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. Earlier this year, we released a year in review for 2021 to highlight common issues.

Last month, we took a look at crashes listed in the MassDOT Crash Portal in November; nine were identified as people walking. In this post, we’ll look at crashes in MA in December 2022. 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 34 fatal crashes in Massachusetts in December in the MassDOT Crash portal, 8 were identified as people walking.
• The average age of pedestrians hit & killed in December was 56.125.
• We could not find any additional information for two of the fatal crashes.

NBC10Boston reports 69-year old Karen Raffa was struck and killed by a 87-year old driver in the parking lot of a doctor’s office.

This fatal crash happened in a parking lot, which is usually not included in FARS crash data. According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Highland Avenue (State Route 107) is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a two way divided street, with two lanes and a shoulder in each direction. There is a sidewalk on each side. The speed limit is unclear, with 35mph and 45mph both listed in the database.

We could not find any additional news coverage of this crash. If you have any information, please let us know.

There was a fatal pedestrian crash near this location in the southbound lanes of I-93 in October.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, I-93 is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a limited access highway, with 4 travel lanes in each direction with a divided median. 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, Bernardston Road is under MassDOT jurisdiction and Harrison Avenue is under local jurisdiction. Each is a two way street, with one lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on each side. The speed limit is 30mph. 

A 62-year old man was struck and killed by a driver at Congress and Dwight Street in Springfield.

WWLP talked to a police spokesperson in response to this crash:

Walsh said Springfield police officers have issued 2,000 more traffic citations this year than last year already. The department credits that for reducing the number of deadly crashes, nine this year compared to 20 last year.

“Things have gotten better in the city of Springfield thanks to the enforcement and all the infrastructure efforts being forth by Chris Cignoli and the DPW,” said Walsh.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and the Police Department said they were frustrated by the court’s role in this, calling on the justice system to keep some of these dangerous drivers off the roads.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Congress Street and Dwight Street are both under local jurisdiction. Congress Street is a two way street, with one lane in each direction. Dwight Street is a two way street, with two lanes in each direction and an additional turn lane at the signalized intersection.There is a sidewalk on each side of both streets. There are crosswalks at all four legs of the intersection. The speed limit for Congress Street is 30mph. The speed limit is unclear for Dwight Street, as it is not indicated in the database.

Neely Murray and her dog, Chance, were hit and killed by a 22-year old driver while they were crossing the street in a crosswalk.

Western Mass News spoke to a nearby resident:

“I realized that the accident happened the road was blocked off and I immediately thought of that crosswalk at Monastery as we’ve had problems there many times in the past,” said Nichole Bottaro of West Springfield.

Bottaro is just one of many residents who told Western Mass News that people drive too fast in that area of town.

“There have been times where we stood at the crosswalk for at least 10 minutes, not a single car has stopped. There have been times where cars have stopped and a car behind them tried to go out and around when we are mid crosswalk and almost been hit,” Bottaro added.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Piper Road and Monastery Avenue are under local jurisdiction. Each road is a two way street, with one lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on each side of Piper Road at this location, and on one side beyond the intersection; there are no sidewalks on Monastery Ave. There is a crosswalk at this location across Piper Rd. The speed limit is 35mph. 

The Cape Cod Times reports a 31-year old man was struck and killed by the driver of a disposal truck on Route 132 in Hyannis. (Centerville is one of the seven villages of Hyannis.)

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, Iyannough Road is under MassDOT jurisdiction. It is a two way road, with two lanes in each direction and a median. There is a sidewalk on one side. The speed limit is 45mph. 

NBC1oBoston reports 71-year old Dong Mei Ying was struck and killed near her driveway on West Street by the driver of a Honda CRV. The name of the driver has not been released, but police said they were under age 18.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, West Street is under local jurisdiction. It is a two way street, with one lane in each direction. There is no sidewalk. The speed limit is unclear, with 99mph and 30mph both listed in the database.

WCVB reports 93-year old Joseph Vasconcelos was struck and killed by a driver on Route 27 (North Main Street), near the intersection of Bayberry Drive and the entrance to the Sharon Green Condominiums.

The Boston Globe shared a quote from the District Attorney’s office:

“There was significant damage on the passenger side, which would be consistent with hitting someone who was walking in the roadway, on the side of the road,” Traub said.

What is not included in the article is that there is only a sidewalk on one side of North Main Street.

According to the MassDOT Road Inventory, North Main Street is under local jurisdiction. It is a two way street, with one lane in each direction. There is a sidewalk on one side. 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 2022 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)

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).