John Reginald Moreton · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On 19th February 2015 I commenced an investigation into the death of John Reginald Moreton aged 74 years. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 4th November 2015. The conclusion of the inquest was that Mr Moreton died as a result of multiple injuries sustained in a road traffic collision.

The deceased was a 74 year old male, was a keen walker and a member of a rambling club. On Sunday 15 February 2015 he left home alone intending to walk along a way-marked public footpath to visit a place of interest in the local area. At approximately 10.54am the deceased was on foot crossing over the A500 southbound dual carriageway half a mile prior to A34 Talke junction, Stoke on Trent. The deceased was involved in a collision with a red Kia Venga motor vehicle. He was conveyed by ambulance to the Royal Stoke University Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent where he died at 11.58am that day. A post mortem examination gave the cause of death as 1[a] multiple injuries.

The collision occurred when the deceased attempted to cross the busy dual carriageway A500 at a point approximately one half mile from the A34 exit. This road links junction 16 of the M6 with Stoke-on-Trent and is generally in a southbound direction. The deceased had approached the edge of the dual carriageway after using a pedestrian's stile which led him directly to this point and where there is a gap in the central reservation to enable pedestrians to cross to the northbound carriageway and continue over another stile. There are no warning signs of the clear and present danger either for pedestrians or motorists on their approaches. The deceased was struck by a car and would have died instantly.

The footpath has been in situ for many years prior to the construction of the A500 in the 1970s. I am not aware of any previous fatality but the danger is obvious with a road having the national speed limit.

Warning signs of pedestrians crossing are common elsewhere in the county. I am advocating they should be erected here. Another rambler was seen to cross this busy road whilst officers were still at the scene.