Walkability contributes to the quality of life in a town or neighborhood, encouraging residents and visitors to shop locally; helping to attract retail, workplaces and associated employees; and raising real estate values, civic pride, and community involvement.
An investment in WalkBoston shows a commitment to promoting walkable business districts and neighborhoods. It shows your dedication to healthier, more productive employees and safer, more vibrant communities.
Each month in 2021, we plan to post about the fatal crashes from the previous month, and share any trends that we see. For January, we wanted to look back at the previous year. The information in the chart below is taken from the MassDOT Crash Portal Dashboard “Fatal Information by Year.”
Type
2019
2020
Bicyclist
5
10
Motorcycle operator
47
51
Motorcycle passenger
2
3
Operator
166
186
Other
1
2
Passenger
38
33
Pedestrian
76
50
Total Fatal Crashes
335
335
There were 335 fatal crashes statewide in Massachusetts in 2020, the same number of people that died on Massachusetts roads as in 2019.
This dangerous trend was identified as early as May, and MassDOT urged people driving to slow down. At the time, MassDOT reported that the rate of fatalities on Massachusetts roadways doubled in April: with 50% less traffic recorded on major highways, 28 individuals died in crashes, compared with the month of April 2019 when there were 27 deaths on roadways in the state. Later in the year, we helped develop PSA graphics through the Department of Public Health’s Mass in Motion program for use by community coordinators focused on drivers & the need to slow down for everyone’s safety.
There were significantly less fatal pedestrian crashes this year than last year – but almost every other mode of transportation saw higher fatal crashes.
Pedestrian Fatalities by Age in 2020? Disproportionately older adults.
The includes names of many of the 58 people walking who were hit/killed in 2020.
If you have an update about a community member who was killed in one of these crashes, please contact Brendan so we can update the 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: | | | | |
The MassDOT portal says 50 for 2020, but the WalkBoston list says 58. Why the discrepancy?
It is possible there were crashes that were not on roadways. We compile our pedestrian crash fatality list manually via news & social media alerts in order to give communities more information to help push for safer streets, and to make sure to remember there are people behind the statistics. The MassDOT list may categorize crashes differently, just as the city of Boston Vision Zero Map does not include fatal crashes that take place on state roads, private property, or crashes on commuter rail tracks. (For example: the WalkBoston list includes Bernardin Etienne, 62, who was struck & killed in the MBTA Bus Yard in Charlestown on September 21st; Bernardin isn’t included on either MassDOT or BTD’s list since it took place in a parking lot.) Additional disclaimer from MassDOT crash portal: 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.
The rolling 5 year average for pedestrian fatalities in Massachusetts will drop from 77 for the 2015-2019 period to 70 for the 2016-2020 period, the lowest 5 year average since 2009-2013.
These Performance Measures Were Developed By The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). You can access any state’s data at this link.
AAA Foundation Virtual Town Hall: Monday, February 1st, 11am
On Monday, February 1st at 11am, Executive Director Stacey Beuttell will be a panelist for the AAA Northeast Virtual Town Hall which will feature their recent study “Tread Carefully: Examining the Rise in Pedestrian Deaths,” examining data from 2009-2018. You can sign up here & ask a question in advance.
National Pedestrian Safety Month: Decrease Vehicle Speed
USDOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration designated October as the first-ever National Pedestrian Safety Month. WalkBoston commends the federal recognition of the importance of addressing the safety of the most vulnerable road users. We hope that National Pedestrian Safety Month will propel communities to focus on the safety of people walking. In recognition of National Pedestrian Safety Month, WalkBoston will be publishing a series of posts that highlight pedestrian safety priorities and strategies for working on walking.
Our first post focuses on the need to DECREASE VEHICLE SPEED.
Speeding is a huge public safety issue: the Governor’s Highway Safety Association Report “Speeding Away from Zero” released in 2019 shared that 28% of fatal crashes in 2017 in MA were speeding-related. Higher speed, regardless of limit, is a factor in every traffic fatality or serious crash: there is less reaction time for a person driving to brake or avoid a crash, and a fast moving vehicle inflicts higher blunt force trauma on crash victims.
Road design plays a major role in how fast someone decides to drive. Picture a multi-lane highway with a center barrier and breakdown lanes. These features indicate that higher speeds are not only allowed, but expected. Now picture a street with one lane in each direction through a downtown business district with crosswalks, trees, benches, and bike lanes. Even before seeing a speed limit sign, the context tells the person driving to proceed more cautiously and to anticipate people walking and biking in the area. That is a well functioning Complete Street in action. In Massachusetts, more communities each year are adding raised crosswalks, speed humps, and small-scale neighborhood traffic circles to help make streets safer for all users, and reduce the possibility of high speed injury crashes.
