Tag: fatal crashes

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, August 2023

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, August 2023

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.

Last month, we took a look at crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in July; three were identified as people walking. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in August 2023. The information in the chart below is compiled from news reports, and was checked against the MassDOT Crash Portal Dashboard “Fatal Crash Information.” Any Google Street View images included below use the address listed in the crash portal.

  • Of the 31 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in August in the MassDOT Crash portal, 6 were identified as people walking.
  • The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in August was 52.3.
  • At least 1 took place in a parking lot, which is usually not included in FARS crash data.
Date8/2/2023, 9:27 PM
Location1233 SR-5 EAST
TownHolyoke
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age53
SexM

Western Mass News reports a driver of a Jeep struck and killed a 53-year old person walking in the southbound left lane near 1233 Main Street in Holyoke.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Main Street/SR-5 is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is two-way street with two lanes in each direction, a median barrier, and a sidewalk on the northbound side. The speed limit is 45 mph.

Date8/7/2023, 6:43 PM
Location85 MacArthur Dr.
TownNew Bedford
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age36
SexM

NBC Boston reports 36-year old John Blomgren was struck and killed by a 56-year old driver just before 7pm in a sports bar’s parking lot.

This fatal crash happened in a parking lot, which is usually not included in FARS crash data. According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, MacArthur Drive is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street with one lane in each direction, sidewalks on both sides, and bike lanes in each direction. The speed limit is unclear, with 99mph listed in the database.

Date8/18/2023, 9:18 PM
Location430 Union St.
TownRockland
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age63
SexM

Boston 25 News reports 63-year old Richard Erwin was struck and killed by 18-year old Jacob Ryan who was driving a brown KIA Optima around 9pm.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Union Street is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street with one lane in each direction, sidewalks on both sides, and bike lanes in each direction. The speed limit is unclear, with 99mph listed in the database.

Date8/24/2023, 3:56 PM
Location790 High St.
TownHanson
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age90
SexM

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

This fatal crash happened on a roadway within a cemetery, private parking areas are usually not included in FARS crash data. According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, High Street is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street with no sidewalks. The speed limit is unclear, as it is not listed and not viewable nearby on street view.

Date8/27/2023, 3:08 AM
LocationUS-6 EAST, EXIT 78A
TownDennis
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age21
SexM

Cape Cod Times/Yahoo News shared that a serious multi-vehicle crash in Dennis shut down Route 6 eastbound early Sunday morning. 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, US-6 is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a divided highway with a grassy median, with two lanes and a shoulder in each direction. The speed limit is 55mph.

Date8/31/2023, 8:06 PM
Location248 Dickinson St.
TownSpringfield
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age51
SexF

A 51-year old woman was struck and killed by the driver of a vehicle on Dickinson Street in Springfield.

WWLP/22News spoke to community members nearby:

“They drive a little too fast and we have to watch and make sure they clear before I walk,” said Cathy Tai, owner of Cathy’s Beauty Supply.

“The biggest problem that I find living here and crossing these streets is just people that drive aggressively. They come around the corner, they don’t expect someone to be standing there trying to cross,” said Thomas Balcom of Springfield.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Dickinson Street is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with one lane in each direction with sidewalks on both sides. 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 2023 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 | 2023

Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2021)
Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2022)

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, July 2023

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, July 2023

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.

Last month, we took a look at crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in June; three were identified as people walking. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in July 2023. The information in the chart below is compiled from news reports, and was checked against the MassDOT Crash Portal Dashboard “Fatal Crash Information.” Any Google Street View images included below use the address listed in the crash portal.

  • Of the 32 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in July in the MassDOT Crash portal, 3 were identified as people walking.
  • The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in July was 60.
  • At least 1 was a hit and run, where the driver left the scene after striking someone.
Date7/1/2023, 5:06 PM
Location3 Bartlett St.
TownMerrimac
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age93
SexM

The Boston Herald reports that 93-year old Robert Whitcomb was struck and killed by a juvenile driving a vehicle near Robert’s residence on Bartlett Street. Robert may have been on a tricycle when he was struck. (This crash may be re-categorized in the future, but is currently listed pedestrian crash in the database.)

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Bartlett Street is under local jurisdiction. It is two-way street with no sidewalks. The speed limit is unclear, as it is not listed and not viewable nearby on street view. The default speed limit in Merrimac is 30mph. Communities in Massachusetts can opt-in to a 25mph default speed limit and create 20mph Safety Zones.

Bartlett Street does not have a Google Street View image available, but the nearby intersection of Broad/Mill/Bartlett shows a “slow” sign at the start of Bartlett Street.

