Statewide Fatal Crashes in MA, February 2021

Each month in 2021, we plan to post about the fatal crashes in Massachusetts from the previous month, and share any trends that we see. Last month, we took a look at the 5 fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in January. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in February 2021. The information in the chart below is compiled from news reports, and was checked against the MassDOT Crash Portal Dashboard “Fatal Information by Year.” The Google Street View images included below use the address listed in the crash portal.

• Of the 19 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in February in the MassDOT Crash portal, 4 were people walking.
• 3 of those 4 crashes were on limited access highways. In 2 of those crashes, tractor trailer drivers struck and killed a driver who exited a vehicle after it had broken down.
• The crash portal does not include names. The names of 2 of the people walking who died have not been made public yet.
• The name of the person driving was not identified in any of the 4 crashes in news articles.
• 2 people lost their lives at a construction site in Boston in February when a co-worker hit them with a vehicle, pushing them into an open trench. That incident is not listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal. The Boston Globe wrote at least two follow up stories about 33-year-old Jose Carlos Figueroa-Gutierrez and 27-year-old Jordan Romero: “One day later, makeshift memorial for two construction workers only sign of tragedy in Boston,” “A sister mourns for brother killed at downtown Boston construction site.”

A 33 year old Hartford man was struck and killed on on I-90 (the MassPike) by the driver of a tractor trailer. WHDH reported that he was hit after his Toyota Camry broke down and he got out of the car to examine the problem.

A 70 year old woman was hit and killed on Winthrop Ave (Rt 114) on the North Andover / Lawrence line. The Boston Globe reported that the scene of the crash on Route 114 was near the North Andover Mall. Rt 114 is 4 lanes (2 travel lanes each direction) in front of the North Andover Mall and 3 lanes after the driveway intersection. There is only a sidewalk on one side of the street. According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Winthrop Ave/Rt 114 is under MassDOT jurisdiction.

According to Google Streetview, the sidewalk is relatively new and under construction as of November 2019. There is only a sidewalk on one side of the street, but it did not exist prior to November 2019. New curb ramps are in place but only go across the driveway entrance, not Rt 114. The nearest crosswalks across Rt 114 are 0.9 miles away from each other, with the shopping center roughly in between. A housing development is also on the other side of the street from the shopping center.

Mustapha Faddi, a 57 year old Marlborough man, was struck and killed on I-90 (the MassPike) by the driver of a tractor trailer. Mustapha’s Nissan Murano broke down and he got out of the car to examine the problem. The Patch shared that this was the second fatal crash on the MassPike in February involving a disable vehicle & tractor trailer.

Madeleine Fox, a 22 year old woman, was hit and killed after she got out of her friend’s car on I-93. NBC Boston reports that investigators are working to identify a description of the vehicle or vehicles that might have hit her.

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 . 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:  |||||

Reminder about the data from the MassDOT portal

DISCLAIMER:  The compilation of data is based on preliminary data we receive from a variety of local sources.  Some of the data may differ slightly from information provided by NHTSA as this dashboard does not use imputation methods.  Information is subject to change when/if updated information becomes available. Data updated daily as reported by police departments.