Media Release 30 March 2014

Living Streets Aotearoa is concerned that yet again a coroner’s inquest has laid the blame squarely at the foot of the dead woman. The inquest into the pedestrian death of Vanessa Green in Wellington has found no blame on the driver. It is very difficult to determine a cause of this crash or any other crash after the fact, and it is too easy to blame the victim.

In the year to February 2015 45 pedestrians were killed on our roads and over 800 seriously injured. As the primary means of getting around walking has got to be safer and more pleasant, particularly for vulnerable pedestrians. Everyone walks and any improvements for pedestrians will benefit us all.

It’s time for the Government to take strides to improve the first mode of transport rather than ignore the tragic road toll. A Safety Panel was established for cycling at a much lower level of death and injury, which reported last year. We look forward to the government urgently addressing the human toll of these shocking statistics.

Living Streets Aotearoa supports an integrated approach to transport that addresses the needs of all road users, not just vehicle users. This will necessarily be tied to good urban planning, and proper pedestrian infrastructure that meets minimum standards. We also support a number of law changes to improve pedestrian safety.

President of Living Streets Andy Smith says, "We continue to be concerned at the acceptance of the many pedestrian deaths on our roads – remember these people are not the cause of their death – there is always a vehicle involved. We want the Government to adopt the same approach used in cycling to address the universal and free mode of transport - walking."

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