Date7/18/2023, 9:30 PM
Location165 Wood Ave.
TownBoston
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age4
SexM

The Boston Globe reports 4-year old Ivan Pierre was struck and killed on Wood Avenue in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood near his family’s home. The driver, Olguens Joseph, left the scene after striking Ivan; he turned himself in almost two weeks later. From the article:

Boston police released a video of the car that allegedly struck and killed Ivan Pierre. The nine-second video shows the vehicle running a stop sign at the corner of Wood Avenue and Safford Street in the moments before Pierre was killed near his family’s home. The intersection is less than 500 feet from the house.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Wood Avenue is under local jurisdiction. It is a two way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on each side. The speed limit is 25mph.
There have been 2 other fatal crashes near that crash site on Wood Avenue in Hyde Park. On April 9, 2017 was a fatal motorcycle crash at the corner of Wood/Mariposa; and on August 11, 2020 there was a fatal vehicle crash. Since the crash in 2017, the Boston Transportation Department has implemented a number of street design changes to try and control speed and vehicle movement at wide intersections along the corridor (like Wood/Tacoma, Wood/Farrar, Wood/Mariposa), including flex posts and paint to force drivers to slow down when taking turns or navigating curves on the hilly roadway. There aren’t many crosswalks to get across Wood; this is likely due to poor sight lines with the street’s curves and hilly terrain.
Earlier this year, the City of Boston published a speed hump eligibility map as part of a safety surge effort.
Wood Avenue is not indicated as a street that qualifies for speed humps, but a number of the side streets are eligible for a future phase. It is possible that neighborhood arterials have not been listed on this general map when considering all roadways in the city in order to allow for a potential quicker rollout in order to strike a balance between implementing traffic calming and not impact any operations of MBTA bus routes or fire/emergency operations; it is also possible speed humps on arterials instead could be implemented on a case-by-case basis. Creating safer/slower streets could make it so fire/emergency responders would not need to respond to as many traffic crashes.

Date7/23/2023, 3:50 PM
LocationMcGrath Hwy. + Newcomb St.
TownQuincy
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age83
SexM

The Patriot Ledger reports that a pedestrian was hit by a car and suffered life-threatening injuries. The MassDOT crash portal dataset indicates that an 83-year old man died.

A damaged silver sedan was at the intersection, Patriot Ledger media partner WCVB reported. Vegetables from a bag were strewn on the road where the pedestrian was hit.

Quincy police said the driver stayed at the scene. It is unclear whether charges will be filed.

The victim’s name will not be released, police said.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Newcomb Street and McGrath Highway are both under local jurisdiction. Newcomb Street is a two way street with one lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on each side. McGrath Highway is a divided two-way street, with two lanes in each direction. There is a sidewalk on each side. There is a crosswalk with RRFB flashers. The speed limit for each street is unclear, as they are both listed as 99 and there are no speed limit signs viewable nearby on Google Street View.

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 2023 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 | 2023

Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2021)
Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2022)

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, June 2023

Statewide Fatal Crashes in MA, June 2023

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.

Last month, we took a look at crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in May; six were identified as people walking. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in June 2023. The information in the chart below is compiled from news reports, and was checked against the MassDOT Crash Portal Dashboard “Fatal Crash Information.” Any Google Street View images included below use the address listed in the crash portal.

  • Of the 20 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in June in the MassDOT Crash portal, 3 were identified as people walking.
  • The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in June was 41.3.
Date6/13/2023, 4:22 AM
LocationI-93 SOUTH, south of EXIT 21
TownMedford
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age31
SexM

WCVB reports a 31-year old man was struck and killed after jumping from an overpass onto 93-South.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, I-93 is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a limited access highway, with 4 travel lanes in each direction with a divided median. The speed limit is 55mph.

Date6/15/2023, 4:56 PM
Location1037 St. James Ave.
TownSpringfield
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age50
SexM

WWLP reported that a 50 year old man was struck by the driver of a vehicle as the man was crossing the street near a bank. The man was transported to Baystate Medical Center with serious injuries. This crash was categorized as a fatal crash in the MassDOT portal when checked on July 21st.

The nearby intersections of St. James Avenue, Carew Street, and St. James Boulevard is listed for construction through the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP); locations are selected based on the HSIP Top 200 Crash Cluster mapping and in coordination with the District and Regional Planning Agency. This project is planned to be funded through the 2023 Transportation Improvement Program for the Pioneer Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization; notice to proceed was given on May 17, 2023.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, St. James Avenue is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. (The travel lanes are wide; the road inventory lists the surface width as 44 feet). There is a sidewalk on each side of the street. The speed limit is 30mph.

Date6/24/2023, 9:01 PM
Location224 Low St.
TownNewburyport
TypePEDESTRIAN
Age43
SexF

MassLive reports 43-year old Mercy Kimani was struck and killed by the driver of a GMC Denali SUV near Port Plaza on Low Street in Newburyport.

