Pedestrians account for 50% of fatalities on Dublin's roads

Victor

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Pedestrians account for 50% of fatalities on Dublin's roads
Olivia Kelly

Half of all people killed on the roads in Dublin city are pedestrians and more than 80 per cent are either pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists, according to figures complied by Dublin City Council.

The figures, compiled over a five-year period, are the first detailed breakdown of fatal collisions in the city and include not only the categories of those killed, but their ages and the types of vehicles that were involved in their deaths.

Vulnerable road users, which the council defines as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, account for the vast majority of road deaths at 83 per cent, while car drivers account for just 13 per cent of road deaths in the capital.Half of those killed were pedestrians, 13 per cent were cyclists and 20 per cent were motorcyclists.

Almost all motorcyclists killed were male and under 30 years of age. More than half of the pedestrians killed were over 70 years of age and more than two-thirds (70 per cent) were over 50, while 10 per cent were under the age of 20. Two-fifths of cyclists killed were over 50.

Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) or buses were involved in the majority of cyclists' deaths, cars and vans accounted for most motorcyclist fatalities, while the majority of pedestrians were killed by cars.

More than three-quarters of cyclists killed in the city were hit by either a HGV or a bus and in many cases the large vehicle was making a left turn when the collision occurred. More than two-thirds of motorcyclists killed were involved in a collision with a van or a car, while just 40 per cent of pedestrians died after being struck by a HGV or a bus.

The council has decided to sign up to the European Road Safety Charter on foot of these figures, with the aim of reducing the number of vulnerable road users killed by 20 per cent over the period 2007 to 2009.

"This is a commitment to solid progress to reducing the appalling slaughter on our city streets," said Cllr Kevin Humphreys, leader of the Labour Group on the council.

The council would be looking at international best practice, but would also continue its own initiatives to reduce road deaths, he said.

"We have already seen an improvement in accident reduction since HGVs were banned from the city during daytime hours, we now need to continue with engineering and traffic management measures, including improvements in cycle lanes," Mr Humphreys said.

© 2007 The Irish Times

Solair

I think Dublin must have some of the poorest pedestrian facilities I've seen anywhere.

There are countless junctions without pedestrian lights. E.g try walking into town along any of the southside main arteries e.g. from Ranelagh, Ballsbridge etc. You'll encounter busy intersections e.g. along the canal, with absolutely no provision for pedestrian crossings.

It typifies the attitude to pedestrians taken by Dublin City Council.

It's even pathetically poor when compared to Cork, which seems to have proper pedestrian crossings pretty much everywhere you'd need to cross.

Dublin just doesn't bother.

cyclopath2001

Solair wrote:

I think Dublin must have some of the poorest pedestrian facilities I've seen anywhere.

Have you read the road traffic regulations relating to pedestrians? It's like something out of the Penal laws.

seamus

I think the most telling figures are these:

More than half of the pedestrians killed were over 70 years of age and more than two-thirds (70 per cent) were over 50

Which basically points to a lack of pedestrian facilities. We can't expect older pedestrians to be more alert than younger ones, and there's a good chance that they and the vehicle that hit them, probably didn't do anything wrong, per se, it was just bad luck.

It also points to a need for better driver education across the board (as we knew). Observational skills seem to be Irish drivers' biggest failing.

mickoneill30

I hate articles that just give you percentages. How hard would it have been to give the exact figure. So 50% of fatalities on Dublins roads are pedestrians. What does that mean? 5? 50? 500?
It's totally meaningless to just give percentages. Generally the reporters just give percentages when the numbers are not that impressive to start with.

daymobrew

Solair wrote:

I think Dublin must have some of the poorest pedestrian facilities I've seen anywhere.

Even when there are pedestrian crossings, some are set up as to cause as little delay to motor vehicles, without much concern for pedestrians.

