Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2016

Amanda Coppen

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2016 – 0299, written 19 Aug 2016. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report19 Aug 2016
Reference2016 – 0299
DeceasedAmanda Coppen
CoronerPhilip Barlow
Coroner areaLondon Inner (South)
CategoryRoad (Highways Safety) related deaths
Sourcejudiciary.uk record · original PDF
Responses published1

The report

Text recovered by OCR from a scanned PDF. OCR is imperfect: check anything you rely on against the source PDF. Reproduced verbatim, including the scan's own layout.

ANNEX A

REGULATION 28: REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS (1)

REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS
THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO:

1. The Chief Executive, Royal Borough of Greenwich, John Comber,
Town Hall, Wellington Street, Woolwich, London SE18 6PW
2. Managing Director Surface Transport, Transport for
London, Floor 11 R4, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NJ
Senior Manager, Lands, Estates and Property,
Housing and Land Directorate, Greater London Authority, City Hall,
London SE1 2AA

1 | CORONER

lam Philip Barlow, assistant coroner, for the coroner area of Inner South London

2 | CORONER’S LEGAL POWERS

| make this report under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009
and regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013.
[HYPERLINKS]

3 | INVESTIGATION and INQUEST

On 8 January 2016 | commenced an investigation into the death of Amanda Coppen,
age 44. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 12 August 2016. The
conclusion of the inquest was that Ms Coppen died of multiple injuries caused as a
result of a road traffic collision.

4 | CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH

At approximately 0704 on 4 January 2016 Ms Coppen suffered fatal injuries when she
was struck by a bus as she was crossing Pilot Busway on the south side of the junction
with John Harrison Way.

5 | CORONER’S CONCERNS

During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern. In
my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken. In the
circumstances it is my statutory duty to report to you.

The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows. —

(1) The evidence at the inquest was that Ms Coppen was crossing the busway ona
signal controlled pedestrian crossing while the signal was red to pedestrians and green
to traffic. However, the evidence also suggested that the layout of Pilot Busway and the
neighbouring road (West Parkside) is unusual: they run side by side; West Parkside
consists of a single carriageway in each direction; Pilot Busway consists of a single
dedicated bus lane in each direction. The evidence was that this layout could mislead
road users (pedestrians and motorists) into believing that this is a standard dual
carriageway. Ordinary traffic has been seen in the dedicated busway, and pedestrians
could be misled into looking the wrong way when crossing the road.

(2) | understand that a new school is shortly to be built close to this junction. This may

i

increase the numbers of pedestrians using the junction and there is a potential risk to
schoolchildren.

(3) | understand that some discussion about the junction may already be underway
between London Borough of Greenwich, Transport for London and the Greater London
Authority.

a | enciose a: of the reports of ED atec 15 February 2016 and

dated 13 June 2016 which set out the circumstances in more detail.

ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and | believe you or your
organisations have the power to take such action.

YOUR RESPONSE

You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this report,
namely by 17 October 2016. |, the coroner, may extend the period.

Your response must contain details of action taken or proposed to be taken, setting out
the timetable for action. Otherwise you must explain why no action is proposed.

COPIES and PUBLICATION

| have sent a copy of my report to the Chief Coroner and to the family as Interested
Persons. | have also sent it to who may find it useful or of
interest.

1 am also under a duty to send the Chief Coroner a copy of your response.

The Chief Coroner may publish either or both in a complete or redacted or summary
form. He may send a copy of this report to any person who he believes may find it useful
or of interest. You may make representations to me, the coroner, at the time of your
response, about the release or the publication of your response by the Chief Coroner.

[DATE] [SIGNED BY CORONER]

7

Responses

1 response published against this report on judiciary.uk. A response is a body's written reply to the coroner's concerns; publication is at the discretion of the Chief Coroner's office, so an absent response does not mean nobody replied.

