A report into pedestrian road deaths in Europe shows that, in Spain, 91.5% of fatalities occur when people cross the roads outside of marked areas such as zebra crossings. The European average for such incidents is 77%. The report is based on figures for 2005 when there were 680 pedestrians killed, only 58 of whom were using a zebra crossing.
Much of the blame is placed on the pedestrians for crossing the road in the wrong place, particularly outside urban areas. However, there are a significant number of instances where the driver is blamed, especially in cases where an accident occurs and someone who goes to help the injured person is then mown down by another car.
On similar lines, I will always remember the advice given to me by a member of the ANVB (the Dutch equivalent of the AA) after my car came to an impromptu halt at the side of the road. He said, “If you stop, for whatever reason, on a major road, NEVER, EVER exit your car on the driver’s side, they’ll (other drivers) mow you down without a a moment’s hesitation’.
Strangely, and perhaps oddly, legislation in Spain does not specify that drivers should slow down in order to give way to pedestrians. It is logical and common sense to do so, of course, but like with many things, unless it is clearly written in stone and accompanied by flashing lights…..I recall a multiple pile-up in thick fog in the UK when drivers did not reduce speed at all, continuing at 70 mph and just ploughing into the back of the pile. When asked why he did not slow down, one driver responded by saying, ‘there were no fog warning lights to indicate it was foggy and to reduce speed’. He was then asked, ‘but couldn’t you see the crash ahead?’. ‘No’, he replied. ‘Why not?’ he was asked. His answer, ‘It was too foggy’!
Both the UK and Germany are also in the 90% range when it comes to pedestrian accidents occurring away from zebra crossings.
The overall pedestrian mortality rates (deaths per million inhabitants) in Europe are; Spain 15.7%, UK and Italy 11.5%, Austria and Germany 10.9%, Belgium 10.3%, Switzerland 9%, Finland 7.2%, Norway 6.7% and Holland 4.6%.