Author: WalkMassachusetts

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, October 2021

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, October 2021

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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. For the full list of monthly posts, head here.

Last month, we took a look at the five fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in September. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in October 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 28 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in October in the MassDOT Crash portal, seven were identified as people walking.
  • The crash portal does not include names. The name of two of the people walking who died have not been made public yet.
  • The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in October was 65.
  • At least one of the crashes were hit & runs (as referenced in news articles).
  • The name of the person driving was only identified in one of the crashes in news articles that we found.
  • We could not find any news reports for one of the fatal crashes.
Date 10/4/2021, 9:45 AM
Location 66 Huttleston Ave.
Town Fairhaven
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 77
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 street is under MassDOT jurisdiction. This stretch of Huttleston Avenue (State Route 6) is two-way, with 2 travel lanes in each direction. There is a sidewalk on each side of the road. The speed limit is unclear in the MassDOT Road Inventory, with 25mph and 35mph both listed.

Date 10/13/2021, 1:30 PM
Location Essex St. + Winter St.
Town Lawrence
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 73
Sex F

The Eagle-Tribune reports that a driver struck and killed 73-year-old Antoquia M. Ruiz Villlona De Anziani in the area of Essex Street & Winter Street in Lawrence. The driver was not identified.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, both of these streets are under local jurisdiction. Each road is two-way, with 1 travel lanes in each direction. It is a 2-way stop, with stop signs for the Winter/Medford Street approach (Winter Street becomes Medford St as it crosses Essex). There is a sidewalk on each side of each road. There is no painted crosswalk over Essex Street. The speed limit is unclear in the MassDOT Road Inventory, and not obvious on Google Street View.

Date 10/14/2021, 6:44 PM
Location North Main St. + Huntington St.
Town Brockton
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 54
Sex M

The Enterprise News reports that Joao Fernandes, age 54, died after the driver of a Mel’s ice cream truck struck him at the intersection of North Main Street and Huntington Street. The driver was not identified.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, North Main Street and Huntington Street are both under local jurisdiction. Each road is two-way, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a stop sign on Huntington Street as it meets North Main Street. There is a sidewalk on each side of each road. There is a crosswalk across Huntington Street, but no painted crosswalk over North Main Street. The speed limit is 30mph in the MassDOT Road Inventory.

Date 10/16/2021, 10:26 AM
Location Theodore Glynn Way
Town Boston
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 59
Sex F

Lisa Vadeboncoeur was killed and two other people were injured after 46-year-old Kevin McCaffrey struck them on Theodore Glynn Way in Boston. WHDH reported that he has been charged with motor vehicle homicide by operating under the influence of drugs, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Their coverage included a statement from Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins:

“Ms. Vadeboncoeur and the two other individuals injured in this crash were standing well off the side of the road when they were struck,” Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a statement. “My office has been in contact with each of the victims and the loved ones of Ms. Vadeboncoeur. We will continue to be available to provide them and the two surviving victims with the support and resources they may need and that they deserve.”

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Theodore Glynn Way is under local jurisdiction. It is a one-way road that is 64-feet wide; there is parking on the left side. Street View from November 2020 does not show any lane markings. There is a sidewalk on one side of the road and a shoulder on the other side. The speed limit is not noted in the MassDOT Road Inventory.

Date 10/21/2021, 1:55 PM
Location 704 North Quincy St.
Town Brockton
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 79
Sex M

A 79-year-old man was struck and killed by a driver on North Quincy Street in Brockton. Neither the driver nor the pedestrian were identified.

The Enterprise News observed that this was the second fatal crash in a week in Brockton.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, North Quincy Street is under local jurisdiction. The road is two-way, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on each side of the road, but there is a large curb cut on one side shared by the Brookfield Plaza and a used car dealer. (The Enterprise News story includes photos of police investigators examining this side of the road/driveways.) The speed limit is 30mph in the MassDOT Road Inventory.

