High Speed Pileup in Kanagawa: Four Vehicle Highway Crash Injures Five Passengers, Blocks Lanes, Traffic Halted

Kanagawa, Japan— Five passengers were injured after a high-speed highway pileup involving four vehicles in Kanagawa on October 22, 2026.

The crash happened at 8:05 a.m. on the Tomei Expressway outbound near Yokohama, a heavily used commuter and freight corridor. Traffic was moving at near-limit speed. A sedan in the middle lane braked hard for congestion ahead. A following SUV could not stop and slammed into it. Two more cars behind piled into the wreck within seconds.

One car spun into the median guardrail and overturned. Another was pushed into the shoulder wall. Debris, including bumpers and shattered glass, scattered across 100 meters. Fuel leaked onto the fast lane. Horns blared. Drivers swerved.

Highway patrol and fire crews arrived in nine minutes. They found four crumpled vehicles blocking two lanes and five injured people, some trapped, some standing dazed on the shoulder. Hydraulic cutters were used to open one door. One woman was carried out on a backboard.

“We had high-speed impacts, multiple patients, traffic still flying past at 80 kilometers per hour in the next lane. We shut everything down to work,” said a Kanagawa highway patrol officer.

The five injured, ranging from 20s to 60s, were taken to hospitals in Yokohama and Kawasaki. One is listed as serious with head and chest trauma. Four are stable with fractures and whiplash. No deaths were reported.

The expressway was closed outbound for two hours. The backup stretched 8 kilometers. NEXCO Central dispatched tow trucks and a sweeper to clear oil and debris. Commuters were told to use Route 246 or the Shin-Tomei.

Police are reviewing dashcam footage from trucks behind the pileup. Early assessment points to sudden braking and insufficient following distance in dense, high-speed traffic. No alcohol is suspected. Speed data from the vehicles’ recorders has been secured.

The road reopened fully before 11 a.m. The investigation remains open. The file will include technical inspection of brakes and tires.