Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2020

Dudley Howe

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2020-0079, written 25 Mar 2020. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report25 Mar 2020
Reference2020-0079
DeceasedDudley Howe
CoronerJacqueline Lake
Coroner areaNorfolk
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.

Regulation 28: REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS

REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT DEATHS

THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO:
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
By email:

1 CORONER
| am Jacqueline LAKE, Senior Coroner for the area of Norfolk
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 13/10/2017 | commenced an investigation into the death of Dudley Stanley HOWE aged 82. The
investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 25/03/2020. The medical cause of death was:

1a Traumatic Head and Chest Injuries
1b Road Traffic Collision

The conclusion of the inquest was: Road Traffic Collision

4 CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH

On 6 October 2017 Mr Howe crossed Station Road, Attleborough. The railway crossing barriers were
lowered and traffic was stationary. Mr Howe walked in front of a DAF lorry and stopped. Traffic started to
move forward and the lorry collided with Mr Howe who died as a result of his injuries.

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: | understand there is nothing to mandate that specific subjects are
covered during HGV training, such as the use and positioning of Class VI (cyclops) mirror which shows the
area immediately in front of the lorry, which would otherwise be outside the lorry driver’s view.

Some training is provided in respect of use of such mirrors but there are some Industry bodies and
Operators who deliver training who do not require all drivers to undergo a Safe Urban Driving or Vulnerable
Road User Awareness Course.

6 ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and | believe your organisation has the
power to take such action.

7 YOUR RESPONSE

You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this report,
namely by 20 May 2020. |, 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

t have sent a copy of my report to the Chief Coroner and to the following Interested Persons:

HEE spouse)

Director General - Department of Transport
| 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 Dated: 25/03/2020

e)

Jacqueline LAKE

Senior Coroner for Norfolk
Norfolk Coroner Service
Carrow House

301 King Street

Norwich NR1 2TN

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 Driver Vehicle Standards Agency (PDF)
Berkeley House 
Croydon Street  
BRISTOL 
BS5 0DA 

T (0117) 954 3211 

 www.gov.uk/dvsa 

Jacqueline Lake 
HM Senior Coroner 
Norfolk Coroner Service 
Carrow House 
301 King Street  
Norwich NR1 2TN 

by email: 

our ref: 2004/00205 

27 April 2020 

Dear Ms Lake 

I am writing following your Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths, of 25 March. 
This follows your narrative verdict of the same date, about the death of Dudley Stanley 
Howe on 6 October 2017. 

I have set out below the action we intend to take to address your concerns. 

We will introduce two questions to the driving theory test for new drivers of large goods 
vehicles. These will be on the topic of class VI (cyclops) mirrors and will increase 
awareness of the positioning and use of the class VI mirror. We will add these to the 
theory test question bank for the next reprint in autumn 2020. 

Professional lorry drivers must complete 35 hours of periodic training every five years to 
maintain their driver certificate of professional competence (DCPC). We have worked with 
Transport for London (TfL) and other industry stakeholders to promote such training (often 
referred to as safe urban driving or vulnerable road user (VRU) awareness courses. These 
courses typically highlight the blind spots around a lorry’s cab and advise drivers to be 
extra vigilant, including how to use the latest mirrors and camera technologies. TfL has 
delivered its safe urban driving (SUD) course to more than 80,000 professional drivers 
over the last seven years. Although we cannot mandate which DCPC courses are taken by 
industry bodies and operators, we can increase our efforts to promote SUD and vulnerable 
road user awareness courses. We will recommend to industry bodies and operators that 
all drivers take some SUD/VRU training as part of their driver DCPC periodic training.  

We will highlight the need for lorry drivers to make sure mirrors are properly adjusted on 
each journey. We will do this across our social media platforms, including on our Twitter 
and Facebook accounts. We will also look to issue blog posts to heavy vehicle operators 
and drivers. We will do this within the next six months when drivers and operators are less 
focussed on the COVID-19 effort and more receptive to other messages and advice. 

Helping you stay safe on Britain's roads 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I am happy for a copy of this response to be sent to all the interested parties as noted at 
section 8 of your report. You said you were under a duty to send a copy of our response to 
the Chief Coroner. I confirm I do not wish to make to you any representations about the 
release or publication of our response by the Chief Coroner. 

Yours sincerely 

Gareth Llewellyn 
Chief Executive

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