Each month, we post about the fatal crashes in Massachusetts from the previous month, and share any trends that we see. For the full list of monthly posts, head here. Earlier this year, we released a year in review for 2021 to highlight common issues.

Last month, we took a look at the seven fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in February. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in March 2022. The information in the chart below is compiled from news reports, and was checked against the MassDOT Crash Portal Dashboard “Fatal Crash Information.” The Google Street View images included below use the address listed in the crash portal.

• Of the 23 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in March in the MassDOT Crash portal, seven were identified as people walking.
• The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in March was 63.
• We could not find any news coverage from two of the crashes. If you have any information, please let us know.

Marissa Voller, age 35, was struck and killed by the driver of a pickup truck on Bedford Street in Abington. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s office indicated that visibility was low and the weather was misty.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, SR-18 (Bedford Street) is under MassDOT jurisdiction. Bedford Street is two-way, with 2 travel lanes in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides of the street. The speed limit is 45 mph in the Road Inventory. While the road inventory displays it as a 2 lane road with no sidewalks, Google Streetview from August 2021 shows a newly paved roadway with 2 lanes in each direction and sidewalks on both sides as part of the MassDOT Route 18 Weymouth-Abington Improvement project; it appears that images were captured before final striping.

Abington News reported that officials had concerns about drivers speeding on a newly widened and paved roadway prior to the March 1st crash:

The night before the accident, town officials commented on the increased speeds vehicles travel along the recently widened road.

“They are flying up 18,” Fire Chief John Nuttal told the Board of Selectmen the night before the accident, adding he was surprised one of the town’s emergency response vehicles hadn’t been hit yet.

“They’re definitely going faster,” Selectman Alex Bezanson said in agreement.

Donny Bowes, age 58, was struck and killed while in a crosswalk by the driver of a BMW SUV on Newport Avenue early on Friday morning, March 11th. NBC Boston reports that Donny was on his way to work when he was hit while crossing the street.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Newport Avenue is under local jurisdiction. The speed limit is 30mph. There are two travel lanes in each direction with an additional turn lane for each direction to turn onto Holbrook Rd, a sidewalk on each side of the street, and crosswalks for all legs of the intersection. There is a pedestrian overpass on one side of this intersection so that people can walk over the MBTA tracks.

Donny worked at Fenway Park for more than a decade, the Boston Globe reported:

“We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Donny Bowes this morning,” the Red Sox said in a statement to the Globe on Friday. “He was beloved by countless co-workers and Red Sox fans during his 15 years with the security department. Donny’s endless energy and infectious positive attitude made a significant impact on the Fenway Park experience. He will be greatly missed.”

This crash is a little over a mile away from the Newport Ave + Willow Ave intersection where Robert Jansen, age 62, was struck and killed in May 2021 by a 21 year old driver of a Jeep. At the time, the Boston Globe reported that “an initial observation of the crash determined that there was approximately 278 feet of visible skid marks leading up to the motor vehicle and victim.”

We could not find any news coverage of this crash. If you have any information, please let us know.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Waterford Street is under local jurisdiction. Waterford Street is two-way, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides of the street. The sidewalk ends before the intersection with Baker Street. The speed limit is listed as 99 (not entered) in the Road Inventory, but there are school zone markings on the pavement for the nearby Waterford Street School. School zone speeds, which have been established in accordance with the Massachusetts Amendments to the MUTCD, are set at 20 mph for school zones in Massachusetts.

There is no Google Streetview available for this section of Waterford Street; this image is the nearby intersection of Baker Street & Waterford Street zoomed in showing angled parking on one side of the street and the school and playing fields.

Nancy “Maria” McDaniel was struck and killed at the intersection of Beech and West Franklin Streets while out walking her beloved dog, Henry, by a male driver traveling eastbound according to Western Mass News.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette talked to her sister, Ann Marie Carvalho:

Asked what more she wanted to say, Carvalho urged people to slow down when driving and give the right-of-way to pedestrians.

“Stop texting, stop playing with the radio. Whatever you’re doing, pay attention,” she said. “It impacts the whole family, burying somebody who has no right being buried yet.”

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, West Franklin Street and Beech Street are each under local jurisdiction. It is a signalized intersection with crosswalks on each leg. West Franklin Street is two-way, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is an additional right turning lane at the intersection with Beech Street. There is a sidewalk on both sides of the street. The speed limit is listed as both 30mph and 25mph in the Road Inventory. Beech Street is two-way, with 2 travel lanes in each direction with a median at the intersection. There is a sidewalk on both sides of the street. The speed limit for Beech Street is listed as 25 mph southwest of Franklin Street, and 35mph northeast of Franklin Street in the Road Inventory.

David V. Karacius, age 72, was hit and killed on Boston Road in Sutton. The only news coverage of this crash we could find was from Boston 25 News, that Sutton Police were investigating after a person was struck by a vehicle and the included Facebook post from the Sutton Police Department. If you have any information, please let us know.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Boston Road is under local jurisdiction. Boston Road is two-way, with 1 travel lanes in each direction. There is no sidewalk or shoulder on either side of the street. The speed limit is 25 mph in the Road Inventory.

103-year old Norma Cormier died “after injuries sustained from a tragic accident.” We could not find any news coverage of this crash. If you have any information, please let us know.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Bemis Street is under local jurisdiction. Bemis Street is two-way, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is no sidewalk or shoulder on either side of the street (Google Streetview image is from 2007 shows a path on one side, but may not reflect current conditions). The speed limit is not listed in the Road Inventory.

Waltham News Tribune/Wicked Local reported that a middle-aged man was struck by the driver of a work van on Prospect Hill Road near the intersection of Columbus Avenue. The 73-year old man was medflighted to a hospital, where he later died.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Prospect Hill Road is under local jurisdiction. Boston Road is two-way, with 1 travel lanes in each direction. There is an additional left turn lane at the intersection of Prospect Hill Avenue. There are sidewalks on both sides of the street. The speed limit is 30 mph in the Road Inventory. There is a crosswalk to cross Prospect Hill Avenue, but not Prospect Hill Road at this intersection.

Updates

If you have an update about a community member who was killed in one of these crashes, please contact Brendan so we can update our 2022 list. WalkBoston has maintained a list each year since 2016, pulling the information from news reports, social media, and from people like you that share the information with us.

Yearly trackers:  |  ||||| 2022

Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2021)

Reminder about the data from the MassDOT portal

MassDOT makes no representation as to the accuracy, adequacy, reliability, availability or completeness of the crash records or the data collected from them and is not responsible for any errors or omissions in such records or data. Under no circumstance will MassDOT have any liability for any loss or damage incurred by any party as a result of the use of the crash records or the data collected from them. Furthermore, the data contained in the web-based crash report tool are not an official record of what transpired in a particular crash or for a particular crash type. If a user is interested in an official copy of a crash report, contact the Registry (http://www.mass.gov/rmv/). The City of Boston Police Department may be contacted directly for official copies of crash reports and for crash data pertaining to the City of Boston. In addition, any crash records or data provided for the years after 2018 are subject to change at any time and are not to be considered up-to-date or complete. As such, open years’ of crash data are for informational purposes only and should not be used for analysis. The data posted on this website, including crash records and other reports, are collected for the purpose of identifying, evaluating or planning the safety enhancement of potential crash sites, hazardous roadway conditions or railway-highway crossings. Under federal law, this information is not subject to discovery and cannot be admitted into evidence in any federal or state court proceeding or considered for other purposes in any action for damages that involves the sites mentioned in these records (see 23 USC, Section 409).