Fatal pedestrian collisions rise 10%
IAM RoadSmart is urging drivers to be more alert for other road users, as pedestrians now make up a quarter of all deaths on UK roads.
According to Department for Transport (DfT) figures in 2016, some 448 pedestrians lost their lives, a rise of 10% over the previous year – which is the biggest increase for any group of road users. The DfT figures say in 42% of crashes the driver ‘failed to look’ and this rises to 54% for the pedestrians themselves.
Observing, anticipating and planning will save lives on the roads, as a fifth of drivers ‘failed to judge the other person’s path or speed’ in car collisions – and for pedestrians who made the same wrong choice just before a fatal or serious impact it was 17%.
Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research said, ‘Often people like to blame one sector for the causes of accidents. What is clear, and has always been so, is that we all play a part in each other’s safety whatever we are driving or riding, and whether we are on foot or not.’
IAM RoadSmart pointed out that both drivers and pedestrians are guilty of misjudging gaps and distances and choosing to ‘go for it’ just at the wrong point. This makes it more important for drivers to be on heightened alert – and to ‘expect the unexpected.’
