This report analyses n.55 cases of pedestrian fatalities, equal to 73% of the total in Northern Ireland between 2008 and 2012, attended by the Forensic Science Northern Ireland (FSNI) Road Traffic Collision investigators. There were n.39 Coroners’ inquest reports requested and the findings were made available in relation to the collisions analysed in this study in n.37 cases. In n.30 (55%) of cases the pedestrians wore dark clothing. The majority of collisions occurred in darkness n.35 (64%), while the remaining n.20 (36%) collisions occurred during daylight. In n.50 (91%) of the incidents, the vehicle was not driven at excessive speed (over the speed limit). Children aged between one to 16 years represented the smallest group (12.7%); the group representing adults (including one 17 year old) total n.31/55 (56.4%) of the fatalities. There were n.17/55 (31%) elderly pedestrians (aged over 70 years) involved in collisions with vehicles. In n.5 cases, the elderly pedestrians (n.2 females and n.3 males) crossed the road in front of a lorry. There were n.17/55 pedestrians (31%) who were found to have alcohol in their blood at the time of the collision. All n.17 cases occurred during the hours of darkness. The average Blood Alcohol Content was 232 mg per 100 ml. There are three areas of concern: visibility, the elderly and intoxicated pedestrians. Cognitive impairment underpins these three groups: * The visibility of drivers can be impaired due to darkness and glare, this is compounded due to the dark clothing of pedestrians which inhibits the drivers to discern them in darkness. * The elderly are vulnerable road users because of their frailty and at times inability to understand speed and distance. * Intoxicated pedestrians are a danger to themselves because of the levels of alcohol ingested which cause these pedestrians to be unstable and incoherent. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting