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Statewide Fatal Crashes In MA, January 2024

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.

Date	1/1/2024, 2:47 AM
Location	55 West Housatonic St.
Town	Pittsfield
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	34
Sex	F

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.

Date	1/3/2024, 9:25 AM
Location	Southern Artery + South St.
Town	Quincy
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	85
Sex	M

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.

Date	1/6/2024, 5:15 AM
Location	SR-116 SOUTH
Town	Hadley
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	33
Sex	M

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.

Date	1/11/2024, 5:35 PM
Location	Hathaway Rd. + Tradewind St.
Town	New Bedford
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	48
Sex	M

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.

Date	1/16/2024, 5:36 PM
Location	Washington St. + Commercial Dr.
Town	Wrentham
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	42
Sex	M

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.

Date	1/19/2024, 11:54 AM
Location	35 Oak Island St.
Town	Revere
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	59
Sex	F

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.

Date	1/24/2024, 3:17 AM
Location	Massachusetts Ave. + Albany St.
Town	Boston
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	35
Sex	F

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.

Date	1/24/2024, 6:03 AM
Location	Main St.
Town	Great Barrington
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	41
Sex	M

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.

Date	1/27/2024, 5:20 PM
Location	William F. McClellan Highway + Curtis St.
Town	East Boston
Type	PEDESTRIAN
Age	38
Sex	M

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).

WalkBoston Comments on 2022 MassDOT Snow and Ice Control Program EEA#11202

February 6, 2023

Secretary Rebecca Tepper
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

Attn via email: Eva Vaughan

Re: 2022 MassDOT Snow and Ice Control Program EEA#11202

Dear Secretary Tepper:

WalkBoston commented on MassDOT’s Environmental Status and Planning Report (ESPR) on Snow and Ice Control in 2018 and again in March 2021. Our 2021 comments were incorporated into the Certificate issued by EOEEA in 2021.

WalkBoston has continued to follow MassDOT’s efforts regarding the clearance of sidewalks, curb ramps and traffic islands that are under the agency’s jurisdiction, and we are pleased that the 2022 ESPR includes several new commitments to sidewalk snow clearance.

One important step that MassDOT has taken since 2021 is the provision of grant funding of up to $50,000 to help municipalities purchase snow removal equipment for pedestrian and bicyclist facilities through its Shared Streets and Spaces Grant Program. While not directed to MassDOT owned sidewalks, this program should help to increase sidewalk snow clearance on municipal sidewalks.

As stated on page 15 of the ESPR, approximately 43% of MassDOT roads have adjacent sidewalks amounting to approximately 1,300 miles of sidewalks located mostly in the central village and downtown areas of various communities. The new steps called out by MassDOT in the ESPR (pages ES-5 and 15) are the following:

New for the 2022/23 winter, MassDOT plans to hire more “seasonal” snow and ice employees that report directly to MassDOT to help with sidewalk clearing as well as other activities.
MassDOT will continue to evaluate vendor reimbursement rates and pay codes to enlist more contractors for sidewalk maintenance services and better reflect the variable snow removal efforts for large storms versus smaller storms.

When MassDOT reports on the outcomes of its 2022 ESPR we ask that the following information be included so that WalkBoston and others can see how successful the new efforts are at providing safe and accessible sidewalks.

Provide a map showing the location of the 1,300 miles of MassDOT sidewalks, and indicate which of these miles were covered by work orders for clearance by MassDOT or its contractors.
Include sidewalk clearance responsibilities in the table showing MassDOT SICP roles and responsibilities (Table 1.2 on page 6 of the report)
Provide information about the cost of sidewalk snow clearance provided by MassDOT or its contractors – similar to that provided in Table 1.9 for lane miles.

We look forward to continuing to work with MassDOT on this important public safety and mobility issue.

Best regards,

Brendan Kearney

Deputy Director of Advocacy, WalkBoston

Continued emphasis on snow clearance for pedestrians!

MassDOT’s recently published Snow and Ice Control Program details many of the steps that MassDOT will take to deal with the impacts of its application of chemicals on roadway, a required filing to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental and Energy Affairs (EEA).

In 2021, WalkBoston urged regulators to require MassDOT to include specific, trackable and verifiable progress toward meeting the scope of pedestrian needs in its next filing on the MassDOT Snow and Ice Control Program, and to use its own Pedestrian Plan commitments as the baseline for reporting.

At the end of December 2022, MassDOT released an update, which includes these passages:

“Chapter 1 provides an update on MassDOT’s roadway lane-miles and describes new measures to build capacity to address the snow and ice removal needs on sidewalks and pedestrian facilities as identified in the 2019 Pedestrian Transportation Plan and as requested by the WalkBoston following review of the 2022 ESPR SOW Plan.”
“New for the 2022/23 winter, MassDOT plans to hire more ‘seasonal’ snow and ice employees that report directly to MassDOT to help with sidewalk clearing as well as other activities. MassDOT will continue to evaluate vendor reimbursement rates and pay codes to enlist more contractors for sidewalk maintenance services and better reflect the variable snow removal efforts for large storms versus smaller storms. MassDOT also provides grant funding of up to $50,000 to help municipalities purchase snow removal equipment for pedestrian and bicyclist facilities through its Shared Streets and Spaces Grant Program. Details on eligible projects can be found at the following link: https://www.mass.gov/shared-streets-and-spaces-grant-program“

We are pleased that MassDOT has made new commitments to improve their maintenance of state owned sidewalks. WalkBoston will follow up with MassDOT at the end of the 2022/23 winter season to learn how the new initiatives have been carried out, whether they have proved successful, and to find out whether the agency will plan any additional adjustments to continue making improvements. Check out the links below to read the report for yourself!

