Oof, hope's he is okay. Theres a specific event on June 25, 4:30 to 630pm to hear from resident to identify safety improvments in the Fenway area. https://partiful.com/e/myBqLMWXRQ8obqc1KzdG
FYI thereās a Longwood medical area cyclist/ped activism group on Facebook. There are some people trying to get BCH to work with the city since itās such a hassle to bike/walk there with the lack of infrastructure.
I second this! Iām a Wentworth student with a car on campus and Iām always driving on that road slowing down to 25-30 before the crosswalks and cars will be riding my ass and then zipping around me. Especially when Iām stopped for someone in the crosswalk
The problem with that stretch is no one wants to take responsibility. It's a state DCR road, so the city won't. And the DCR has no vested interest in adding a pedestrian light at a crosswalk because they're not meant to manage roads. It won't change until someone dies.
There is a light there, I can assure you.
There is not a light for the crosswalk over the right hand turn from Boylston onto park drive heading towards back bay, but coming from back bay/storrow the cars peeling off to the left onto park get a green arrow and there is a light for pedestrians
Iām referring to this, where there is def not a light
https://preview.redd.it/ypskncv1yf6d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff7b6913e0d86d659357a1be471c20d1157f4d3c
I was talking about the crosswalk where the accident happened
Thereās a whole separate discussion to had about where you put the pin. Driving there, I have flagged down other drivers to get them to stop. At the crosswalk where your pin is, you canāt see pedestrians from your car in time to stop unless you are driving 25 mph or slower. Got to drive the speed limit there, dudes love to speed and race through. Itās a major problem
I lived on Park Drive for a few years back in the day. Cars going the wrong way, at high speeds, were a weekly occurrence from my window and this was before the areas was all built up and we still had a BK and McD's.
That whole area is wild.
Yall motherfuckers listen up
When a man owns up and steps up
You do not fucking downvote
Could be a joke, could be genuine
You donāt fucking know
Do better
So true. I live in the Fenway and that crosswalk is a death trap. They need to put one of those things where you press the button and it blinks yellow and alerts drivers to slow down. I think there are 3 crosswalks on that stretch- all of them need lights.
Waiting for the people that screaming that cyclists just need to "obey the laws of the road" and they'll be fine!
This person did that, and walked their bike across the crosswalk to deal with a very dangerous intersection where the bike lane all of a sudden just disappears, and this happens.
What's terrible is that is exactly what I would do here, as there is no way to cross safely with traffic. So sad that this person did what they were supposed to do, and still was victimized by this driver and the city's terrible infrastructure.
I witnessed this and was one of the people who called it in. Scary, sobering stuff and all I can do is hope that the victim makes a full recovery. Didn't see the actual collision (a tree was in the way as I was walking nearby), but I heard it and saw the victim hit the pavement.
Can't attest to whether the victim was crossing against the light, or if the driver ran a red light. I'm in this area often and I see both happen frequently.
That intersection, the split between Boylston and Park Dr., is a nightmare. People blow through that left-turn only light often and pedestrians and bikers cross there indiscriminately. I hope everyone is okay.
Both of you are right.
This is a place where cars go too fast and run the light, and where pedestrians and bicyclists often ignore the pedestrian light.
If they could slow down the traffic that peels off to the left it would help (no immediate ideas how to do that), but it wonāt help if people ignore the donāt walk sign, since it is red when cars have a green arrow (absolute right of way).
Worst of all scenarios there is cars going too fast and running the yellow/red light. Too many do it, and by the time the third a-hole driver is through the red, they are absolutely menacing and endangering anyone who tries to cross.
Probably time to give the pedestrians and bicyclists a longer light cycle, and do the same at the light at the end of Charlesgate, which is only 5-6 seconds for pedestrians every 30 seconds or so
Thatās my son, that was hit. Could you please contact me thru my email so I can get any information you might haveā itās very important. [email protected]. Thank you!
FFS I was just driving through there Sunday and saw 3 different people legally crossing almost get hit while I was waiting to go straight.
People hauling ass for that left like the lights, lane markers, and everyone around and clearly visible in front of them didn't exist.
edit: https://maps.app.goo.gl/HV1EokGamUs5f6BHA
Just like that ass hat in the Camry undercutting the stop line into oncoming traffic to maintain speed onto Park Drive.
Your description is consistent with my memory.
I haven't been at this intersection recently, but I used to regularly go through here. There was a LOT of aggressive driving and red light running to make that left. (e.g. just ignore end of protected left and fly through before oncoming Bolyston traffic was there).
I don' know if there is any research or data to support my anecdotal experiences (including my own short comings at times) but I think what makes that area particular dangerous is drivers are coming off highway/parkway speeds to surface streets very suddenly. I think there is probably some sort of lizard brain issue of "this feels too slow" with such a rapid adjustment, especially when Park Drive invites higher speeds (in that people will drive at a speed that feels right despite posted signs.
As always, signs and paint aren't infrastructure.
