A charity donation bin located beside a pedestrian crossing in Binstead has been removed less than 2 weeks after an inquest into a local man’s death heard how it may have obscured his view.
77-year-old David Cairns, of Hazelmere Avenue, walked out in front of a Skoda Octavia on Binstead Hill back on 15th November 2021. An inquest into his death on 8th September recorded a conclusion of road traffic collision.
The driver of the car that hit him, Mr Matthew Aubert, said in a statement that the 77-year-old walked straight out, forcing Mr Aubert to slam on his brakes. Sadly, it was too late and the impact occurred.
Mr Aubert mentioned that the presence of the charity bin outside the shop may have obscured the view. This was something echoed in the inquest by David’s window, Tarja. She mentioned the siting of the charity bin prevented a view down the road and suggested it could be moved.
Senior Coroner Caroline Sumeray noted that although the bin was present, when stood at the tactile crossing the view up and down the road was unobsecured.
Now, Binstead Village Stores has confirmed that the large metal bin has been removed from outside the shop.
In a statement, the village shop has said that, for some time, they have felt the position of the container was not the best. However, as it was in place long before the current owners took over, they had no contact details for the company that originally made the agreement.
Thanks to efforts from local councillor Ian Dore, the container has now been removed. It had been in place for more than 12 years.
A spokesperson for the village shop has said:
“We are aware that many people use this charity bin and it does serve a purpose to the local community but we feel that safety is more important.
“We believe an alternative location is trying to be sourced and hopefully one will be sorted soon”.
surely the fence should now be removed as well, as that is around the same height as the charity bin.
it is sad that a pedestrian has died and his widow is still grieving, however when you look at the picture of the charity bin before it was removed and now it has been removed, is there a difference
waffle- that bin was never an issue, as it never obscured the pavement, which provided a full view down the road.
the bin has been there years.
other junctions have houses and garden walls/fences right out to the pavement, so that you only get to see down the road, once you have turned the corner. – are we saying that all houses on corners make it unsafe to turn the corner and walk down the road to a pedestrian crossing.
What an absolute joke. I use this shop every single day and the bin doesn’t obstruct the road any more than the fence. He just didn’t look and found out what happens.
You cannot be serious ?
Notwithstanding the charity bin was not considered to blame for this tragic accident. On balance it makes sense, having crossed at the traffic lights many times there was always a risk pedestrians would not be seen until the last moment.
Surely that fence breaches planning laws which normally stipulate a maximum height of a metre on the front of a property?
So if the charity bin wasn’t to blame for the tragic accident, what was? Driver was found not at fault for the accident.