The Japanese embassy in Ottawa has reached an agreement with the foreign affairs department in the case of a diplomat accused of drunk driving.

Witnesses said the man's car ran an intersection in the Ottawa suburb of Orleans, almost hit a vehicle filled with teenagers, and then knocked over a traffic light on March 23.

The embassy said it won't suspend diplomatic immunity, which would allow police to lay charges. The man won't be sent home to Japan either.

But the embassy says the diplomat will have his driver's licence suspended for one year.

Ryoichi Horie, an embassy spokesman, says the man has already turned in his driver's licence, and he won't be allowed to drive in Canada for one year.

Under terms of the agreement, the man's name won't be made public.

Last year, Russian diplomat Andrei Knyazev used his diplomatic immunity to avoid Canadian prosecution in a drunk-driving accident.

Ottawa resident Catherine MacLean was killed in last year's accident. Her friend, Catherine Dor, was injured.

Last month, a Russian judge found Knyazev guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to four years in a medium-security institution.