Date 10/26/2021, 6:23 AM
Location Walk Hill St.
Town Boston (Mattapan)
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 47
Sex F

A bus driver hit and killed Jennifer Formichelli and then left the scene at the corner of Walk Hill Street and Blue Hill Avenue. CBS Boston reported that Formichelli was walking her two dogs at the time. Neighbors said one stayed by her side, and the other ran home, alerting neighbors. The Boston Globe reported that bus and driver was not affiliated with Boston Public School system, but the police have located the driver and school bus, and homicide detectives are investigating. The driver was not identified.

CBS Boston also interviewed Fillmore Parris, who was engaged to Jennifer:

He said Formichelli was an English teacher, loved her pets and her family. “She was just an all-around good person.”

“I’m sad but I’m just getting increasingly angry,” Parris said. “I don’t care if you’re driving a tank, you know if you’ve hit somebody, especially somebody that is as visible as her, running with two dogs.”

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Walk Hill Street is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way road that is 40-feet wide; there is parking and sidewalks on each side, and there is a crosswalk across Walk Hill Street. The speed limit is 30mph in the MassDOT Road Inventory. There is a traffic signal at the intersection of Blue Hill Avenue and Walk Hill Street.

Date 10/27/2021, 7:38 PM
Location 528 Southwest Cutoff
Town Worcester
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 66
Sex M

66-year old Fabio D’Assis was hit and killed by the driver of a Toyota Highlander SUV. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette cited a police spokesperson that “the initial investigation indicates the driver approached the Auburn/Worcester line and saw the pedestrian, but was unable to stop in time.” The driver was not identified, but is described as a 42-year-old Sudbury woman.

The T&G story locates the crash near 557 Southwest Cutoff, while the MassDOT Crash Portal lists 528 Southwest Cutoff. 557 Southwest Cutoff is closest to the Auburn/Worcester line referenced in the article, so the Google Streetview included below reflects that section of road. There is a grocery store plaza on one side, with housing on the other side of the road.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Southwest Cutoff is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a two-way road that is 48-feet wide, with 2-lanes in each direction; there are sidewalks on each side. The speed limit is 35mph in the MassDOT 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 . 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

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, September 2021

Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, September 2021

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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. For the full list of monthly posts, head here.

Last month, we took a look at the five fatal crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in August. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in September 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 37 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in September in the MassDOT Crash portal, seven were identified as people walking.
  • The crash portal does not include names. The name of four of the people walking who died have not been made public yet.
  • The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in September was 65.4.
  • At least three of the crashes were hit & runs (as referenced in news articles).
  • The name of the person driving was not identified in any of the crashes in news articles that we found.
  • We could not find any news reports for two of the fatal crashes.
Date 9/4/2021, 11:43 PM
Location 463 State St.
Town Springfield
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 62
Sex M

Two drivers struck and killed an unidentified 62-year old man at the corner of Federal and State Street in Springfield. WWLP reported that the second driver fled the scene in a red sedan.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this street is under local jurisdiction. This stretch of State Street is two-way, with 2 travel lanes in one direction and 3 travel lanes, a bike lane, and parking in the other direction. The road is 48 feet wide. There is a posted 30mph speed limit.

Date 9/10/2021, 11:35 PM
Location 201 Grand Ave.
Town Falmouth
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 81
Sex M

Michael D. Leis, age 81, was struck and killed while walking on a sidewalk in Falmouth.Police said the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed and hit Michael from behind after driving onto the sidewalk. The Falmouth Enterprise reported that the driver fled the scene, and that Falmouth Police located a vehicle and person of interest.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this street is under local jurisdiction. This stretch of Grand Ave is two-way, with a sidewalk on one side.

