Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, December 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.
In our previous post, we took a look at crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in November; six were identified as people walking. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in December 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 35 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in December in the MassDOT Crash portal, 8 were identified as people walking.
- Similar to last month, some of the pedestrian crashes had the ‘speed limit’ field blank in the Road Inventory Viewer. We are now also using the MassGIS-MassDOT Roads layer to check for speed limit information.
- The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in December was 58.7. (One crash victim’s age was not released.)
| Date | 12/6/2023, 4:40 PM |
| Location | 166 Totten Pond Rd. |
| Town | Waltham |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 58 |
| Sex | M |
| Date | 12/6/2023, 4:40 PM |
| Location | 166 Totten Pond Rd. |
| Town | Waltham |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 36 |
| Sex | M |
NBC Boston reports 54-year old Peter Simon drove into an active roadside work zone which was set up to investigate a possible gas leak and killed 58-year old Paul Tracey, a Waltham police officer, and 36-year old Roderick Jackson, a National Grid employee.
From NBC Boston:
Prosecutors said Simon drove into the work site and veered between a National Grid truck and a backhoe. Between the two vehicles was a trench where National Grid employees were working. Tracey was directing traffic and Jackson was near him when Simon veered his vehicle in their direction, striking them both.
The work site was clearly marked with orange cones, orange signs and yellow flashing lights to alert drivers, prosecutors said.
After striking Tracey and Jackson, Simon crashed into multiple vehicles on scene, including a National Grid truck, at which point he abandoned the Ford F-150 and ran off.
This is the second incident in less than two months (October 12th in Pittsfield) in which someone was struck and killed while doing their job in a well-marked work zone.
According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Totten Pond Rd is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction. There are no sidewalks on either side of the street. The speed limit is 45mph.
| Date | 12/13/2023, 9:27 PM |
| Location | Wilbur Ave. + Brayton Point Rd. |
| Town | Somerset |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 55 |
| Sex | M |
1420 WBSM reports that 55-year old Matthew Martinville was struck and killed by the 49-year old driver of a Chevy Silverado on Wilbur Avenue; a preliminary investigation by Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to that office and Somerset Police revealed that the driver of the truck was traveling westbound on Wilbur Avenue through the intersection of Brayton Avenue when he struck Martinville in the roadway.
According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Wilbur Ave is under MassDOT jurisdiction. Brayton Point Rd is under local jurisdiction. Each street is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on one side of each street. There is a sidewalk at each corner of the intersection, though no curb ramps. The speed limit is 35mph on Wilbur Ave, and 30mph on Brayton Point Rd.
| Date | 12/14/2023, 6:09 PM |
| Location | 419 Main St. |
| Town | Southbridge |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 79 |
| Sex | M |
79-year old Prosper R. Gadoury was struck by a driver and then transported to UMass Memorial in Worcester, where he died on December 22nd from his injuries.
According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Main Street is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction. There are sidewalks on both sides of the street. The speed limit is 25mph.
| Date | 12/18/2023, 3:08 AM |
| Location | Alford St. + Dexter St. |
| Town | Charlestown |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | UNKNOWN |
| Sex | M |
NBC Boston reports a pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run crash outside in Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood [near Encore Boston Harbor] just after 3 a.m. on Alford and Dexter streets. The drive of the vehicle fled the scene. Investigators believe the driver fled on Alford Street toward Everett before officers arrived.
According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Alford Street (Rt 99) and Dexter Street are both under local jurisdiction. Dexter Street is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction. Alford Street (Rt 99) is a two-way road with two travel lanes in each direction, expanding to six lanes (two lanes toward Boston, four lanes in the direction of Everett) after passing the Dexter/Alford intersection. There are sidewalks on both sides of the street. The speed limit for Alford Street (Rt 99) is 40mph. The speed limit for Dexter Street is unclear, with blank fields in both the MassDOT Road Inventory & the MassGIS-MassDOT Roads layer.
| Date | 12/20/2023, 8:40 AM |
| Location | 100 Elliott St. |
| Town | Haverhill |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 80 |
| Sex | M |
An 80-year old resident of Lakeview House in Haverhill died after being struck by a bus near a bus stop by the entrance of the Haverhill campus of Northern Essex Community College.
WHAV reports that he is being remembered as an avid bus rider who traveled almost every day:
MeVa Transit Administrator and CEO Noah S. Berger told WHAV the man was known to the bus driver and passengers. He said, “This is why situations like this are so heartbreaking because, obviously, our hearts go out to the family of the gentleman. Nothing we can do can bring him back. For our operators, that’s always the biggest nightmare. That’s the thing that everyone is terrified of. It’s a devastating thing and awful for the other riders of the bus.”
According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Elliott Street is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction. There are no sidewalks on either side of the street. The speed limit is 30mph.
| Date | 12/29/2023, 5:10 PM |
| Location | SR-140 SOUTH, between EXIT 3 + 4 |
| Town | New Bedford |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 28 |
| Sex | F |
MassLive reports 28-year old Julia Luiz was struck and killed in a multi-vehicle crash on SR-140 after her vehicle broke down in the left lane.
Law enforcement’s preliminary investigation revealed Luiz was driving a Toyota Camry when it apparently became disabled in the left lane. She was outside her car in the roadway when a 63-year-old New Bedford man driving a Toyota RAV4 struck her vehicle, the district attorney’s office detailed.
Moments later, a Toyota Camry driven by a 58-year-old Rochester man also hit Luiz’s disabled car, according to Quinn’s office.Luiz died as a result of the crash. None of the other drivers were seriously injured, the district attorney’s office said.
According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, SR-140 is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a two-way median divided roadway with two travel lanes in each direction. There are no sidewalks. The speed limit is 65mph.
| Date | 12/30/2023, 7:01 PM |
| Location | Warren Ave. SOUTH + West Elm St. EAST |
| Town | Brockton |
| Type | PEDESTRIAN |
| Age | 75 |
| Sex | F |
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, West Elm Street and Warren Ave are both under local jurisdiction. West Elm St is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction. Warren Ave is a one-way road with three travel lanes. There are sidewalks on both sides of the street. The speed limit on West Elm St is 30mph, and the speed limit on Warren Ave is 25mph.
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).
Topics of conversation included how inclusive community spaces can compel pedestrians to visit downtown areas, fostering the desire to walk and increase walkability. Additionally, it was discussed how pop-up community spaces can serve as a vector for community engagement and facilitate civic engagement. Both teams identified key overlaps and discussed how to best support each other as they think about their respective work in environmental justice communities, each with their own unique needs. Both organizations are actively pursuing partnerships with communities across the Commonwealth, particularly beyond Greater Boston.
