REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS THIS RESPONSE IS BEING SENT TO: The Assistant Coroner for Cumbria, Mr Paul O Donnell of 65 Duke Street; Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 1RW in response to a 'Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths' received following an inquest hearing into the death of Doreen Fell, that concluded on 20 February 2019. HIGHWAYS ENGLAND Iam Regional Director (North West Region), responding on behalf of Jim OSullivan, Chief Executive of Highways England Company Limited of Bridge House; 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, SURREY, GU1 4LZ. CORONERS MATTERS OF CONCERN The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows: The application of the national speed limit (6omph) for this single carriageway section of the A59o Trunk road as it passes through the of Backbarrow and how it impacts on: Reaction times pedestrians
ii. Reaction times for drivers iii The size of gap in traffic required to execute a safe pedestrian crossing;
b. The lack of street lighting on this section of the A59o Trunk road; The safety of pedestrians crossing this section of the A5go Trunkroad with particular emphasis on users of the Backbarrow village hall and primary school; and d_ The lack of signage in the vicinity of this section ofthe A59o, and the village of Backbarrow, to advise pedestrians of an alternative route across the A59o Trunk road via an underpass 5oom to the south ofthe accident location. DETAILS OF ACTION TAKEN OR PROPOSED TO BE TAKEN, OR AN EXPLANATION AS TO WHY NO ACTION IS PROPOSED As requested by the Coroner in his Regulation 28 Report dated 22 February 2019, Highways England have reviewed the limit; the street lighting, the of pedestrians and the provision of signing to the underpass at the location of the accident on 17 January 2018. National limit The Department for Transport Circular 01/2013 Setting Local Speed Limits advises that speed limits should reflect the function of the road and its environment: should also reinforce people's assessment of what is & safe to travel: The A59o is part of the Strategic Road Network and as such its primary function is to cater for through traffic between the M6 motorway and Barrow-in Furness. Whilst the A59o trunk road bisects the of Backbarrow into two distinct sections, practically none of the village itself fronts directly onto the road. western and eastern sides of the village are accessed via two junctions situated to the north and south of the pedestrian island. Much of the is screened the A5go by trees and the only frontage development is a small parking area to the rear of Brow Edge Road and the driveway to South Lakes Boarding Kennels. We therefore consider that the national speed limit of bomph is appropriate for this stretch ofthe A590 and is consistent with current guidance The circumstances of death recorded in the Regulation 28 Report state that it would take village for speed safety speed They speed village _ The- Tefuge village from

pedestrian, walking at an average for a lady 60+ of 1.25 metres per second,
3.04 seconds to cross the northbound carriageway; The A590 is a high standard single carriageway road which runs from north to south through the valley on a relatively straight alignment and gentle gradients for approximately kilometre. There is at least 300 metres clear visibility in each direction at the pedestrian refuge; a distance which would take approximately 11 seconds for a vehicle travelling at the limit to cover: This would allow plenty of time for a waiting pedestrian to make a decision and then cross the road safely. Furthermore; this provides more than adequate visibility for an approaching driver travelling at the speed limit to react safely and appropriately to a pedestrian crossing the road b Street lighting The A590 is unlit throughout the National Park area with the exception of the major roundabout junctions at Meathop; Newby Bridge and Greenodd: The pedestrian itself contains a base lit bollard and high-level beacon on either side which highlights the to approaching motorists. The Design Manual Roads and Bridges document TA 49/07 which covers the appraisal ofnew lighting on the trunk road network states that the role of road lighting as a benefit has imitations and should be considered alongside measures with less adverse environmental impact It should not be used to mitigate a high darkness collision record unless an investigation carried out by a qualified Road Safety Engineer indicates this would be the best solution: In this case there are a low proportion of collisions in the dark (section € below) which does not support the installation of street lighting at this location. Safety of pedestrians crossing A59o We have reviewed the safety record for this stretch ofthe A590 through Backbarrow including particular analysis pedestrian's perspective: Over the previous IO years, up to the accident on 17 January 2018,there have been seven personal injury collisions over the 1km section. All ofthe previous collisions were classified as 'slight injuries' None of the previous collisions involved pedestrians and none were directly attributed to excessive speed. Only one of the seven collisions occurred during the hours of darkness where a single vehicle lost control and left the carriageway in the middle of the night no documented reason: Most of the collisions have occurred at the junctions on either side of the refuge and involved turning vehicles or shunt type collisions in slow moving traffic. Our analysis found that the current limit and lack of street lighting have not been detrimental to road safety as the A59o passes through Backbarrow. Combined with the lack of frontage development mentioned above, and the low number of collisions in the hours of darkness, our review has concluded that lighting this stretch of the A590 would not be appropriate or beneficial.
d. Signage of the pedestrian underpass The presence of local facilities on both sides of the means that there is likely to be significant lestrian demand to cross the A59o and there are two available options for the pedestrian refuge in question and an alternative underpass to the south: There are continuous footways on both sides of the A5go between the and the underpass: The footpaths to the undcrpass are signed both bus laybys on thc A59o and on both sides of the where connecting footpaths meet local roads. We have identified that one of the signposts at the southbound bus layby is currently missing its sign. Although our records show that these public footpath signs are not Highways Englands, we are investigating their ownership to have the missing sign replaced at the earliest opportunity. Furthermore; it is worth noting that the ramps to the underpass are lit where they run away from the carriageway, and the lighting in the underpass itself was upgraded last year to modern standards The most direct pedestrian route between the eastern side of the and the primary school is via the pedestrian underpass. With reference to signing the underpass the pedestrian refuge as an alternative crossing point;the distance there and back would involve walking approximatelyhalfa mile and speed aged speed refuge refuge - for safety from for speed village pede this; refuge from village leading - village from

we do not consider that pedestrians would realistically walk this distance rather than use the Both the and underpass are likely to be used primarily by local people who would already be aware of the established routes to either crossing point: We therefore do not feel any additional signing to the underpass would be justified. TIMETABLE FOR ACTION Date Action Ongoing Investigate the ownership of the public footpath signs at the bus laybys Tbc Arrange for the reinstatement the missing sign at the southbound bus layby: SAFETY OF ROAD USERS The safety ofour road users is an imperative for our business in what we set out to achieve, and a core value ofour organisation in how we go about it: Our company vision for safety is that "no one should be harmed when travelling or working on the strategic road network" improvements we make must be done in a considered and controlled fashion so that the consequences ofany improvements are fully understood, and any safety risks linked to proposed changes are eliminated or reduced as far as possible: Highways England's review of this location has not identified any action; other than the reinstatement of a sign, as necessary at this time. 25 May 2019 Signed: Regional Dircctor on behalf of Jim OSullivan refuge; refuge Any missing