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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).