Inquest into the death of Ryan LEO
Deceased
Ryan Leo
Demographics
6y, male
Date of death
2014-07-28
Finding date
2015-09-04
Cause of death
Head injury occasioned when, as an unaccompanied child pedestrian crossing the road, he was struck by a motor vehicle on the southern side of the road opposite Number 118 Durham Road Hurstville
AI-generated summary
A 6-year-old boy was struck by a motor vehicle while attempting to cross Durham Street in Hurstville to reach his Tae Kwon Do class. He exited his nanny's vehicle and ran onto the road without waiting for supervision or stopping to look. The driver was travelling at the speed limit and had no opportunity to avoid the collision. The child had received adequate road safety education at school and practised safe crossing routines daily. Key preventable factors included: inadequate direct supervision by the carer at the moment of greatest danger; lack of discussion between parent and carer about the child's specific road safety behaviour; and systemic road safety issues at the location including high traffic volumes, low sun at the time of day, changing parking patterns from nearby construction, and the absence of appropriate pedestrian crossing facilities. The coroner identified that all adults caring for young children must provide close supervision and reinforce safety behaviour, particularly near roads.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- Lack of direct adult supervision at moment of crossing
- Child exited vehicle and ran onto road without stopping or looking
- Child's excitement about attending class may have caused him to forget road safety rules
- Inadequate communication between parent and carer regarding child's road safety behaviour
- No formal discussion between parent Ms Zheng and nanny Ms Shan about road safety
- Road design issues including high traffic volumes, changing parking patterns from East Quarter construction, absence of pedestrian crossing facility
- Low sun position at 4:20 pm in winter affecting visibility
- High density of children and cars at location during after-school activity times
- Inadequate parking arrangements forcing complex crossing patterns
Coroner's recommendations
- That the Hurstville City Council gives consideration to these findings and recommendations and brings them to the attention of their Traffic Advisory Committee
- That the pedestrian safety improvements at intersection of Forest Road and Durham Street recommended in the Road Safety Audit Report Ref. 14138rsa be implemented as a matter of urgency
- That consideration be given to conducting a further pedestrian safety audit and carrying out its recommendations in relation to the section of Durham Street between the intersection of Lily Road and Forest Road with regard to the safe crossing of Durham Street by users of Kempt Field, and the Scout Hall and businesses, and access to Forest Road from Robert Lane and Lily Street, with particular regard to the next stage of the development of the East Quarter accommodation and its construction and the expected high density population. Such consideration to include whether pedestrian safety would be improved by traffic inhibitors such as a lower speed limit, a pedestrian crossing and both eastern and western facing signage alerting drivers to the presence of children and/or reclassifying Durham Rd from being a 'collector road' so that its vehicular access and speed zone are consistent with the area's pedestrian safety
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