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 August; six were identified as people walking. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in September 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 September in the MassDOT Crash portal, 4 were identified as people walking.
• The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in September was 40.25.

WWLP reports an unidentified 25-year old man was struck and killed by a driver on Worthington Street in Springfield.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Worthington Street and Bowdoin Street are both under local jurisdiction. Each is a two-way street with one lane in each direction and sidewalks on both sides. Bowdoin Street has stop signs at the intersection. The speed limit is 30mph. Google Streetview images are from 2019, but shows curb ramps and faded crosswalks to walk across Bowdoin Street; there are no crosswalks or curb ramps across Worthington Street at this intersection. (A police spokesperson said the person was not in a crosswalk without sharing this important detail.)

WWLP reports that an unidentified 42-year old woman was killed after two drivers struck her on Hancock Street in Springfield. One of the drivers remained at the crash, but the driver of the other car left the scene.

Western Mass News spoke to John Vivenzio, who lives nearby:

Vivenzio lives steps away from the area where the woman was struck by the cars on Sunday. He told us he is now worried about possible safety issues for other pedestrians and even those driving down Hancock Street.

“That light wasn’t on. I don’t remember the last time that light was ever on, so it was dark that way and with these lights that do come on, it’s not that bright as it is,” Vivenzio added. “People speed around here all the time. I mean, I’m out here, even during the day, and I’ll start whistling ‘Slow down!’ We’ve had dogs killed out here and stuff. You know, it’s crazy for speeding. People just don’t do it and I don’t know what we can do to stop it ‘cause it just keeps happening.”

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Hancock Street is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street with one lane in each direction and sidewalks on both sides. The speed limit is unclear, as it is not listed in the database; the corner of Hancock and Florence St (302 Hancock Street) has a “School Speed Limit 20mph, 7am to 3pm” sign posted.

CapeCod.com reports an unidentified 54-year old Hyannis resident was struck and killed by the driver of a blue Saturn Vue SUV on Route 132 near the intersection with Shootflying Hill Rd.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, SR-132 (Iyannough Rd) is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a two-way street with two lanes in each direction and no sidewalks on either side. The speed limit is 45mph. There are no crosswalks to cross Iyannough Rd at the intersection of Shootflying Hill Rd.

The Boston Globe reports a 40-year old man was struck and killed in a three-car crash on Route 3 South. (A person driving is classified as a pedestrian when they exit their vehicle. Since this is listed in the data as a pedestrian crash, a driver may have gotten out of their vehicle if it was broken down on the roadway.)

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, US-3 is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a two-way road with three travel lanes and shoulders in each direction. The speed limit is 60mph.

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).