On Drumcondra Road at Clonliffe Road, it is a two stage crossing. If you are coming from Croke Park side, heading toward Quinns, you only get to the middle where you have to wait another full sequence to complete your crossing. Those coming from the Quinns side get to make the full crossing in one go.
(If someone is coming from Quinns side at the same time as you going the other way, you get to cross in one go).

I wrote to Dublin City Council (Intelligent Transport Systems group in the Roads and Traffic Department) and discussed the issue with the Assistant ITS Officer. He explained that to give the full sequence at all times would delay traffic (and the junction is a very busy one). I countered saying that pedestrians would always want to complete the full crossing - no one ever wants to hang around the middle section.
Intelligent Transport Systems - they have thought about it, just not from the point of view of the vulnerable road users.

Obviously such setups encourage jay walking which results in collisions.

paulm17781

I think a lot of this falls on pedestrians too. The amount of people I've nearly cycled into who just walk out on the road without looking. Many pedestrians seem to see cyclists as a good excuse for a game of chicken. Perhaps if our level crossings etc. weren't designed with motorists in mind it wouldn't be so bad.

As with most of our problems I lay the blame on the road safety authority and the Gardai. Perhaps if motorists were actually punished for breaking the law (stopping on yellow boxes, stopping on pedestrian crossings, parked where ever they like with their hazard lights on etc. etc.) people would develop a better, more mutual, attitude to all road users.

Niall1234

mickoneill30 wrote:

I hate articles that just give you percentages. How hard would it have been to give the exact figure. So 50% of fatalities on Dublins roads are pedestrians. What does that mean? 5? 50? 500?
It's totally meaningless to just give percentages. Generally the reporters just give percentages when the numbers are not that impressive to start with.

The Irish media have been very selective in recent years in regards to the statistics they use regarding road death stories.

Only yesterday, the EU came out saying we were 22nd out of 25 countries in regards lowering road deaths from 2001 to 2005. The paper went on to call us the worst drivers in Europe because of this. This is ignoring the fact that countries with much worse deaths per population would find it easier to cut road deaths and the fact that our death rate is not extraordinarily high in the first place. The stats also ignore 2006 and 2007 so far which death rate has dropped substantially.

I really hate all this skewed reporting which is not portraying the real picture at all.

seamus

paulm17781 wrote:

As with most of our problems I lay the blame on the road safety authority and the Gardai. Perhaps if motorists were actually punished for breaking the law (stopping on yellow boxes, stopping on pedestrian crossings, parked where ever they like with their hazard lights on etc. etc.) people would develop a better, more mutual, attitude to all road users.

Well, half of the problem is a them -v- us attitude. Most pedestrians and cyclists don't consider themselves to be "road users". My fear would be that increasing enforcement of laws against motorised vehicles would cause those two groups to become even more righteous and ballsy. On the other hand, if enforcement was strong and relatively uniform across all counties and all types of road user, then we may see an improvement in attitudes.

Although your point of pedestrians being generally atrocious at watching out for themselves is a valid one, I feel that wellthought out mandatory cycle lanes (and the enforcement of such that should come with it) which border paths would be a big help, particularly in the city centre.
Cyclists and pedestrians being relatively slow-moving, have a better chance of reacting to a potential collision with eachother than with motorised vehicles. In the event of a collision, the chance of death or permanent injury for either is also lessened. Although it sounds a bit silly, I think having cycle tracks as a "buffer" between dumb pedestrians and fast moving vehicles could improve the situation in the city centre. Assuming of course that the vehicles would be afraid of going into the cycle lane.

Victor

Older people suffer more as they are less resilient than younger people healthwise.

seamus wrote:

Although it sounds a bit silly, I think having cycle tracks as a "buffer" between dumb pedestrians and fast moving vehicles could improve the situation in the city centre. Assuming of course that the vehicles would be afraid of going into the cycle lane.

You would literally have to have some sort of physical barrier. Otherwise it just becomes a parking lane.

That or land mines.