FILE No.15Unsolved
On a mountain road, a car hit a guardrail. Yada, a man, and Komiya, a woman, were in the car. After the crash, only Komiya survived. Yada died.
Komiya told the police:
"Mr. Yada was driving. I was in the passenger seat. For some reason Mr. Yada was in a big hurry..."
There were no other witnesses.
What is wrong with Komiya’s testimony? Look closely at the evidence. (The accident took place in Japan, where cars are right-hand drive: the driver’s seat is on the right.)
If you get stuck, open the hints one at a time, in order.
Where does a seat belt cross the body?
In a Japanese car, is the driver’s seat on the right or the left?
Match the direction of the two bruises to the seats.
What is wrong with Komiya’s testimony? Look closely at the evidence. (The accident took place in Japan, where cars are right-hand drive: the driver’s seat is on the right.)
Choose the answer closest to the truth.
Komiya’s bruise runs the way it would for someone who sat in the driver’s seat
The answer is “Komiya’s bruise runs the way it would for someone who sat in the driver’s seat.”
A seat belt crosses diagonally from the shoulder on the door side to the hip on the opposite side. In a right-hand-drive car, the driver’s seat is on the right. A person seated on the right is left with a bruise from the right shoulder to the left hip; a person seated on the left, from the left shoulder to the right hip. Komiya’s body had a bruise from the right shoulder to the left hip, the mark of someone in the driver’s seat. Yada’s bruise ran from the left shoulder to the right hip, the mark of the passenger seat. The one who was driving was not Yada but Komiya. The order of escape does not prove seat position, and there is no rule that passengers survive more often. Whether Yada was in a hurry cannot be checked; what exposed the lie was the mark left on the body.
You do not usually think about how the direction of a bruise relates to a seat.
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