Each month, we post about the fatal crashes in Massachusetts from a previous month, and share any trends that we see. For the full list of monthly posts, head here. We will be releasing a year in review for 2023 in the coming weeks to highlight common issues. You can read the year in review for 2022 here.

In our previous post, we took a look at crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in December; eight were identified as people walking. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in January 2024. 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 28 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in January in the MassDOT Crash portal, 9 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 January was 46.1.

CBS 6 News (WRGB Albany) reported that two people were seriously injured after they were hit by a car while crossing the street early on New Year’s Day.

A 2014 Toyota Corolla driven by Nicholas Ainsley, 23, of Pittsfield, MA, was traveling eastbound on West Housatonic Street, when he hit two people that were crossing in the 50 block area, according to police. The pedestrians were identified as Shanon M. Steffey, 34, of Pittsfield, and Matthew Squires, 32, of Pittsfield. They were both taken to Berkshire Medical Center with serious injuries. Steffey was later transferred to Bay State Medical Center, as her condition was critical, according to police.

Steffey later succumbed to their injuries.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, W Housatonic St is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction and a right turn lane. There is a crosswalk at this location. There are sidewalks on both sides of the street. The speed limit is 25mph.

The Quincy Sun reports 85-year old John Collins was struck and killed by a 63-year old Quincy man in front of a senior living apartment complex at 1000 Southern Artery in Quincy near the intersection of South Street and Southern Artery.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Southern Artery is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction and turn lanes at the intersection. There are sidewalks on both sides of the street. The speed limit is 35mph.

WWLP reports that 33-year old Melvin L. Wilson was struck and killed while walking south along Rt 116. The 29-year old driver who hit him called 911 and stayed on the scene.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, SR-1116 South 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 55mph.

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, Hathaway Road is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on one side of the street. The speed limit is 40mph.

42-year old Patrick Royster was struck and killed after being hit by an SUV with a plow attached.

MassLive reports that 73-year old Gregory Stahl is being charged with leaving the scene of a collision causing death and for driving with an expired license.

From NBC 10 Boston:

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, but snow, slush and rain caused slick conditions in Wrentham and elsewhere across Massachusetts.

“It’s a dark section of road, as you can see, and obviously, the weather is not good, so visibility was not great,” [Police Chief Bill] McGrath said.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Washington Street and Commercial Street are each under local jurisdiction. Washington Street a two-way road with two travel lanes and shoulders in each direction. There are no sidewalks on either side of the street. The speed limit is 55mph.

WWLP reports a 59-year old Danvers woman was struck and killed around noon by an SUV operated by a 60-year old woman in Revere about a block away from Revere Beach Boulevard.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Oak Island Street is under MassDCR jurisdiction. It is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction. There are sidewalks on each side of the street. The speed limit is unclear, as it is blank in the database and no speed limit signs are viewable on the street on Google Streetview.

Boston 25 News reports that a woman using a wheelchair was struck and killed by the driver of a plow truck outside Boston Medical Center.

From Boston 25 News:

“It’s sad, it’s sad you know. She’s somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister,” a woman who knew the victim told Boston 25 News. “I can’t even imagine how the driver must feel. They said he was so distraught.”

The driver of the truck involved in the crash also remained on the scene.

In a statement shared with Boston 25 News, W.L. French Jr. Trucking, the operating company of the truck, said:

“Early this morning, one of our plows was involved in an accident that resulted in a loss of life. W. L. French, Jr. Trucking and its entire team are committed to the safety of the public, our people, and our work. We are heartbroken by this tragic accident. We extend our sympathies to the family of the individual and all of those affected by this loss. W. L. French, Jr. Trucking is cooperating with authorities during this investigation.”

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Massachusetts Avenue is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way road with two straight travel lanes and one turn lane in each direction. (The Road Inventory only lists 2 lanes in each direction.) There are sidewalks on each side of the street. The speed limit is 30mph.

The Berkshire Eagle reports 41-year old Niall Nordoff was struck and killed after being struck by the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado.

The Berkshire Eagle went on to give more context, including a Facebook post from Niall just months earlier: 

Friends of Nordoff, a landscaper and landscape designer, said he was walking from his home off South Main Street (Route 7) — not far from where he was hit — on his way to a job interview. Police have not yet confirmed this, however.

Others pointed to a Facebook post made by Nordoff in November in which he said drivers on that straightaway were “doing 80 and barely missing me.”

“The amount of traffic on 7 from where I live to big y is out of control,” he also wrote.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Main Street / Rt 7 is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way road with one travel lane in each direction. Photos from the news article does not show any sidewalks on this section of the roadway. The Road Inventory says there is a 4 foot sidewalk on one side of the roadway; Google Streetview shows there are unconnected segments of sidewalk on one side of the street. The speed limit is 35mph.

38-year old Ernest Partin was struck and killed on Rt 1A in East Boston near Curtis Street.

From StreetsblogMASS:

In 2021, MassDOT commissioned a new Route 1A Corridor Study whose goals were to “improve safety for people using all modes of transportation (walking, biking, transit, driving, etc.)” and to “expand and enhance connectivity for users of all modes of transportation along and across the Route 1A corridor.”

That study identified the Curtis Street intersection as a “conflict point with high crash history, including fatalities.” Drivers have killed three people in the vicinity of the Route 1A-Curtis Street intersection since 2016.

MassDOT’s Route 1A Corridor Study remains incomplete, and there have been no public meetings for a full year.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, William F. McClellan Highway (Rt 1A) is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a two-way median divided road with two lanes / expanding to three travel lanes in each direction. There are sidewalks along either side of the street. The speed limit is 45mph.

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).