Our Executive Director, Stacey Beuttell talked to Streetsblog MASS (“MassDOT Begins Reexamining Deadly Speed Limit Policies”) earlier this year about the importance of streets with context-specific speeds: “We often hear from residents and advocates that want to lower speed limits, and they ask us, ‘what’s the process?’ And we tell them, ‘honestly, if you do a speed study, they may actually raise the speed limit,’” said Beuttell. “Speed studies rule the day, and they shouldn’t. It should be context-specific. If there’s a school, or heavy foot traffic, or seniors living nearby, all that should be taken into consideration.”
To support communities who have been seeing dangerously high traffic speeds and unsafe driving behavior during the safer-at-home advisory in Massachusetts, WalkBoston partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Mass in Motion (MiM) Program and MORE Advertising to develop social media campaign graphics that MiM coordinators can use to raise awareness about safer pandemic driving behavior.
Boston Public Library Boston Public Library: David Leonard; Eamon Shelton; Michael Colford; Laura Irmscher; Ellen Donaghey; Beth Prindle; Boston Public Facilities Dept.: Patrick Brophy (Mayor’s Office); Tricia Lyons; Jim McQueen; Maureen Anderson; William Rawn Associates: Bill Rawn; Cliff Gayley; Sindu Meier; Elizabeth Bondaryk; Andy Jonic; Reed Hilderbrand: Doug Reed; Adrian Nial; Consigli Construction: Jim Hervol; Phil Brault; PMA: Chris Carroll.
This year the award goes to the Boston Public Library Central Library Renovation Team – for imagining and redesigning the landmark public space as a sidewalk-level, open, accessible place that welcomes people of all backgrounds and abilities.
Coalition for a Better Acre Walking Champions
Aurora Erickson (CBA program leader), Maria Claudio, Laura Diaz, Destiny Gath, Billy Heath, Michael Heath, Nandi Munson, Marianne Staid, Luz Vasudevan, and Ediana and Angel Williams.
This group met with us regularly for over a year to make changes to the walking conditions in their neighborhood. The Coalition for a Better Acre was a true partner in this effort. So the award goes to the Lowell Walking Champions for your persistence in voicing the need for safer walking in your neighborhood, and effecting lasting changes that advance walkability for all Lowell residents.
Tufts Health Plan Foundation & Boston Age Strong Commission
Tufts Health Plan Foundation: Nora Moreno-Cargie; Phillip Gonzalez; Kimberly Blakemore; Boston Age Strong Commission: Emily Shea; Andrea Burns; Nicole Chandler.
The Tufts Health Plan Foundation gave WalkBoston its start in age-friendly work by supporting our Boston Age-Friendly Walking program. This program yielded many successes including new benches and senior-focused, open streets events.With your continued support, we have expanded our age-friendly walking efforts across the state to make walking safer for people of all ages in rural towns and gateway cities. Tonight we honor you for embracing and advancing the age-friendly walking movement supporting healthy aging in communities across the Commonwealth.
The Age Strong Commission was an early and enthusiastic adopter of the idea that an age-friendly community must include age-friendly walking, and that the City must focus its energy on the streets and sidewalks that serve seniors with the highest need. Tonight we honor you with a Golden Shoe award for ensuring that Boston’s streets and sidewalks safely serve seniors so that all can continue to walk and age strong.
Keynote Speaker Mark Fenton
Mark Fenton is an adjunct associate professor at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, a nationally recognized public health, planning, and transportation consultant, an advocate for active transportation, and former host of the “America’s Walking” series on PBS television. Mark is a longtime friend of WalkBoston, and in fact, the one and only honorary lifetime WalkBoston member. I’m going to stop here and let those who really know Mark well introduce him.
In August, drivers have hit and killed at least 8 people walking in Massachusetts, more than in any other month in 2020. We don’t know all the details of the crashes yet, and honestly we may never know.
What we do know is that these deaths were preventable. As an organization, WalkBoston continues to push for fundamental changes in our transportation system that work to eliminate pedestrian deaths and ensure safe mobility for all. We will look at these crash locations and see if there is a missing crosswalk or extra wide lanes that may have contributed to these crashes. And if so, we’ll advocate for road design changes to slow traffic down and help prevent tragedies from happening again. But, our efforts will not bring these eight people back.
We need to make sure to all work together to make our roads safer for people to walk, bike and roll, and save other families from the pain of losing a loved one. If you live in one of these communities and want resources, contact us at info@walkboston.org
