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Investigation and inquest
On 17th January 2018 an investigation was commenced into the death of Mrs Doreen Fell who died at the age of 76 years old. The inquest concluded at the end of the inquest on 20th February 2019. The conclusion of the inquest was accidental death.
Circumstances of the death
Mrs Fell was a recently widowed lady living in the Cumbrian village of Backbarrow. She had lived in the area all her life. Mrs Fell had a strong social group in the village; attending friends, family and the community centre on a daily basis. She had been the caretaker of the local primary school for many years prior to retirement.
The A590 bisects the village of Backbarrow. It is the only area of habitation along the 34 mile long A590 which contains a stretch of the road that maintains the national speed limit of 60mph. The relevant areas of this village shall be referred to as either the northbound side or the southbound side.
On 17th January 2018, Mrs Fell had visited her friend who lives on the southbound side of the village, and was making her way home by foot when a heavy vehicle which is located on the northbound side. The time was 5.00pm and it was dark. She walked down Brow Edge Road to its junction with the A590 and walked several meters to the north to a pedestrian crossing. The crossing has been designed to offer pedestrians crossing the A590 safer harbour in a railed off central traffic island which is located in the middle of the north and southbound carriageways.
Mrs Fell crossed the southbound carriageway and made it on to central traffic island. She crossed the island to a dropped curb in order to negotiate crossing the northbound carriageway. The breadth of the northbound carriageway at this point was 3.8m wide.
Mrs Fell allowed a white transit van to pass by and then commenced her crossing of the carriageway. She walked into the path of a black Honda Civic that was travelling at 50mph. She suffered catastrophic injuries and died at the scene.
The inquest heard from Cumbria Constabulary Collision Investigator ████████ who had determined that:
• the vehicle was at a distance of 16 to 25m away when Mrs Fell attempted to cross
• the vehicle was travelling at approximately 50mph which is the equivalent of 22.35 metres per second
• there was approximately 0.8 seconds between Mrs Fell stepping out and being struck by the vehicle
• the driver of the vehicle had no opportunity to react in such a period
• it would have taken Mrs Fell (walking at an average speed for a lady aged 60+ of 1.25 metres per second) 3.04 second to have crossed the north bound carriageway
• to ensure safe passage when crossing in front of a vehicle travelling at 50mph would require a safe gap of at least 67.94m (and indeed a distance of 81.47m if the car was lawfully travelling at 60mph)
• it was highly likely that Mrs Fell had failed to see the black car which was following in convoy behind the white transit van
• there is no artificial street lighting on the road (save for traffic warning lights on the traffic island itself to inform drivers of its presence)
• Mrs Fell would have been wholly reliant on judging distance by gauging the speed of approaching vehicles from variations in the approaching headlights alone.
• the lack of street lighting at this mid village crossing undoubtedly made it harder for any pedestrian to assess whether crossing the carriageway was safe to do so or not.
Additional relevant factors regarding Mrs Fell were:
a) she wore reactor light glasses which affected her ability to assess rapid changes in light
b) she had never passed a driving test or driven a car
c) she was suffering from early onset Alzheimer's disease which family members asserted could have affected her spatial perception
d) she crossed this carriageway daily to visit her friend
Relevant factors concerning this section of the A590 were:
a) it is a straight section of road sandwiched at either end by two dual carriageways: sustained speeds are regularly high in this area
b) the village and road is located at the base of a valley which inhibits the level of natural light on the road
c) the road at this point is bordered either side by continuous rows of very high trees further inhibiting the availability of natural light on the carriageway.
The family of Mrs Fell were accordingly of the view that this section of road is naturally fast and very dark at night.
Coroner’s concerns
1. The application of the national speed limit for this short section of trunk road whilst it passes through the village of Backbarrow directly impacts on:
a) reaction times for pedestrians
b) reaction times for drivers
c) the size of gap in traffic required to execute a safe pedestrian crossing
2. The low levels of natural light on this section accentuates the present lack of any street lighting on this section of road which may otherwise assist pedestrians with executing a safe crossing during the hours of darkness.
3. There is a village hall on the southbound side and a primary school on the northbound side of Backbarrow. It is foreseeable that children: the elderly or those with a physical or mental impairment will have occasion to cross this section of road. This aspect has a direct impact on the risk analysis applicable to points 1 & 2 above.
It is recommended that an urgent review of traffic safety for this section of the A590 which bisects the village of Backbarrow is undertaken, including particular analysis from a pedestrian’s perspective.
As a footnote, it would seem that there are no signs indicating to residents, or visitors to the village, that there is an alternative route across the A590 via an underpass some 500m to the south of this accident. A review of applicable signage along this section of road is also suggested.
Information checked against the published report and official responses