A new report from the office of Ontario's chief coroner recommends lowering speed limits as a way to prevent the deaths of approximately 100 pedestrians killed every year in the province.

The report wants to see the default speed limit on residential streets at 40 km/h and is pushing municipalities to consider lowering speed limits to 30 km/h.

That's one of 26 recommendations made in the report, which studied 95 pedestrian deaths in Ontario in 2010.

The report finds that only 5% of the deaths studied occured on roads with speed limits below 50 km/h.          

70% of pedestrians killed in 2010 were not crossing at a crosswalk, walking near the side of the road, crossing the street without the right of way, or crossing the street with the light but hit by a driver turning left or right.

``Common driving errors and common pedestrian behaviour should not lead to death and injury,'' said deputy chief coroner Dr. Bert Lauwers, who led the review. ``The traffic system should help users cope with increasingly demanding conditions.''

More than one third of pedestrians killed were seniors even though they account for about 13 per cent of the population.

The report also calls for a provincial "walking strategy'' and "complete streets strategy," to make sure new roads and communities take these safety concerns in mind with existing areas revamped if needed to ensure safety.

(With Files from the Canadian Press)