Finding into death of Kyle James Shepherd
Deceased
Kyle James Shepherd
Demographics
31y, male
Date of death
2020-07-07
Finding date
2021-09-25
Cause of death
Head and neck injuries sustained in a motor vehicle incident (pedestrian)
AI-generated summary
Kyle James Shepherd, aged 31, was fatally struck by a vehicle while walking on an unlit, unmarked rural road at dusk wearing dark clothing and headphones. He was walking in the traffic lane approximately 1.8 metres from the road edge. The driver, travelling at 60 km/h, could not avoid the collision. The coroner found the driver was unable to prevent the incident. Key contributing factors included: the rural road's lack of pedestrian infrastructure, Mr Shepherd's dark clothing in darkness, headphone use preventing auditory awareness, and walking with traffic flow (back to oncoming vehicles). The coroner emphasised that pedestrian safety education in rural areas is inadequate compared to metropolitan campaigns, and recommended targeted education campaigns for rural pedestrian safety.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Rural area without safe pedestrian infrastructure
- Deceased wearing dark clothing at night in unlit area
- Deceased wearing headphones, unable to hear approaching vehicles
- Deceased walking with flow of traffic (back to oncoming vehicles)
- Road recently widened, eliminating grass shoulders previously used by pedestrians
Coroner's recommendations
- Department of Transport and Transport Accident Commission to work with other relevant state government departments and agencies to specifically develop education campaigns directed at pedestrians in rural areas
- City of Greater Bendigo to consider developing and implementing a local education campaign directed at pedestrians in its catchment area
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