Lockwood resident Kyle Shepherd was walking to the side of Nevison Road in July 2020 when a car hit and killed him.

It had pulled to the left so that it and an oncoming vehicle could pass each other.

The driver told police that the pedestrian had just "popped up".

They did not see the 31-year-old man until they struck him, a coroner has found.

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The driver immediately stopped and the other vehicle kept going, appearing to be unaware of the crash.

That section of the road had no shoulder. Grass banks on both sides were uneven and rough.

The road also lacked street lights.

Deputy state coroner Caitlin English has ruled the crash was an accident, given that the sun had set, the man was wearing dark clothing and likely listening to music using headphones.

Below: Nevison Road (pin denotes location of road, not the crash)

She has called for a new education campaign that would target pedestrian safety in rural areas.

"Campaigns directed at improving pedestrian safety in rural areas appear to be lacking," she said.

Five pedestrians have already been killed in regional Victoria this year, according to Transport Accident Commission data. Mr Shepherd was among 16 killed in 2020.

She said the strategy would need the cooperation of a number of groups including state government groups and local governments.

Ms English also recommended the council itself consider creating its own local education campaign tailored to the greater Bendigo area.

The council has indicated it will write to the Department of Transport and the Transport Accident Commission seeking a state government-led campaign.

State agencies are understood to be considering the coroner's findings.

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The council has gone a step further and indicated it will write to road authorities including minister for Transport Jacinta Allen asking it to investigate lowering default speed limits on unsealed gravel roads.

Motorists can drive at 100 km/h on country roads where there are no speed limit signs, though the coroner found that the driver who struck Mr Shepherd in Lockwood was travelling between 60 and 80km/h at the moment of the crash.

The council's push follows a parliamentary inquiry which last March found that speed limits on all rural and regional roads should be reviewed "as a matter of priority".

"Default speed limits on such roads should be lowered to safe levels," the report stated.

It noted policies already in place for many other roads directing road designs that stop oncoming traffic driving above 70km/h without some form of physical separation.

"Yet as well as being unsealed, some 100 km/h rural and regional roads lack physical separation and other safety infrastructure ... as well as unforgiving shoulders," the report stated.

The upper house parliamentary committee recommended road authorities review them to find unsafe roads because it was not feasible or economically possible to rely on upgrades.

The government is currently considering the report's recommendations and is expected to formally respond later this year.

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