Death of a little boy in Winchmore Hill: driver bears no blame, but what about the car?

A coroner has concluded that a driver turning into Compton Road from Green Lanes could not have avoided hitting a boy who ran into the road. The boy died from a brain injury. But was it the size of the vehicle - a Land Rover - that made a low-speed collision fatal?

The higher the bonnet, the bigger the blind spot: More high-fronted SUVs would mean more childen drivers don't see
Analysis based on children of average European height standing to the centre of vehicle fronts. Drivers are of average European height. Vehicle assessment and modelling by Summerskill/Loughborough University SDCA (2025)

As mentioned in the forums by Neil Littman, a coroner's court has concluded that the death of 8-year-old Merlin Rreshka two years ago in Winchmore Hill was accidental. Merlin was hit by a Land Rover at the junction of Compton Road and Green Lanes and died from brain injuries.

That Enfield Dispatch editor James Cracknell was able to discover the date of the inquest and attend in person was in fact due to Neil's diligence in chasing up progress on the investigation. James published his report on the inquest on 8th October.

Based on CCTV footage, the police concluded that the driver, despite taking avoiding action when he saw the boy, did not have time to prevent the collision (a mere 1.2 seconds).

In conclusion, [the coroner] said: “There was simply not enough time for the driver of the Land Rover to stop the car. There is no criticism of the driver. It was clear for him to turn [into Compton Road] before he suddenly saw a child. The child had come from his right and the first time he saw him he was in front of his car.

“He [the driver] tried to swerve and stop, but everything happened very quickly. He expressed extreme remorse and sorrow [for hitting Merlin].”

The coroner also mentioned that Merlin had “received timely medical care” but that his brain injury was “unsurvivable”.

At the inquest the police stated that "There was also no evidence the vehicle was speeding, that the driver was intoxicated, or that he was distracted [...] In fact, the vehicle had only been travelling at around 10mph at the moment of impact with Merlin." The nearby cycle lane along Green Lanes was also "not a factor in the boy's death".

So just an "accident", one of those things that just can't be helped?

Not at all. There's a strong possibility that if the vehicle had not been a Land Rover or some other oversized "car" of the type that are becoming more common on our roads, the boy would still be alive.

The reason? Being hit by a car travelling at 10mph does not normally result in death or even in serious injury - that is, if the person that is hit is an adult. However, the height from the ground of the front of Land Rovers and many SUVs mean that if they collide with a child or other small person they will inflict a blow to the head rather than to a lower part of the body.

Not having seen the coroner's report or any detailed information about the incident, I can't be sure that it was the height of the bonnet that proved deadly in this particular case - perhaps the boy hit his head on the road and that caused the injury. But what I can be confident of is that statistics on vehicle-pedestrian collisions show a strong correlation between bonnet height and the severity of injuries. 

The European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E) is one of many bodies that have been studying the link between vehicle dimensions and road danger. Earlier this year I published an article based on a report issued by T&E, which was the source of the diagram at the top of this article. Their research shows that it is not just children who are endangered by high bonnets:

"In crashes, high-bonneted SUVs and pick-up trucks typically strike adult pedestrians above the centre of gravity, often first hitting vital organs in the body’s core, with a higher likelihood of knocking them forward and down, and a greater risk of driving over them. On the other hand, low bonnets tend to hit pedestrians’ legs, giving them greater chances of falling towards the vehicle, or of being deflected.

"High bonnets also reduce drivers’ vision of other road users - and can entirely compromise it. Drivers behind high bonnets can fail to see children in front of them, for example, when leaving a driveway or parking space."

Source: Ever-higher: the rise of bonnet height, and the case to cap it (T&E website 11 June 2025)

So is it really appropriate for our town centres, where there are small children and people in wheelchairs using the streets, to be increasingly dominated by such large vehicles? Should the government not be taking measures to discourage their use in urban areas? Should drivers not be thinking twice before buying such vehicles?