Date 9/12/2021, 7:42 PM
Location Mechanic St.
Town Westfield
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 72
Sex M

M. Leonid Chepurin, age 72, was struck and killed by an unidentified driver on Mechanic Street. The Westfield News reported that a Westfield resident is listed in the police log as an involved party, but police have not released the name of the driver.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this street is under local jurisdiction. This stretch of Mechanic Street is two-way, with sidewalks on both sides. There are crosswalks at the intersections of Thomas St and N Cherry Street. There is a 30mph speed limit.

Date 9/18/2021, 12:00 AM
Location 1365 Main St.
Town Springfield
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 60
Sex M

An unidentified 60 year old man was hit and killed by a driver in Springfield on Main Street. WWLP reports that the driver fled the scene, but police have located the car that was involved. The driver has not been identified in news reports.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this street is under local jurisdiction. This stretch of Main Street is two-way, one travel lane in each direction, a bike lane on one side, with sidewalks on both sides. There is a 25mph speed limit.

Date 9/20/2021, 4:03 PM
Location 1281 Washington St. (SR-53)
Town Weymouth
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 68
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 street is under MassDOT jurisdiction. This road is two-way, one travel lane in each direction, with shoulders and sidewalks on both sides. There is a 45mph speed limit.

Update via reader email, 10/29:

The Weymouth Police report indicates the drivers on Rte. 53 in each direction were stopped at the driveway; one to let the pedestrian cross the street, the other to let a vehicle out of the driveway. The driver of the vehicle entering the road form the driveway stated that solar glare obstructed her view before she struck the pedestrian.

The actual posted speed limit at that location is 40 MPH.

Date 9/23/2021, 9:58 PM
Location 308 Lynn Fellsway
Town Saugus
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 47
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 street is under MassDCR jurisdiction. This road is two-way, one travel lane in each direction, with shoulders and sidewalks on both sides. There is a 35mph speed limit in one direction and 40mph speed limit in the other direction.

Date 9/25/2021, 5:04 AM
Location SR-6 EAST, MM 79
Town Harwich
Type PEDESTRIAN
Age 68
Sex M

Justin Small, age 68, was hit and killed on Route 6 by a 22-year-old Connecticut man driving a pickup truck.

The Cape Cod Times spoke to Justin’s cousin Sally, who described him:

At 6-foot-2, he was a gentle giant, said his cousin Sally Sykes. “He was a sweet, kind man, who would help anybody,” she said. For the past eight years, Small lived in an apartment at Sykes’ Brewster home. The two were close and Small was like a brother to her…”He will be missed,” said Sykes. “Yes, he had mental health issues, but he kept them in check. He did struggle, but he lived independently, and he was a kind and generous soul.”

Small’s vehicle had been damaged in a crash the night before and towed to a repair shop; his cousin speculated that Justin may have been walking home from Dennis to Harwich along Route 6.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. This road is a two-way, limited access divided highway with one travel lane in each direction and shoulders on each side. There is a 50mph speed limit.

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

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).

Boston Magazine: “Jaywalking in Boston Is a Crime in Name Only. Thank Goodness.”

Boston Magazine: “Jaywalking in Boston Is a Crime in Name Only. Thank Goodness.”

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Boston Magazine: “Jaywalking in Boston Is a Crime in Name Only. Thank Goodness.”

We’ve come a long way since the early 20th Century, when the auto industry invented the “jaywalking” concept as a way to shift blame for collisions away from drivers and toward people with the audacity to get in their way. A century later, pedestrian activists still cringe at the mention of the word. Despite the term’s negative connotation, says WalkBoston Executive Director Stacey Beuttell, places where jaywalking is commonplace are often among the city’s most welcoming corners. Take Downtown Crossing, for example, where cars, bikes, and shoppers co-mingle on shared roadways like School Street. “That’s one of those places where it’s vibrant, there’s a lot of economic activity, there’s a lot of positive community social cohesion and behavior. Those are the types of spaces that we want to create in the city,” Beuttell says. “‘Jaywalking’ is a sign of a healthy and vibrant, economically vital place.”