The Daily News reported that the investigation is ongoing: 

“The circumstances that led to the fatal accident remain unclear with officials still trying to piece together whether the victim was crossing the road, walking alongside the road where there is no sidewalk or if something else happened.”

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Low Street is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on each side of the street. The speed limit is 30mph. (It is listed as 99 on the road inventory, but viewable nearby on street view.)

Google Street View images show that vegetation has encroached on sidewalk access in previous years near the plaza.

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 2023 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 | 2023

Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2021)
Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2022)

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).

WalkMassachusetts presents at BARI Conference 2023

WalkMassachusetts presents at BARI Conference 2023

Last Friday, WalkMassachusetts’ Deputy Director of Advocacy Brendan Kearney presented at the Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI) Conference 2023: Greater Boston’s Annual Insight-to-Impact Summit. The BARI Conference aims to be a unique forum for community leaders, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to share how they advance data-driven research and policy in Greater Boston—and how we could do even more through collective action. The conference took place at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, an inspiring space to listen to impactful talks, network with others, and imagine innovative ways to collect and utilize data.

 
Pictured right to left: Ava Dimond, Iolando Spinola, Althea Wong-Achorn, Brendan Kearney.

Brendan was one of four speakers on the topic of “Redesigning Transportation.” Brendan and Bonnie Polin of MassDOT co-authored the talk, entitled “MassDOT’s Impact Crash Portal (And How WalkMassachusetts And Other Advocates Use It).” MassDOT created the  IMPACT (Interactive Mapping Portal for Analysis & Crash Tracking) portal to make crash data that is reported by police departments more readily available to the public. IMPACT allows you to look at data through pre-built reports or conduct your own self-driven analysis; dashboards allow for interactive analysis & data exploration. The talks were moderated by Liz Williams, Ph.D., Director of Data and Policy at MassDOT‘s Office of Transportation Planning, while Jarred Johnson, Executive Director at TransitMatters, acted as provocateur asking follow up questions of the speakers before opening it up to the audience. 

WalkMassachusetts has used IMPACT to help communities identify high risk locations & encourage residents to push for safety changes. Using IMPACT, we published a report last March examining spatial and demographic patterns in fatal pedestrian crashes statewide. 

We would like to thank Bonnie and her team at MassDOT for making this data accessible to the public and for seeking feedback to continually improve the portal. Thank you to Liz and Jarred for a thought-provoking discussion following the talks, and to BARI for inviting WalkMassachusetts to discuss our experience with IMPACT. 

Fatal Pedestrian Crashes In MA (2022) Report News Coverage

Fatal Pedestrian Crashes In MA (2022) Report News Coverage

We list all media clips on our website, but on this post we consolidated some of the media coverage for the Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2022) Report. Please let us know if we missed any others that you’ve seen and we can update this post.

Report Overview

In 2022, there were 439 fatal traffic crashes in Massachusetts. After a dip during the first year of the pandemic in 2020, fatal pedestrian crashes in MA returned in 2021 to a level similar to what we’ve seen every year since 2015; this number was over 30% higher in 2022. At least 101 pedestrians lost their lives, accounting for over 23% of the total.

Our state and local leaders can and must take steps to design our streets to be safer for its citizens. We believe that MassDOT should hasten efforts to release an Action Plan based on the Strategic Highway Safety Plan. It is crucial to identify how the safety plan will be implemented. This includes identifying any resources and additional staff that will be required so that the Legislature can appropriately fund the program. In particular, we believe that the first two initiatives, “Implement Speed Management to Realize Safer Speeds” and “Address Top-Risk Locations and Populations” are of particular importance when looking at 2022’s fatal pedestrian crashes.

This report took a closer look at initial crash information made available by MassDOT through the agency’s Interactive Mapping Portal for Analysis and Crash Tracking (IMPACT) portal.

Findings:

  • Of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, 60 had a fatal pedestrian crash in 2022. There were 19 municipalities with multiple fatal crashes, while 10 Gateway Cities had more than one fatal crash.
  • Similar to the concerning trend we found in last year’s report, older adults were hit and killed at a higher rate than those in other age groups: 38.6% of fatal crash victims were over the age of 65, while this segment only represents 17% of the Commonwealth’s total population.1
  • 71% of fatal pedestrian crashes took place in Environmental Justice Census Block Groups. Environmental Justice Population Data is based upon three demographic criteria developed by the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA).
  • More than 60% of the fatal pedestrian crashes occurred in the dark (before sunrise or after sunset). A recent Federal Highway Administration report found that in 2020, 76% of all pedestrian-related fatalities in the United States occurred during periods of darkness.2
  • Ten (9.80%) of the fatal pedestrian crashes were hit and run crashes, in which the driver left the scene of the crash.

Coverage: