A coroner has called for signs warning pedestrians not to wear headphones while crossing roads to be put up amid concerns about silent electric cars.

The Daily Mail reports the call was made 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.

The Mail says witnesses said the car “had a quiet engine which could not be heard at the time of the accident”.

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

It says 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.

It quotes her as saying, “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.”

(Stock image – Yay Images)