Posted October 22, 2021

October Speed Workshop Recap

October Speed Workshop Recap

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Earlier this month, we held a 90- minute lunchtime workshop on speed limits and community advocacy around speed mitigation where we discussed the many speeding issues communities across the Commonwealth are facing. This workshop was made possible thanks to funding from the Plymouth Rock Assurance Foundation.

The slides we shared at the beginning of the workshop can be viewed here. Below we’ve summarized the breakout sessions, included links for some of the questions that were posed during the discussion so you can learn more, and added a list of funding sources that places across Massachusetts can use to improve pedestrian safety in their community. 

PROBLEMS: “What speed setting problems are you facing?”

  • Road Jurisdiction: who controls the road? State agencies (MassDOT, MassDCR) set the speed limit on roads they control, which may be at odds with what the community wants. These roads are also not subject to a community’s opt-in to 25mph speed limit. 
  • Discrepancies between design speed and posted speed limit. If when repaving or reconstructing a road the design speed selected is higher than the posted speed limit, it encourages people driving to drive faster. If a speed study is done after paving, even higher speeds may be observed, leading to a higher posted speed limit. 
  • Blanket Speed Limits that don’t match the local context and land use. If there is a blanket 25mph limit but a road is designed for higher speeds, it gives a message to people driving that the speed limit can be ignored. 
  • Only posting speed limit signs for the default 25 mph speed limit at municipal lines can be confusing. A few examples people offered:
    • A person could drive an entire trip within a community and never see a speed limit sign for the default speed, since it is not allowed to be posted anywhere other than at the municipal line.
    • Mixed messaging – there can be a sign w/ a different speed limit almost immediately after the default speed limit sign at the municipal line if that particular road had a speed study for a higher speed limit. 
    • Even when using a speed feedback sign that displays a driver’s speed, we have been told that we can’t post the white/black speed limit sign along with it to show the default speed limit. 
  • The 25 mph opt-in legislation leaves out many rural municipalities since it is meant to include ‘thickly settled areas.’ What can be done for communities that have areas that don’t fit the definition of ‘thickly settled’? 

Interventions and Strategies

  • Speed Feedback signage. Speed feedback signs can cue drivers to slow speeds, and can be periodically moved around to different areas where they may be useful. Complete Streets funding is one method to purchase speed feedback signs.  
  • Utilize speeding ticket revenue for improvements around the immediate area. In Salem, revenue generated from parking tickets issued for infractions that occur in accessible parking spaces is directed towards the disability commission. As with this example, revenue generated from speed ticketing can be used to help fund streetscape improvements that slow speeds and increase safety in the area where the infraction occurred.
  • Piggyback on upcoming investments. When changes and investments are about to be made, seize the opportunity to work with the City, DCR, MassDOT or whichever party has jurisdiction over the road, and ask for additional changes at the project site that advance best practices for traffic calming and can be made concurrently.
  • Use multiple strategies, even if low-cost. Singular built environment changes are seldom as effective as making multiple, complementary streetscape changes that provide drivers with repeated cues to slow down. In-street signage, advanced yield signs, striping, and flex posts and painted curb bump outs are all inexpensive interventions that can be affordably implemented together to slow speeds. See our report on low-cost traffic calming strategies for more. 

Advocacy

Testimony To Joint Committee On Transportation In Support Of An Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities / Against Jaywalking Bill

Testimony To Joint Committee On Transportation In Support Of An Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities / Against Jaywalking Bill

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Testimony as prepared for the Joint Committee on Transportation scheduled on Thursday, October 14, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. conducted via Microsoft Teams. To submit written testimony, you can submit it through the committee link above. Online testimony will be accepted until Friday, October 15 at 5:00 PM. Consider sending your testimony to your elected officials as well.

My name is Brendan Kearney, and I’m the Deputy Director of WalkBoston, Massachusetts’ statewide pedestrian advocacy organization, also speaking on behalf of the MA Vision Zero Coalition in support of the concepts behind An Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities bills, but especially bill H3549 filed by Representatives Moran and Representative Straus. We are opposed to H3470, an act to prevent jaywalking. 

