Inquest into the death of Kenny Alderson
Deceased
Kenneth Alderson
Demographics
60y, male
Date of death
2004-05-16
Finding date
2005-08-19
Cause of death
blunt head trauma resulting from a motor vehicle accident
AI-generated summary
Kenneth Alderson, a 60-year-old Aboriginal man with a blood alcohol level of 0.247%, was struck by a police vehicle on East Point Road, Darwin while attempting to cross the road. He died from blunt head trauma the following day. The coroner found the deceased was solely responsible, having chosen to cross at an unsafe location without using a nearby pedestrian crossing, misjudging the police vehicle's approach. The police driver was travelling at a reasonable speed (67-72 km/h in a 60 km/h zone) while responding to an emergency call, had adequate visibility and reaction time, and was not at fault. A minor protocol breach regarding activation of lights and sirens was identified but was deemed unlikely to have prevented the accident given the deceased's intoxication and apparent awareness of the vehicle.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- pedestrian intoxication (blood alcohol level 0.247%)
- pedestrian chose to cross road at unsafe location away from pedestrian crossing
- pedestrian misjudged the passage of the police vehicle
- minor protocol breach: police vehicle lights and sirens not activated despite being required under the protocol in place at the time
Coroner's recommendations
- Communications protocols regarding designation of emergency call priorities were reviewed and found to have resulted in a technical breach; a communications auxiliary was subject to disciplinary action for failing to designate the call as Code 1
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