Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2016

Keith Harper

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2016-0151, written 21 Apr 2016. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report21 Apr 2016
Reference2016-0151
DeceasedKeith Harper
CoronerCaroline Beasley-Murray
Coroner areaEssex
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)

NOTE: This form is to be used after an inquest.

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

The Highways Agency

1 | CORONER

| am Caroline Beasley-Murray, senior coroner, for the coroner area of Essex

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.

3 | INVESTIGATION and INQUEST

On 3 December 2015 | commenced an investigation into the death of Keith John
Charles Harper aged 59 years.

The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 18 April 2016. The conclusion
of the inquest was that Keith John Charles Harper died as a result of an accident.

—-—--|
4 | CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH

On 21 November 2015 Mr Harper was a pedestrian exiting a footpath which crosses the
central reservation when he was struck by a Renault Clio which was travelling on the
A132 Southmayne in the general direction of Pitsea. He was taken to Broomfield
Hospital and then transferred to the Royal London Hospital. He died there on 2
December 2015.

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. —

[BRIEF SUMMARY OF MATTERS OF CONCERN]

(1) A driver exiting the roundabout has no prior warning of the crossing. From the
driver's position the aspect view of the pedestrian/cycle path is limited and the
central reservation presents itself as a grassed area. A review should be carried
out of features of the pedestrian crossing — warning signs/design/position etc ete

(2) The carriageway markings exiting the roundabout have been obscured by
resurfacing work and road debris. This work needs to be carried out

6 | ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and | believe you and your |
organisation] 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 11" June 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.

=

8 | COPIES and PUBLICATION

| have sent a copy of my report to the family of Mr Harper and to Essex Police
| 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.

9 | 21 April 2016 Caroline Beasley-Murray

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 Essex County Council (PDF)
Essex County Council 17 JUN 2016 J,

PO Box 11 A,
County Hall > ae
Chelmsford F
Essex CM1 1LX Essex County Council
Our Ref:
H.M Coroner's Office Date: 14 June 2016

County Hall, Sean House
Victoria Road South
Chelmsford

CM1 1QH

Dear Mrs Beasley-Murray
Inquest into death of Mr Keith John Charles HARPER

Thank you for your letter of 21 April 2016 enclosing a notice under paragraph 7 of
Schedule 5 to the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.

This is Essex County Council's formal response under regulation 28 and 29 of the
Coroner's (Investigations) Regulations 2013.

The matters of concern identified by the Coroner were that:

1. A driver exiting the roundabout has no prior warning of the crossing. From the
driver's position the aspect view of the pedestrian/cycle path is limited and the
central reservation presents itself as a grassed area. A review should be carried out
of features of the pedestrian crossing — warning signs/design/position etc etc.

2. The carriageway markings exiting the roundabout have been obscured by
resurfacing work and debris. This work needs to be carried out.

The response from Essex County Council is as follows:

1. The crossing area from the central reserve to each footway is an uncontrolled
crossing facility, therefore this limits the signing options available to give road users
advanced warning of pedestrians crossing at this location. The Traffic Signs and
general directions regulations allow the use of ‘other danger ahead’ signage which
can be coupled with a ‘pedestrians crossing’ sub-plate. The pedestrian collision
data at this site does not support the use of this sign (in the past 10 years there has
only been one other collision involving a non-motorised user, this collision wa
slight injury collision involving a 12 year old boy pedal cyclist). ben

bits

EPF-MailMerge-OM1

2. As part of the fatal collision report further actions were sent to Essex Highways
SMO3 Maintenance team on the 23/12/2015 indicating that

“Following our site investigations we have identified that the lining as part of the
segregated cycle facility clearly needs refreshing, as the central segregation line
has worn, and the give-way triangles are both missing (either side of the A132
Southmayne)

We also identified that the edge of carriageway markings at this location have wom
away and we would request that these also be refreshed.”

| can confirm that this work has been completed.

Yours sincerely

Director for Commissioning Transport & Infrastructure
Essex County Council
Telephone: 03330 136888

Internet: www.essex.gov.uk

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