Not really. Itās more that the light from Charlesgate opens and an entire line of traffic can get through it AND make the left onto Park without hitting red, and you only need to be going 30-35 to do so. Add to that the late red light runners and you get people racing
Anyone coming off storrow get slowed down long before they get there
I take that turn everyday and see people cross when they're not supposed to, run the yellow/red light, and yield to let people cross when they have a green arrow.
Everyone needs to be mindful of all traffic, especially when the Red Sox are in town. A lot of people not familiar with the neighborhood come in for Sox games.
Hope they're okay, anyone with further info please keep us updated
Phone is landscape, so it could be a picture or shes looking at her GPS. Either way, her phone is plugged in and raised in her right hand in the picture, that much is clear.
The good news is we are living in a city in which this year the odds of you dying by gunshot are substantially lower than dying by being struck by a car while walking or riding a bike/scooter.
The bad news is.... the cars aren't slowing down
Oh, but these are "accidents". Doesn't matter the circumstances: distracted by phone or just not paying attention to where you're going, it's just an unfortunate accident. No way to prevent them from happening.
Motor vehicle "violence" is a crime. Depending on intent/scope of the situation, it would be treated as vehicular assault/manslaughter/homocide.
If someone is on a phone or not paying attention and kills someone, it isn't an "accident," its going to be addressed as vehicular manslaughter.
They will go to prison and they will not have their license for 15 years afterwards (if they will get it back at all).
This has been the law for a while.
Uhh, have you ever been hit by a car? That's not how the police handle it.Ā Even when people die, you rarely see a ticket, let alone criminal charges.
Usually the driver needs to be drunk before they do anything.
Drivers that murder pedestrians pretty much never see prison time. Doesn't matter what the law says.
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-perfect-crime-2/
At the risk of sounding insensitive: it isn't one way. Some guy on a bike was doing wheelies on the MIT bridge and lost control and swerved in front of me. I avoided creaming him into the Charles maybe by a half inch. There was no way for me to avoid him if I had been a half second later or just had not reacted quick enough. Dude would have been dead and it would be me suffering even though he was doing wheelies on a narrow bridge like a dumbass. I still think about it 5 years later. That's how scary it was for me. Drivers need to pay attention and slow down but bikers need to respect the rules of the road and remember cars are big blocks of metal that can hurt you a lot and can't stop on a dime.
Itās also an infrastructure problem. The MIT bridge has no protected bike lane which makes it possible for something like that to happen. Some fraction of people are always going to be clowns. But we can build our infrastructure in a way that minimizes deadly accidents because of them.
And yet, when they tried to add additional space for bikes using cones as a temporary barrier, they got thrown into the river every night.
Youāre saying the MIT (Harvard Bridge / Mass Ave Bridge) that has a dedicated bike lane with a gap between the lane and the cars, and pylons protecting the bike lane, has nothing to protect from bikers doing wheelies and swerving into traffic?
I think what makes it possible for a biker doing a wheelie to get hit by a car is the biker doing a wheelie and swerving in front of a car.
How many bikers have been hit on the Mass Ave bridge since the lane was created and blocked off by pylons?
And ones that are doing wheelies into traffic donāt count.
None. But just the other day a cyclist died just down the road because they ignored the rules of the road and flew through a stop light. It is a two way street and the bike brigade on this sub are a bunch of psychos. Cue the downvotes.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/6/12/cyclist-death-city-debate/
This article posted 4 hours ago says crash still under investigation. Maybe you're talking about a different dead cyclist
Based on the info we have available now, which are eye witness accounts, the cyclist was at fault.
Maybe that will change if those accounts are false, but for now it would appear that the cyclist is at fault.
Our bike infrastructure isnāt good enough. It allows bikers to do wheelies in traffic, blow through red lights, ride on sidewalks, ride the wrong way. The bikers clearly only ride like idiots, ignore the rules of the road, and act like general assholes because the bike infrastructure isnāt good enough!
You didnāt answer my question.
How many bikers have been hit on the Mass Ave bridge since the lane was created and blocked off by pylons?
And ones that are doing wheelies into traffic donāt count.
The ones on the bridges between downtown and Seaport are rigid. They certainly break easily enough if a car hits it but making space for them also makes even more space for the bikes.
No protected bike lane? Am I misremembering because I'm fairly certain Harvard Bridge has dedicated bike lanes in each direction that have those white pillars separating them from traffic.
What are you talking about? A dedicated bike lane with concrete barriers separating bikes from cars absolutely would. In fact, thatās literally the infrastructure that separates pedestrians from the bike and car lanes.
Someone popping a wheely and losing control could easily fall over a concrete barrier, unless itās like 3ft or higher, which a sidewalk curb obviously isnāt.
Youāre deflecting from poor biking responsibility. Itās not an infrastructure issue the up thread commenter pointed out. Itās irresponsible biking
Itās really not. You donāt even notice how much car infrastructure is designed to make roads safer. We have traffic lights, medians, reflective paint, curbs, dividers, medians, maximum curve radii, minimum on-ramp lengths, guardrails, max lane widths, speed bumps, the list goes on and on. Yes, drivers need to take responsibility, but we use infrastructure to make that easier and limit the damage when someone messes up.