We’re also opposed to the sidewalk robot bills: H.3583/S.2308 An Act relative to mobile carrying devices & S.2256/H.3482 An Act relative to personal delivery devices. (Click here to read testimony against similar legislation from 2019.)

H3549 Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities

We believe this bill has many good provisions that will make our streets safer, including: 

  • Side guards and backup cameras for large trucks,
  • Definition of vulnerable road user and 3 foot passing language, 
  • Standardized crash reports,
  • Two fixes to speed limits, including: 
    • Allowing MassDOT to improve the safety of workers in active construction zones by establish speed limits without conducting an engineering study, 
    • Allowing state roads within a city/town that have opted into the 25mph default municipal speed limit to also be changed to match that 25mph limit. 

H3549 does not include language that would require a rear red light AND a rear reflector. Currently the law requires one or the other. Bikes are manufactured with a reflector, and users often add a light. Eliza from the Boston Cyclists’ Union will share more information about the importance of preserving this as an OR statement.  

H3470 An Act to Prevent Jaywalking

We are opposed to this bill, and testified against this similar legislation in 2017. There are a number of pieces within this proposal that are concerning.

This bill does not increase safety – it increases fines. Those fines are increased even more if you have a phone or headphones. This bill would also make crossing outside of a marked crosswalk illegal.

First: Distracted walking is a distraction.

When Toronto was examining a similar ‘distracted walking’ bill a few years ago, the Globe and Mail published an editorial that referenced electronic devices in the hands of walkers were a factor in just 25 of 23,240 pedestrian deaths in the US from 2010-14 (FARS = Fatality Analysis Reporting System). The editorial was titled, “All those pedestrian deaths? It’s the cars, stupid.”

Second: making it illegal to cross outside of a crosswalk is not realistic. 

It is legal to cross anywhere outside of a marked crosswalk if you are at least 300ft from a crosswalk or signalized intersection. That is a reflection of how we all use our streets and how our communities are designed. 

For example: I live in Framingham on Central Street. There is a sidewalk on one side of the street – on the side opposite our house. I cross when there are no drivers coming, or when someone yields for me. It is at least a mile between the crosswalks on our street. It would be unsafe to try and walk on the narrow 30 mph street with traffic to my back to try and get to the nearest crosswalk ¼ of a mile down the street – an act which in itself would be technically against the law: if there is a sidewalk present along a street, I’m supposed to walk on it. If there wasn’t a sidewalk, the law says I should walk against traffic.

This is not an extreme example – that is literally the view from my front door, and that’s the reality of many of our municipalities across Massachusetts. The term jaywalking was created by the auto industry in the 1920s to shift blame away from drivers who were hitting and killing people. 100 years later it has proven to be one of the most successful propaganda and marketing efforts of all time. 

Finally, there are real equity concerns around jaywalking laws.

Jaywalking laws have been found to lead to biased enforcement. Other places across the country, like Virginia, are working toward decriminalizing jaywalking. ProPublica released a series “Walking While Black” a few years ago that found black people in Jacksonville, Florida were 3x as likely to be stopped and cited as white people. Similar patterns have been seen in many other places; Streetsblog reported last year that 89% of people issued jaywalk citations in New York were Black and brown. 

This Friday at 2pm, the national organization America Walks is holding a webinar entitled “How to Take on Harmful Jaywalking Laws.” The host and moderator is Charles T. Brown from Equitable Cities, an award-winning expert in planning and policy. I’m happy to share the link to Friday’s America Walks webinar via email with the committee afterwards. 

Since I’ve talked at length, I will share our concerns with the sidewalk robot bills in a letter to the committee afterwards. (Testimony against similar legislation from 2019.) In brief: We believe these types of vehicles belong in the street, and not sharing already constrained sidewalks. 

Thank you for your time.