Documents

First snow storm of the season: January 2022

Today, January 7th, marks one of the first significant snow storms of this season with some areas seeing close to a foot of snow.

WalkBoston has been advocating for sidewalk snow removal for many years as part of our work to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility when it snows. Snow and ice present significant challenges to pedestrians. Cleared sidewalks are critical for people to access everyday goods and services, and are particularly vital to people with disabilities and to seniors.

Though snow clearance is a challenging task for municipalities, regional transit authorities, and property owners due to the mix of responsible parties, and the unpredictable and episodic nature of the need – we know and have seen that it is not an impossible feat to clear snow for cars and there is an urgent need to be prioritizing the removal of snow from sidewalks all the same.

We are excited and encouraged by the renewed energy to include sidewalks in snow removal plans by many more communities this winter. We’d love to hear what your community is doing, and highlight it in a future post. Get in touch with us.

Community Spotlight: Somerville

The City of Somerville announced their sidewalk snow removal pilot program for the 2021-2022 winter season (fiscal year 2022). Somerville’s pilot includes the entirety of Broadway Ave. and School St. which represents about 8.5 miles of sidewalk, 200 crosswalks, 350 sidewalk ramps, and 70 bus stops, and the hope is that the pilot will shed light on the costs and the logistics of expanding this service in the future. The pilot will start with the next snow storm so that the City and its new administration can work through logistics of the first snow emergency of the year.

City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen, who was involved in legislative advocacy efforts to ensure the City’s budget would include funding for a small sidewalk snow removal pilot, highlights that “the hope with this pilot would be to answer the empirical question of what works the best.” Somerville faces problems with the enforcement of sidewalk snow removal where absentee landlords or developers on vacant lots have likely decided that the cost of a ticket for non-compliance is not a big deal. Coupled with the fact that some property owners (or renters) may be physically unable to remove snow, a walk through Somerville during or after a snow storm can be treacherous for some or keep others confined to their home because it is unsafe. Ewen-Campen is hopeful and encouraged by the renewed focus on sidewalk snow removal by many communities across the state, citing that COVID-19 likely brought the issue to the forefront for many people who were staying home: “Cities learn from each other, this is not impossible and we can decide to do it.”

Funding for Snow Removal Equipment Now Available Through MassDOT’s Shared Streets and Spaces Program

While the creation of a sidewalk snow removal plan is only one small step in actually removing snow from sidewalks in the winter, another obstacle many communities (especially smaller ones) face is that of purchasing equipment. Commercial grade equipment to remove snow from sidewalks can run anywhere between $5,000 to $25,000 or more and amidst a surge of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, many communities are already stretched thin. However, with the opening of the next grant round of the MassDOT Shared Streets and Spaces Grant Program, there is hope for communities for whom a capital purchase of equipment has been holding them back from creating a sidewalk snow removal program.

MassDOT will be adding an ‘equipment’ category to the program — which will operate separately from the other categories and will not exclude a municipality from receiving another award — for up to $50,000 to allow for the purchase of equipment (such as sidewalk snow plows) that will assist municipalities in aligning their mobility efforts with the goals of the program. The next round of applications for the program opens on January 10th.

Of course, Somerville is just one of 351 municipalities in the state and a handful of others have had sidewalks included in their snow removal plans for some time. In Newton, City Councilor Andreae Downs wrote about the steps it took to establish a snow clearing ordinance. In Framingham, the City is responsible for plowing approximately 84.5 miles of sidewalk in and around key areas such as schools, city-owned buildings, the commuter rail, and business districts. As WalkBoston continues our advocacy work around sidewalk snow removal and hopes to put together sidewalk snow clearance guidance and resources for communities, we’d love to hear more from communities across the Commonwealth that have seen success in their sidewalk snow removal plans and highlight it in a future post. Get in touch with us.

Boston.com: “Should the city remove snow from sidewalks, just like it does for Boston’s streets?”

Brendan Kearney, deputy director of WalkBoston, an advocacy organization aimed at making walking easier and safer in Massachusetts, told officials Cambridge has taken up efforts, as have Newton and Framingham to varying degrees. “There are definitely examples here in Massachusetts as well,” Kearney said.
…
Representatives from WalkBoston and the LiveableStreets Alliance — which advocates for safe streets — advised Boston councilors to consider areas to prioritize snow clearing based on community input, and to include sidewalk plowing and direction on where to leave snow piles as part of its snow plow contracts, among other recommendations.
“I’m just super impressed by what Syracuse is doing,” Kearney said. “That is a great, great model for Boston.”

Posted March 18, 2021

View the presentation we shared with the city council: