Category: Statewide Efforts

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, June 2022

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 ten fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in May. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in June 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 44 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in June in the MassDOT Crash portal, five were identified as people walking.
The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in June was 51.5. (One person’s age has not been released.)

Date	6/1/2022, 10:09 AM
Location	72 King St.
Town	Northampton
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	75
Sex	M

WWLP reported that a person was struck by the driver of a vehicle on King Street in Northampton. We could not find any additional news coverage of this crash. If you have any information, please let us know.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. There is one travel lane in each direction, street parking on each side, and sidewalks on both sides. The speed limit is 25mph.

Date	6/3/2022, 11:30 PM
Location	235 Alewife Brook Parkway
Town	Cambridge
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	63
Sex	M

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, this road is under MassDCR jurisdiction. A short section of the rotary is also under MassDOT jurisdiction. There are two travel lanes and a shoulder as the roadway approaches the rotary, a divided median, two travel lanes as it leaves the rotary, and sidewalks on both sides. The speed limit is 30mph.

Date	6/4/2022, 1:03 AM
Location	Storrow Dr. EAST, west of Leverett Cir.
Town	Boston
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	22
Sex	M

Lynn’s Daily Item reported that 22 year old Brandon Jennings was struck and killed by Miguel Rodriguez, 36, who was driving on Storrow Drive near the ramp to the Tobin Bridge and Interstate 93 north. Rodriguez fled the scene. Another person driving on Storrow Drive at the time witnessed the crash and followed the driver to Lynn, reporting the location and license plate number to police.

Rodriguez has been charged with motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of liquor, operating under the influence of liquor, leaving the scene of a crash that resulted in injury or death, and failure to stop or yield.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, sections of this part of the road are under local jurisdiction while others are under MassDOT jurisdiction. There are three or four travel lanes in each direction, a divided median, and sidewalks on both sides. The speed limit is listed at 30mph.

Date	6/22/2022, 3:57 AM
Location	1576 State St.
Town	Springfield
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	46
Sex	F

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

State Street was the deadliest street in Springfield for pedestrians in 2021. In early June 2022, WWLP reported that the City of Springfield initiated a pilot effort to slow drivers down on the section of State Street near the library:

Those temporary improvements will include narrowing the roadway from two lanes on each side of the road down to one with traffic cones and barricades in order to study the effect of the changes to pedestrian safety.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. There are two travel lanes in each direction and sidewalks on both sides. The speed limit is 30mph.

Date	6/24/2022, 9:55 PM
Location	I-95 NORTH, MM 20.6
Town	Walpole
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age
Sex	UNK

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, this road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. There are three travel lanes on the north side, a shoulder, and a divided median. The speed limit is 65mph.

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).

Statewide Fatal Crashes in MA, May 2022

Last month, we took a look at three fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in April. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in May 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 38 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in May in the MassDOT Crash portal, ten were identified as people walking.
The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in May was 57.
At least four of the crash locations either have the speed limit field left blank, or there are conflicting speed limits listed in the MassDOT Road Inventory Tool.

Date	5/4/2022, 8:18 PM
Location	315 Bridge St.
Town	Lowell
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	78
Sex	M

A 78-year old was struck and killed by the driver of a Toyota Corolla on Bridge Street near the intersection with VFW Highway in Lowell. The Lowell Sun coverage included MassDOT data for this location:

Data released by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation shows Bridge Street and VFW Highway experienced more vehicle crashes than any other intersection in the state from 2015 to 2017. The MassDOT’s 2017 Top Crash Locations Report — which includes pedestrian accidents — is based on crashes entered into the Registry of Motor Vehicles Crash Data System. The report shows over the two-year period there were 124 total crashes at the intersection, including 28 crashes that were fatal or caused injury.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. At the intersection with VFW Highway, there is a slip lane and travel lane in one direction, and three lanes in the other direction (two turning lanes and a straight/right turn lane). There is a sidewalk on each side of the street. The speed limit is 35mph.

Date	5/8/2022, 3:35 AM
Location	I-90 EAST, MM 62
Town	Palmer
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	19
Sex	M

A 19-year old Palmer man was struck by the driver of a tractor-trailer on the Mass Pike walking near the median. MassLive reported that investigators believe the man was a Palmer resident who had walked up onto the highway after parking his car on North Main Street under an overpass.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. There are two travel lanes, a shoulder, and a divided median. The speed limit is 65mph.

Date	5/18/2022, 6:38 AM
Location	554 West Chestnut St.
Town	Brockton
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	50
Sex	F

Chafang Wu, age 50, was hit and killed by the driver of a Toyota Prius.

NBC10Boston spoke to the driver behind the woman who struck and killed the person walking:

He was driving down West Chestnut in Brockton when he saw the Prius in front of him suddenly veer off the road and crash into a telephone pole, then a woman laying on the ground.

7News spoke to a neighbor:

I’m just disturbed…Did it have to happen? I don’t think so, and is it going to happen again? Am I gonna be talking to you guys in a month, two months? I hope not.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. There is one travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on one side of W Chestnut Street, and a crosswalk at the intersection of Ash Street to continue along W Chestnut Street, but not to cross W Chestnut. There is a painted shoulder but no sidewalk on the side of the street the woman was struck and killed. The speed limit is unclear, with fields showing 30mph and 35mph in the database.

Date	5/20/2022, 6:23 AM
Location	63 Causeway St. NORTH
Town	Medfield
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	40
Sex	M

Joel E. Wacek, age 40, was struck and killed by the driver of a car while he was running near his home. 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, this road is under local jurisdiction. There is one travel lane in each direction and no sidewalks. The speed limit is not listed.

Date	5/22/2022, 9:25 PM
Location	163 Winthrop St.
Town	Taunton
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	56
Sex	M

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, this road is under local jurisdiction. There is one lane and a shoulder in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides of the street. The speed limit is unclear, with fields showing 40mph and 35mph in the database.

Date	5/27/2022, 11:51 PM
Location	654 South Main St.
Town	Haverhill
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	60
Sex	F

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, this road is under local jurisdiction.There is one lane and a shoulder in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides of the street. The speed limit is unclear, with fields showing 35mph and 30mph in the database.

Date	5/28/2022, 9:17 PM
Location	Massachusetts Ave. + Harrison Ave.
Town	Boston
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	65
Sex	M

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, this road is under local jurisdiction. Massachusetts Ave has two travel lanes in each direction with an additional left turning lane at the intersection of Harrison Ave. There is a bike lane and a parking lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides. Harrison Ave has one travel lane and a parking lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides. There are crosswalks for all four legs of the intersection. The speed limit is 30mph.

Date	5/28/2022, 10:55 PM
Location	700 Providence Hwy.
Town	Dedham
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	59
Sex	F

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

Last July, a pedestrian was struck and killed less than a mile away on Providence Highway/Rt1 at Elm Street.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. There are three travel lanes in each direction with a median. There is a sidewalk on each side of the roadway. There is a signal near this location, with crosswalks for 3 of the 4 legs of the intersection. The speed limit is 45mph.

Date	5/29/2022, 8:07 PM
Location	Cambridge St. + Blossom St.
Town	Boston
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	81
Sex	M

NBC10Boston reported that a pedestrian was critically injured after a driver struck them on Sunday night at the intersection of Blossom and Cambridge Streets. The Beacon Hill Times reported that the person struck was a West End resident who succumbed to his injuries at an area hospital. The driver fled the scene.

The City of Boston is currently holding outdoor in-person “pop-up” sessions this summer to view project materials, share comments, and ask questions about the redesign of Cambridge Street. They hope to share a near-term concept design soon. Learn more on the project website.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. There are two travel lanes in each direction on Cambridge Street. There is a left turn lane on Cambridge Street onto Blossom Street. There are sidewalks on both sides of each street. There are crosswalks for all four legs of the intersection. The speed limit is 25mph.

Date	5/30/2022, 1:50 AM
Location	1038 Main St.
Town	Worcester
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	62
Sex	M

Boston25News reported that a driver of a dark colored Audi Sedan hit a 62-year-old man and drove away from the scene; the person who was struck later died.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. There are two travel lanes in each direction. There are sidewalks on both sides of each street. The speed limit is 30mph.

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).

Mobility Fundamentals for a Climate Action Plan

– and the Questions Policy Makers and Elected Officials Must Answer

With less than a decade left to avoid catastrophic climate change, Massachusetts must do its part to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare our communities for a just, climate-safe future. In Massachusetts and across the country, the transportation sector emits the most carbon pollution of any economic sector. These environmental impacts are not felt evenly. Our transportation networks exacerbate racial, economic, and other structural inequalities, further entrenching disparities in access to economic opportunities, health and safety.

As Massachusetts’ statewide pedestrian advocacy organization, WalkBoston works to make walking safer and easier across the Commonwealth to encourage healthier, more vibrant, and climate ready communities. We envision a Massachusetts where people walking — no matter their race, identity, ability, age, or lived experience — feel safe, connected, and valued on our streets and public spaces. Without coordinated efforts to address the ways our built environment impacts and is impacted by climate change, we are limited in our ability to promote, design, and construct walkable places. Any serious climate action plan put forth by policy makers and elected officials must demonstrate a clear understanding of the transportation sector’s impact on the planet and its people, and provide detailed, specific plans to decarbonize transportation. At minimum, policy makers, elected officials, and those seeking office must share plans to achieve the following:

Mode shift. Switching all single occupant cars on the road to electric isn’t enough. Electric vehicles still create pollution through brake and tire wear; their batteries require the continued extraction of scarce mineral resources; and, they do nothing to address the traffic violence and heat caused by our car-dominated streets and public spaces. To support mode shift, it is essential to expand the reach and frequency of bus networks, commuter (regional) rail and RTA service, and provide complete mobility networks with safe, accessible options for walking, biking and transit. What are your plans to create safe, reliable, and accessible mobility options across the state, or your jurisdiction, so that more trips can be made by transit, walking, and biking?
Improved land use. In communities across Massachusetts, we see how much of our public realm is lost to cars. Wide roadways and excessive parking space takes away land that could be used to build homes, shops, parks, and dining. Land use that encourages car use also adds more heat and pollution to our communities. Zoning and land use regulations must change to encourage more residential and commercial development around transit stations and create neighborhoods with walkable, bikeable scales. How will you work to ensure that communities across the state are part of the solution to house a growing population and connect people to opportunities?
Year round walkable public realms. We are already starting to see the effects of an unstable climate through increasingly frequent intense storms, flooding and heat. To ensure safe, accessible, and comfortable mobility year round, we need investment in public realm resiliency: reflective, porous surfaces, and shading tree canopies during the hottest days of the summer; and street and sidewalk maintenance to keep pathways clear and accessible after winter storms. While roadways are quickly cleared of snow, sidewalks often remain obstructed, presenting particular challenges for older people and people with disabilities. What is your plan to create investments in resiliency infrastructure and to ensure equitable mobility access year round?
Equity. Environmental justice communities need targeted investment – through rigorous and accessible community participation – to decarbonize mobility infrastructure, make mobility more accessible and reliable, and reduce the disproportionate impacts of heat, flooding, and pollution in these communities. There must also be commitments to prevent the location of new polluting infrastructure in environmental justice communities. How will you work to undo policy and planning practices that have left low-income communities and communities of color facing the brunt of climate change, and what steps will you take to center racial and economic justice in your climate plans?
Electrification. While mode shift is essential to meet our climate goals, electrification will play a key role in limiting vehicular pollution. The Commonwealth must electrify the commuter rail, bus networks, school bus fleets, and all other publicly owned or contracted vehicles. It must also help private entities transition to electrified fleets and subsidize e-bikes and EVs to encourage residents to decrease their fossil fuel consumption. What is your plan for electrifying vehicle fleets on a timeline that meets the urgency of the climate crisis?

The climate crisis impacts every aspect of our daily lives; it cannot be addressed in siloes. Every elected official and policy maker has a non-negotiable role to play in climate action and must form coalitions that work to tackle this crisis across jurisdictions. There is no excuse not to use your platform to make the changes we urgently need. Who will be your key partners as you work to craft and execute a climate action plan for Massachusetts?

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, April 2022

Last month, we took a look at the seven fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in March. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in April 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 21 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in April in the MassDOT Crash portal, three were identified as people walking.
The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in April was 60.
One additional fatal crash was in the news: 5-year-old Candice Asare-Yeboah was struck on April 18th on Stafford Street in Worcester and passed away in the ICU on May 24th; a vigil at the crash site was held on Sunday, May 30th. Since Candice died more than 30 days from the date of the crash, this crash may not be included in the federal FARS dataset.

