IAM RoadSmart urges drivers to be on ‘heightened alert’ for pedestrians as deaths rise by 10%
The UK’s biggest independent road safety charity IAM RoadSmart is urging drivers to up their game and be more alert for other road users, as pedestrians now make up a quarter of all deaths on our roads, ahead of motorcyclists or cyclists. Only car occupants have a worse record.
According to Department for Transport figures (reference 1) 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 – showing the responsibility is not always one-sided.
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.”
But Neil pointed out that while blame may not be easy to apportion, the fact a car versus pedestrian crash is an unequal match means drivers must take on a special responsibility for looking out for the safety of those on foot.
He said: “We are all pedestrians at some time so no matter how fast-paced our lives might be, we all need to remember that those on foot are extremely vulnerable.
“Pedestrians being “careless, reckless or in a hurry” was a contributory factor in a quarter of accidents where a pedestrian was injured or killed. Observing the body language of pedestrians will give drivers a clue of their intentions, for example, a pedestrian looking over their shoulder may be looking for a suitable gap to cross the road and anyone with their head buried in a smartphone or wearing headphones is at extra risk.”
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 all the more important for drivers to be on heightened alert – and to ‘expect the unexpected.’
Neil said: “Research on vision has found children of primary school age find it very difficult to accurately see or judge the speed of vehicles.
“Slowing down around pedestrians and constantly scanning for clues to their intention is essential if we are to reduce the growing toll of pedestrian fatalities on our roads. As drivers we have an advanced safety shell around us, pedestrians only have flesh and bone.”
ENDS
Reference 1:
DfT Table RAS50003 - Contributory factors in reported accidents by road class, Great Britain, 2016 and DfT Table RAS50004 - Reported accidents involving pedestrians with contributory factors, Great Britain, 2016
|
Number/ percentage |
|
|||||
|
|
Accidents2,3 where contributory factor assigned to injured or killed pedestrian |
|
Accidents2,3 where contributory factor assigned to uninjured pedestrian |
|||
|
Contributory factor attributed to pedestrian1 |
Number |
Per cent4 |
|
Number |
Per cent4 |
|
|
Pedestrian failed to look properly |
8,455 |
54 |
|
109 |
46 |
|
|
Pedestrian careless, reckless or in a hurry |
3,936 |
25 |
|
83 |
35 |
|
|
Pedestrian failed to judge vehicle's path or speed |
2,700 |
17 |
|
34 |
14 |
|
|
Crossing road masked by stationary or parked vehicle |
2,156 |
14 |
|
20 |
8 |
|
|
Pedestrian impaired by alcohol |
1,349 |
9 |
|
10 |
4 |
|
|
Pedestrian wrong use of pedestrian crossing facility |
965 |
6 |
|
20 |
8 |
|
|
Dangerous action in carriageway (eg. playing) |
772 |
5 |
|
11 |
5 |
|
|
Pedestrian wearing dark clothing at night |
713 |
5 |
|
8 |
3 |
|
|
Pedestrian disability or illness, mental or physical |
409 |
3 |
|
4 |
2 |
|
|
Pedestrian impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal) |
171 |
1 |
|
0 |
0 |
|
|
Total number of accidents |
15,673 |
100 |
|
239 |
100 |
|
|
2 Includes only accidents where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported. 3 Accidents can involve both pedestrian casualties and uninjured pedestrians who were assigned a contributory factor. 4 Columns may not add up to 100 per cent as accidents can have more than one contributory factor. |
||||||
Further information from:
IAM RoadSmart press office – 020 8996 9777 – press.office@iam.org.uk
ISDN broadcast lines available
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On Twitter: @IAMRoadSmart
IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.
To find out more about IAM RoadSmart products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com
To find out more about IAM RoadSmart’s Driver Retraining Academy visit www.iamdra.org.uk
To find out the name of your own local IAM RoadSmart group please visit: https://wwwiamroadsmart.com/local-groups
ENDS ALL
