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 month, we released a year in review for 2021 to highlight common issues.

Last month, we took a look at the nine fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in January. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in February 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 31 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in February in the MassDOT Crash portal, seven were identified as people walking.
• The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in February was 47.1.
• We could not find any news coverage from three of the crashes. If you have any information, please let us know.
• At least two of the crashes were hit & runs (as referenced in news articles).

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, both South Street and Jubinville Street are under local jurisdiction. Jubinville Street Avenue is two-way, with 1 travel lanes in each direction. South Street is two-way on one side of the intersection with Jubinville Street, with 1 travel lanes in each direction, and one-way with one travel lane on the other side of the intersection. There is a sidewalk on one side of South Street and no crosswalks are present. The speed limit is not indicated for either street in the Road Inventory.

Holyoke adopted a 25 mph default speed limit in 2018 in “an effort to keep the city’s streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and other motorists” according to a MassLive story at the time.

Ryan Connearney, age 26, was struck and killed by the driver of a 2017 Chevrolet Cruze after he exited his own vehicle, a 2018 Ford Fiesta, which for reasons still under investigation, went off the roadway into a ditch on the right side of at the beginning of the off ramp for exit 117, according to the Mass State Police’s preliminary investigation.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a limited access highway, with 3 travel lanes in each direction, separated by a median. There is an off ramp at this location. The speed limit is listed as 65mph. (The location is listed as Natick, while the Google Street View displays Framingham; municipal boundaries of Natick, Framingham, and Wayland all meet near this exit ramp.)

Edward Geddis, age 52, was struck and killed in a hit and run crash. The driver of a gray Ford truck left the scene. When police arrived on the scene, they found Mr. Geddis in the roadway with a heavily damaged wheelchair nearby.

The Worcester Police Crash Reconstruction Unit determined that “a gray Ford truck was traveling Northeast on Boylston St when it struck the male in a wheelchair. The operator exited his vehicle and remained on scene for about a minute and fifteen seconds before fleeing. After further investigation, officers developed probable cause for the arrest of Charles Brant, forty-years-old of Boylston. Officers went to his residence in Boylston and observed damage to the front right end of the vehicle, and other evidence consistent with having been involved in a crash. Mr. Brant was placed under arrest and is charged with Leaving the Scene of a Collision Causing Death.”

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Boylston Street is under local jurisdiction. Boylston Street is two-way, with 2 travel lanes in each direction. There is a sidewalk on one side of the street, and a partial sidewalk / grassy curb that is not wheelchair accessible on the side of the street where Mr. Geddis was struck. The speed limit is 30mph in the Road Inventory.

The closest crosswalk across Boylston Street from 36 Boylston St is ~900 feet away at the intersection with Lincoln Street; there are no crosswalks at Chino Ave (~550 feet), Tacoma Street (~330 feet) or Plantation Street (~900 feet).

Elena Lucore, age 19, was struck and killed on Mass Ave on the UMass Amherst Campus while walking with a friend. She was struck and killed by another student at UMass Amherst, according to Boston 25 News.

Western Mass News reported on March 11th:

Campus officials told us that since the accident, a UMass Police Officer has been stationed around the clock near the location where the accident occurred. And they said the university is taking added steps to improve safety on Mass Ave. Those include a covered walkway on the south side of the street that is expected to be finished by this Friday. The addition of push-button flashers across all cross walks on the east and west side of the street. And a speed limit reduction from 30 mph to 20 mph.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Massachusetts Avenue is under State college or university jurisdiction. Massachusetts Avenue is two-way, with 2 travel lanes in each direction and a large grassy median and sidewalks on each side. The speed limit is 30 mph in the Road Inventory.

John McGuinness, age 70, was struck and killed by Elmer Coreas, age 57, who was driving a Honda Pilot. WCVB reported that it was a hit and run crash, as Coreas fled the scene; Woburn police said they were able to identify fluids from the suspect motor vehicle which they were able to follow back to an apartment building on Montvale Avenue, where they located a maroon Honda Pilot with heavy front-end damage.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Montvale Avenue is under local jurisdiction. Montvale Avenue is two-way, with 1 travel lanes in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides of the street. The speed limit is 25 mph in the Road Inventory.

WCVB also talked to people who knew John:

“Nice guy, very generous. Always took care of everybody,” the Woburn VFW’s Becky Higgins said of John McGuiness, 70.

His photo now hangs on the wall at the VFW in Woburn, where McGuinness was a fixture, and friend.

“Any time you asked him, he was always doing great, always had a positive attitude,” Higgins said.

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, Washington Street is under local jurisdiction. Washington Street is two-way, with 1 travel lanes in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides of each street. The speed limit is not indicated for Washington Street in the Road Inventory.

WalkBoston conducted a walk audit in downtown Peabody in the fall of 2018 which notes “excessively wide vehicular travel lanes lead to high traffic speeds on Washington Street.” The report also states:

Even though the City of Peabody has reduced its default speed limit to 25 miles per hour, the posted speed limit on parts of Washington Street is 30 miles per hour, creating a complicated regulatory issue.

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, South Main Street is under MassDOT jurisdiction. South Main Street is two-way, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on one side of the street. There is a shopping plaza at this location, with signs for accessing I-95 along the roadway. The speed limit is 40 mph in the Road Inventory.

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).