Cut in pedestrian toll difficult, says Ministry

Press, 1 August 1989, Page 5

Cut in pedestrian toll difficult, says Ministry

PA Wellington Almost one road death in six is a pedestrian, and with half the deaths involving people walking or running heedless of traffic, not a lot can be done to cut the toll, the Ministry of Transport says. The Ministry tried to put pedestrian crossings at the best site and designed urban roads to discourage drivers from speeding, said a traffic research controller, Mr Bill Frith.

“But if people are going to walk across a road without looking there is not much we can do about it except try to educate them,” he said. Improvements in car technology should improve the statistics as well, with better brakes and tyres making collisions less likely and more streamlined designs re-

ducing damage to pedestrians if they are hit. “You are much better off as a pedestrian being hit now than you were a while ago, though getting run over is never going to be fun,” Mr Frith said. “The key is always going to be to reduce the speed at impact. You are very unlikely to survive if hit at 50km but at 15km your chances are good.” Pedestrian accident statistics gathered by the Ministry over six years show old people have the highest death, rate, though school children have the highest accident rate. School children are most at risk going to and from school, while accidents involving adults peak during morning and evening rush hours and late on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

In a quarter of accidents involving adult pedestrians either the victim or the car driver had been drinking. While adult casualties peak during winter, suggesting poor light in the rush hours causes accidents, pre-school rates reduce, probably because children are more likely to be indoors in bad weather. Walking into the path of a car or stepping out from behind a parked car are the most common pedestrian accidents, especially when children are involved. Forty per cent of preschool children hit by cars were unsupervised. The most commonly listed driver fault was failing to give way at pedestrian crossings or traffic signals.