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. We will be releasing a year in review for 2022 in the coming weeks to highlight common issues. You can read the year in review for 2021 here.

Last month, we took a look at crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in January; four were identified as people walking. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in February 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 February in the MassDOT Crash portal, 8 were identified as people walking.
• The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in February was 61.125.
• Two of the crashes were hit & runs.

The Berkshire Eagle reports that 68-year old Paul Gerard Ouellette was struck by the driver of a Hyundai Elantra while Paul was crossing Pittsfield Road at nighttime in heavy traffic trying to get to the Knights Inn, where he had been staying. He died four days later at Albany Medical Center.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 2 travel lane in each direction and a middle turn lane. There is a sidewalk on both sides. The speed limit is 40mph.

A 49-year old man was struck and killed at 4:45am on Saturday morning. We could not find any additional news coverage of this incident.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk and street parking on one side of the street, and a buffered bike lane on the other side. The speed limit is unclear in the Road Inventory since it is listed as 99; the city of Chelsea has a default speed limit of 25mph.

Western Mass News reports that a 78-year old man was struck and killed on Chicopee Street in Chicopee; this was the third fatal crash on Chicopee Street within the past three months, both in November 2022.

Susan Santoro, a resident who has lived on Chicopee Street for over three years said it’s an extremely dangerous road.

“First we had Bill who was a pedestrian, and he was hit and killed,” said Santoro. “Then we had Gary, and he was run over by a hit and run driver.”

“I have to get my grandson, that gets home from school every day,” explained Santoro. “They don’t stop for me. I absolutely take my life into my hands.”

“How many pedestrians are going to be killed before we can get something done here on Chicopee Street?” asked Santoro. “It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides, and crosswalks at the intersection with Florence St. The speed limit is 35mph.

NBC Boston reports that a 31-year old man was struck and killed early Sunday on Dilla Street near the rear entrance to a Wendy’s parking lot.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is an extra travel lane as Dilla St approaches Rt 85. There are no sidewalks. The speed limit is unclear in the Road Inventory since it is listed as 99.

The Boston Globe reports 28-year old Justin P. Kelley was struck and killed in a hit and run crash as he was walking in the breakdown lane; the driver fled the scene. Troopers located potential debris evidence that may have come from the driver’s vehicle that struck him.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. There are four travel lanes on the south side, a shoulder, and a divided median. The speed limit is 55mph.

WJAR/Turn to 10 reports that 84-year old Michael Ginsberg was struck and killed after leaving his favorite restaurant.

Ever Amaya [the owner of La Familia Restaurant] showed NBC 10 surveillance footage of the moments leading up to the collision. The video shows a man attempting to cross the street on Foundry with oncoming traffic moving in both directions. There is no crosswalk or sidewalks connecting La Familia to the other side of the road.

“He was crossing the street because he lives like a block from here,” said Amaya. “He used to come a million times so it’s sad that last night was the last.”

…”Accidents like that can happen because there’s no sidewalks on the street either and it’s kind of dark,” said Amaya.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There are no sidewalks. The speed limit is 40mph.

NBC Boston reports 70 year-old Leland Thompson was struck and killed after being hit by at least one SUV while trying to cross the street.

Brockton police said he was hit about 6 p.m. on North Quincy Street. A Buick Enclave hit Thompson, according to prosecutors, and its driver stopped and tried to stop traffic.

That’s when the other SUV, a white Jeep Wrangler, appeared to hit Thompson around his legs, according to prosecutors. They didn’t share more information about the vehicle or specify what kind of contact it made with Thompson, including whether it’s believed to have contributed to his death. The driver is also being sought.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on both sides. The speed limit is 30mph.

WJAR/Turn to 10 reports that 81-year old Carolyn Preece died at St. Luke’s Hospital days after being struck by a car.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, this road is under local jurisdiction. It is a two-way street, with 1 travel lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on one side of the road. The speed limit is 35mph.

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

Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2021)
Report: Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2022) – anticipated report publication late March 2023

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).