Bartosz Cezary KUSIAK · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On Thirty-First January 2020 I commenced an investigation into the death of Bartosz Cezary KUSIAK aged 21. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 10ᵗʰ July 2020.The conclusion of the inquest was that Mr Kusiak died in a road traffic collision. The medically certified cause of death was:

I a Multiple Injuries Consistent with a Road Traffic Collision

I b

I c

II

Mr Kusiak left a bar in Durham city centre at approximately 01:30hrs on 23/01/2020 and began walking home towards his address in Cooper Square, Gilesgate.

At about 0220h, the driver of a motor vehicle observed Mr Kusiak in his headlights. Mr Kusiak was standing (or walking slowly in the direction of Durham towards oncoming traffic) on the central lane markers of the eastbound dual carriageway of the A690 between the Gilesgate roundabout and the Belmont overbridge.

Almost immediately thereafter, a second motorist struck Mr Kusiak, who had moved into the near side lane (Lane 1) of the A690, at a point approximately 245 metres northeast of a pedestrian crossing point on the carriageway. Mr Kusiak sustained fatal injuries, from which he died later in hospital.

The relevant stretch of the A690 is unlit. Footage from the dashboard mounted camera in the impact vehicle showed that Mr Kusiak was not visible to the driver of the impact vehicle until he was only 29 metres away.

The evidence established that the collision between Mr Kusiak and a motor vehicle occurred on an unlit dual carriageway subject to the national speed limit that runs alongside a housing estate and an industrial estate in Belmont. It is foreseeable that pedestrians will attempt to cross the road.

The evidence established that at the point in the road where the impact occurred, a pedestrian was visible to a car being driven appropriately with headlights on and well within the prescribed speed limit only at a distance of 29 metres. The emergency stopping distance for such a car is between 75 and 87 metres.

There is no footpath alongside the A690 along the stretch where the accident occurred.

The circumstances of this incident were discussed with police at a Durham County Council Traffic Management meeting on 14ᵗʰ February 2020 when recommendations were made to improve the safety of the road where the incident occurred.