Update, 6/1: After this monthly post was added, a reader sent us a link to an additional fatal crash that was not listed in the portal. On April 27th, a 78-year-old woman was hit and killed at Elm Street and Whittier Street in Andover. We reached out to MassDOT who followed up with Andover PD about this crash; the fatal crash report has now been submitted to MassDOT and added to the crash database.

Date	4/4/2022, 12:50 AM
Location	Kneeland St. + Hudson St.
Town	Boston
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	33
Sex	M

Richard Mullins, age 33, was struck and killed by 36-year-old Abana Cabrera on Kneeland Street in Boston. UniversalHub reported:

Abana Cabrera, 36, of Randolph, was arraigned yesterday in Boston Municipal Court, before Mullins’s death, on charges of operating under the influence of alcohol causing serious bodily injury, OUI alcohol as a second offense, and failure to stop or yield, the DA’s office says, adding she had been earlier convicted of DUI in Nevada in 2016…The defendant allegedly made statements to Boston Police detectives that she had been drinking since 4 p.m. the prior afternoon.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Kneeland Street & Hudson Streets are under local jurisdiction. There are two lanes and a bike lane in each direction on Kneeland. There is no crosswalk across Kneeland Street at Hudson. The intersection of Kneeland and Hudson is one block from the intersection of Kneeland and Albany Street, which has access to I-93 and I-90. The speed limit is 30mph.

Date	4/11/2022, 8:27 PM
Location	I-291 EAST, EXIT 3
Town	Springfield
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	75
Sex	F

Roselaine Jacquet, age 75, was struck and killed on I-291 East just before Exit 3. Western Mass News reported that a 34-year-old Springfield man was driving eastbound when he struck her in the center travel lane.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a limited access highway, with a median and 3 travel lanes in each direction. The speed limit is 55mph.

This section of I-291 is also signed as Rt 20.

Date	4/12/2022, 8:10 PM
Location	27 North St.
Town	Salem
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	72
Sex	M

The Salem News reported that a 72-year old Salem male was treated on scene then rushed to Salem Hospital with serious head injuries after he was struck by the driver of a vehicle on North Street (Rt 114) in Salem.

WalkBoston has conducted a number of walk audits in Salem over the last few years. This intersection is located outside the planned route of the September 2019 North Salem Walk Audit, but other intersections along North Street were examined at that time.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. At this intersection with Lynde Street, there are two lanes in each direction to accommodate turning lanes, with a bike lane on one side and a bike lane that transitions to sharrows on the other side. The speed limit is 30mph.

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).

April 2022 Network Meeting Recap

The WalkMassachusetts Network held its third network meeting on Wednesday, April 20th. Members ranged from WalkBoston staff and board members, resident advocates from community groups, Mass in Motion coordinators, and representatives on various municipal boards and commissions from across Massachusetts.

Deputy Director Brendan Kearney gave a presentation on the WalkBoston report looking at fatal crashes in Massachusetts in 2021 as part of a continued outreach effort about the data.

Findings:

Of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, 47 had a fatal pedestrian crash in 2021. Over half (40 of 75) of the deaths happened in 12 municipalities.
Older adults were hit and killed at a higher rate than those in other age groups: 36% of fatal crash victims were over the age of 65. In Massachusetts, only 17% of the population is over 65.¹
Over half of Massachusetts’ fatal pedestrian crashes (50.67%) occurred on streets with speed limits of 30 to 35 MPH. These are neighborhood streets and main streets where more people are walking.
Roughly 65% of the people killed while walking were on roads owned by a city or town, while approximately 35% were walking on roads owned by a state agency (MassDOT or MassDCR).

Read the press release | Read the full report

If you haven’t already joined the WalkMassachusetts Network to hear about these monthly meetings, visit walkmanetwork.org to learn more and sign up to receive emails about upcoming events and programming. We also hope you’ll join us for our next network meeting on Wednesday, May 18th at 1 pm via Zoom. Chris Falcos from MassDOT will be joining to present on their new safe speeds programs and efforts. Have questions about the program? Please join us if you can by registering here!