Response from Transport for London (PDF)
ia

Transport for London

Leon Daniels
Managing Director

17 October 2016 Surface Transport

Mr Phillip Barlow,

Her Majesty's Coroner
Inner London South’s Coroner’s Court 197 Blackfriars Road

a Tennis Street London SE1 8NJ
Southwark

SE11YD

Transport for London
41th Floor, Zone R4
Palestra

Dear Mr Barlow,

We were all sorry to hear of the tragic accident that occurred on 4 January 2016 and wish to
pass our condolences to the family of Amanda Coppen.

We have reviewed your Regulation 28 report dated 19 August 2016 regarding the “unusual
layout of West Parkside and Pilot Busway”, and the need to improve provision for a new
school, close to the junction of John Harrison Way and West Parkside. This is in addition to
the existing school in the same area. As the report assigns responsibilities to three parties,
named as Greater London Authority (GLA), Transport for London (TfL) and Royal Borough
of Greenwich (Greenwich), a joint response is provided.

As stated in your report, following the fatality a site visit was held on 14 January 2016 and
was attended by representatives of all three organisations and the Metropolitan Police.
Since then, a number of actions have been undertaken to improve road safety at the
junction and in the vicinity.

A zebra crossing was installed on 15 March 2016, south of, but close to, the junction, to
provide an additional crossing from the Millennium Village area to the existing primary
school, and a safer crossing route between Pilot Busway and West Parkside. The crossing
has been installed on a raised surface to improve visibility of pedestrians to drivers and
encourage reduced speeds. A 20 mile per hour speed limit has been introduced, with
appropriate road markings and signage, along the entire length of Pilot Busway and West
Parkside to reduce the overall speed of buses and traffic. Further improvements to signage
and road markings have also been made, at the junction of West Parkside and John
Harrison Way, to increase pedestrian awareness of oncoming traffic. TfL and Greenwich
are also reviewing pedestrian safety provisions, including footway and crossings, which are
to be provided as expansion of the school takes place.

Pilot Busway has an unusual layout for London, and complex ownership. Pilot Busway and
West Parkside were originally built and operated by English Partnerships in preparation for
the opening of the Millennium Exhibition, a structure now known as the O2 Arena. The
original intention was for significant length of busway to be separated from general traffic.
However, this project was not completed.

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When English Partnerships were dissolved, their assets in London were transferred to the
GLA on the 1 April 2022, under the Localism Act 2011. That transfer included Pilot Busway.
West Parkside had previously been adopted by Greenwich on 1 April 2008.

TfL and Greenwich have been working on developing a solution to address road safety
concerns, arising from the unique nature of the road layout. We recognise that significant
development is taking place in the area, including the construction of a new school, and
that additional movements associated with those developments will increase concerns
about road safety.

This work has recognised that, as part of planning consent for an area to the north of
Greenwich Peninsular, it is proposed to re-align a northerly section of the Pilot Busway and
West Parkside at a future date. Accordingly it is recognised that any proposals to change
the arrangements in the vicinity of the junction of West Parkside and John Harrison Way
would need to be integral with changes further north.

Feasibility work has identified that the conversion of the layout to a ‘traditional’ dual
carriageway arrangement with bus lanes, that would operate at all times, would contribute
to improved bus journey times and reliability whilst addressing concerns about road safety.

It is the practice of both TfL and Greenwich to undertake local public consultation on
significant changes to their road networks. Consistent with those practices, a joint public
consultation exercise is underway to seek public and stakeholder opinion on the conversion
of the existing arrangement to a dual carriageway with bus lane provision.

‘Notwithstanding the need to give consideration to responses to the public consultation, we
shall seek to implement the proposed changes to the road layout at the earliest
opportunity.

We will write to you following the consultation to confirm the design and the proposed
timetable to make changes.

Yours sincerely,

Zz

Managing Director, Surface Transport, Transport for London
.

Chief Executive, Royal Borough of Greenwich

Senior Manager, Lands, Estate and Property, Housing and Land Directorate, Greater
London Authority

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