Pedestrian Deaths in Ireland - on the increase?

mvpr

Has anyone else noticed the alarming number of pedestrians killed in recent times throughout Ireland? It seems that at least one pedestrian a week is being killed, let alone injured.

Is it careless driving, lack of footpaths or not enough road crossings that is causing these deaths?

Can more be done to protect pedestrians? Should the Road Safety Authority be doing more to address this problem?

[MODs – I know this might be a little off-thread, but I want to know the opinion of day to day drivers on this issue.]

ballooba

20% of road deaths in the last six years were pedestrians.

81% of accidents are caused by driver error.

Adherence to urban speed limits would dramatically reduce the number of pedestrian and cyclist deaths.

markpb

I'd imagine changing the timing of street lights so pedestrians get shorter but more frequent green-time would solve a lot of problems.

Rovi

ballooba wrote: »

Adherence to urban speed limits would dramatically reduce the number of pedestrian and cyclist deaths.

As would said pedestrians and cyclists making an effort to make themselves visible.
They can't all be going to/coming from funerals.

ballooba

Rovi wrote: »

As would said pedestrians and cyclists making an effort to make themselves visible.
They can't all be going to/coming from funerals.

I'm just telling what the statistics say. Pedestrians are responsible for % of fatal accidents.

seamus

According to the NRA's figures, there has been no notable change in pedestrian deaths as a proportion of the whole. Tends to hover somewhere around the 20% mark.

Road Deaths increased from 2003-2006, mostly accounted for by car users.

I'm just telling what the statistics say. Pedestrians are responsible for % of fatal accidents.

Linkaroo?

ballooba

It's in the strategy document. Publications section of the RSA website.

http://www.rsa.ie/publication/publication/upload/822_RSA_Strategy_ENG.pdf

mvpr

Do you think greater weight should be put in to a "be safe/be seen" type campaign, or do you think that as long as pedestrian deaths stay at around 20%, those in charge will not change their stance?

I'm in no way attempting a stab at the RSA or the government. I believe human error is the problem here. But can more be done?

seamus

So they're disproportionately represented. Motorcyclists and pedal cyclists are too. This is because cars are big steel cages so in an accident, anyone who's not driving one is going to be in trouble.

I think it's safe to say that better driver training and law enforcement would improve things. Urban speed limit adherence isn't a big problem. Other road users making themselves more visible would only marginally help IMO. If someone isn't driving with the appropriate attention, there's a good chance they won't see you unless you're wearing a big pink elephant suit. Even then some people would miss you.

Edit: Sorry, see what you're saying

R.O.R

Based on stupidity of many pedestrians I see on a daily basis, as both a driver and pedestrian, I would have thought the % figure is heavily loaded by the "car bad" brigade.

It seems a large number of people in Dublin prefer to risk their life to save 20 seconds, rather than wait for the little green man to tell them it's safe to cross.

seamus

R.O.R wrote: »

Based on stupidity of many pedestrians I see on a daily basis, as both a driver and pedestrian, I would have thought the % figure is heavily loaded by the "car bad" brigade.

Well, my own skepticism about it is where the data comes from. If it's based on how many car drivers are found at fault by the courts, then the data is skewed. In a pedestrian death, car drivers are likely to be found at fault, regardless of circumstance.

Snarler

Road deaths are falling all the time so you can assume pedestrian deaths are as well.

Calibos

The one time I drop my guard and forget to beep the horn when I see a pedestrian about to cross the top of the road into my estate.......is the time I kill a pedestrian!!

ie. Absolutely no visability issues at the entrance to my estate. But no pedestrians ever look left or right when crossing. I just cannot understand what is special about the entrance to the estate but is a fact that Not One ever checks before they step off the pavement.

I learnt to anticipate this anomoly about the entrance to this estate pretty quickly when I started driving. Now I beep as I turm into the estate even if the Ped is a few feet from the kerb. Have to put up with the confused looks and the two fingered salutes.

How am I to know that you Sir are the one pedestrian who wasn't an idiot and would have looked both ways. Gotta treat you like the other 9 out of 10 morons I'm afraid so a beep of the horn it is.


In short Pedestrians are idiots.

Seth Brundle

markpb wrote: »

I'd imagine changing the timing of street lights so pedestrians get shorter but more frequent green-time would solve a lot of problems.

Do the lights in Dublin city with the countdown timer prevent a lot of Jaywalking or have people learnt to ignore them?

Calibos wrote: »

I learnt to anticipate this anomoly about the entrance to this estate pretty quickly when I started driving. Now I beep as I turm into the estate even if the Ped is a few feet from the kerb. Have to put up with the confused looks and the two fingered salutes.

It seems like they have right of way so maybe they are right in one sense to give the finger as they are presumably interpreting you as being an obnoxious motorist (I'm not suggesting that you are)

markpb

kbannon wrote: »

Do the lights in Dublin city with the countdown timer prevent a lot of Jaywalking or have people learnt to ignore them?

Only a few and most of them are usually blank for half the cycle, only springing to life for the second half. Several junctions around the city only have pedestrian lights on three sides so, depending on your luck, you may have to cross three times instead of once.

Alun

kbannon wrote: »

Do the lights in Dublin city with the countdown timer prevent a lot of Jaywalking or have people learnt to ignore them?

I've been at pedestrian crossings in Dublin with those displays when they're only showing 5 or 10 seconds to go, and people still walk out in front of cars. It beggars belief.

Stark

Any near miss I've had involved adult pedestrian, mobile phone, sprinting across road while laughing and chatting into said mobile phone.

That said, I've seen the way people drive down twisty windy roads with no footpaths after dark, not to mention drivers who mount footpaths for various reasons (drink, impatience etc.) so drivers aren't exactly blameless.

markpb wrote:

Several junctions around the city only have pedestrian lights on three sides so, depending on your luck, you may have to cross three times instead of once.

Yeah those are fecking annoying. I remember there was one I had to walk home through every day before at the junction of a dual carriageway with separate crossing for each carriageway and I had to go through 4 sets of lights.