Calls for signs to alert pedestrians with headphones of electric cars

Sign of the times: Coroner calls for roadside warnings to alert headphones-wearing pedestrians of electric cars risk

  • A coroner has called for signs to tell pedestrians to take of their headphones
  • A woman, thought to be wearing her headphones, was killed crossing a road
  • The increasing popularity of quiet electric cars could see more similar accidents

Signs warning pedestrians not to wear headphones while crossing roads could be put up across the country amid increasing concerns about silent electric cars.

Pedestrians and joggers who listen to music or talk on their mobile phones have been identified as being at growing risk.

A coroner called for the signs after a woman thought to be wearing headphones was killed while crossing a country road in Wales.

Margaret May Lewis, 63, was struck by a car on a 60mph stretch next to the Montgomery Canal, a beauty spot popular with families and children, as she crossed from one towpath to another in November 2020.

Witnesses said the car ‘had a quiet engine which could not be heard at the time of the accident’.

A coroner has called for signs to be put up to remind people to take of their headphones before crossing roads (stock image)

There are concerns that the increasing number of quiet electric cars could lead to more people, who are wearing headphones, being hit by cars (stock image of a Tesla)

In a ruling aimed at preventing future deaths, the coroner for South Wales Central Dr Sarah-Jane Richards said new signs were needed warning pedestrians about the dangers of crossing roads while wearing headphones.

She said: ‘With the increasing popularity of noiseless electric cars, the frequency of wearing earphones while taking exercise and the B4398 [where the death happened] having a 60mph speed limit, I consider there is a risk of reoccurrence of such an accident.

‘Within the Highway Code, it states, “Keep looking and listening for traffic while you cross, in case there is any traffic you did not see or other traffic appears suddenly”.’

Dr Richards also called for road signs to warn drivers of pedestrians ahead potentially using headphones while crossing roads.

The Canal and River Trust, which maintains the Montgomery Canal, says it is considering putting up signs at beauty spots near roads across the 2,000 miles of waterways it oversees.

The AA backed the call, asking councils and highways agencies to identify where else across the country the signs may be needed.

The motoring group’s roads policy chief Jack Cousens said: ‘Existing road signs that warn of pedestrians in the road don’t necessarily convey the type of danger ahead at these popular crossings.’

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