadly collision just outside the main gate for Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Japanese police direct traffic following a deadly collision just outside the main gate for Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Seki’s right turn would have taken him to the main gate, and his car displayed a Japanese National Employee sticker issued by the base. Baucom declined to comment on whether Seki is affiliated with the base and referred further questions to the Japanese police.
“The accident occurred off base and no SOFA personnel were involved,” he said by email. SOFA — the status of forces agreement — specifies the rights and responsibilities of U.S. service members, civilian employees and their families in Japan.
The police spokesman could not confirm whether Seki worked on the base. Some Japanese government officials customarily speak to the media on condition of anonymity.
The accident and subsequent investigation on Route 16 caused long delays in morning traffic. Normal traffic resumed around 9 a.m., Baucom said.
In the Aug. 24 accident, Cortes, an aviation ordnanceman, was riding on Route 16 near Womble Gate when he approached a vehicle driven by a U.S. civilian from behind on the right and the two collided.
Cortes was pronounced dead at 11:17 p.m. at a local hospital. The car’s driver was not injured, a Kanagawa police spokesman said that day.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the sailor’s family, friends and shipmates during this extremely difficult time,” Baucom wrote in his email. “The crew mourns the loss of our shipmate and friend.”
He declined to identify the driver and referred all questions about the incident to local police.
The accident remains under investigation and no arrests have been made, the police spokesman said Wednesday.