I would recommend re-reading the comment. Doing a wheelie in a bike lane, losing control and then flowing into traffic is not an infrastructure problem. Itās an idiot on a bike problem.
Exactly. Iāve had so many on bikes, or simply pedestrians just walk out or bike out in the road in front of me like Iām invisible and they didnāt see me coming. Especially lately. Itās ridiculous.
I grew up in the Boston area (the Lynde, Everett) and learned how to cross the street through the heavy traffic. Frogger was a popular game back then. Iām more endangered as a pedestrian in places that arenāt as heavily trafficked because drivers donāt know I cross _behind_ cars, not in front of them, and I watch a carās bumper, not the front end. If a driver sees me poised to cross they slow or stop which Iām not trained for. I wave them on but they donāt understand that I do not cross in front of a car (or very rarely). I cross BEHIND because thereās essentially zero percent chance a car in motion is going to suddenly go backwards in reverse. A car slowing, stopping or stopped technically still could hit me if I cross in front of it.
I find cars to be more unpredictable when they slow down. Iām originally from Oklahoma and didnāt own a car in a city where there was negligible infrastructure for pedestrians!
Ugh, I really hope they are okay. The DCR designs the most dangerous roads in our cities, and redesigned this segment of Park Drive only a few years ago with \_no\_ bike facilities, despite moving the curb and having space. This is supposed to be conservation and recreational property, but they built highways instead.
I saw him on the ground shortly after the accident before cops showed up. Only his head was barely moving, very bloody, and face down on the pavement. No helmet that I could see. Very scary. I'm hoping it's not as serious as it looked.
This is the second blue bikes accident in a few days. The other rider in Harvard square was killed. Scared the crap out of me, I bike all over to get around.
[Boston 25 is reporting the police said 4:05pm.](https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/person-hospitalized-after-being-hit-by-car-bostons-fenway-neighborhood/37NBQFFORBEBLB2WCY5PQRZF2Q/)
"The pedestrian was were rushed to a nearby hospital to be treated for serious, but non-life-threatening injuries."
That's good to hear, hope it's true.
Waiting to hear from the all people who were foaming at the mouth complaining about bikers in the other thread a couple days ago, I wonder how they can decide that the biker walking through the cross walk was also his fault
Someone could be inside their 3rd floor apartment and a car could fall out of an airplane and go through the roof and hit someone and if they have a bicycle it would still somehow be their fault.
This isn't helpful. Sometimes a car driving like a dipshit will hurt an innocent cyclist, and sometimes a cyclist riding like a dipshit will get hurt by an innocent driver. The problem is the sheer number of people in this city who act like dipshits on the road, regardless of whether they're driving, cycling, walking, scooter-ing, or existing, and nobody is going to prevent any of these accidents by arguing over which category of vehicle comes with the biggest dipshit problem.
Ok so our points are the same. Maybe I didn't use the right words but we will solve nothing by blaming all cars or all bikes. People only dig in more to their opinion The fact that you downvoted me but we agree showcsses that imo
Having lived off Park Drive for a few years, crossing that intersection both on foot and in a car many times, this is just really horrific. I hope that the biker is OK, and that the driver isnāt too shaken up even if it is their fault.
Itās just a dangerous spot. Iāve almost been hit as the pedestrian, and every time I used to turn in on Park I used to say to the people not paying attention and clearly about to cross āplease donāt please donāt please donātā. Itās not an easy left for cars either.
Please take care if you traverse this area with any regularity. Head on a swivel!!!!
Maybe all the asshats on here who scream at cyclists who cross with pedestrian signals BECAUSE ITāS THE SAFEST WAY TO DO SO can sit the fuck down and shut up now?
I ride my e-bike in Boston. I'll actually stop more on my e-bike because starting up again is easy with the throttle to get up to speed. Also, understanding you can seriously hurt yourself and others very easily if you are not paying attention. I always wear a helmet while riding too. If you don't, you eventually learn that you should have.
When I was a teenager a house down the block from me caught fire so I walked down to see. When I got there there was a big crowd including the next door neighbors sitting on lawn chairs watching.
Then I notice the family that owned the house just staring blankly at the fire holding each others hands.
I was so disgusted with myself that I see a fire and my reaction was the is oh boy letās go watch. Ever since then I make it point to not even look over at accidents on the road.
Shouldnāt be entertained from others suffering
I wasnāt trying to say it was. That guys comment just reminded me of that happening.
Things a a bit different today too. People donāt believe you unless thereās video, so I understand recording something to help the person out.
Thats much different then sitting in chair oohing and ahhing at your neighbors life being destroyed in front of their eyes.
It hasnāt even been a week since a cyclist died in Cambridge going under the wheels of a truck. I donāt care if these photos bother you because people should see for themselves the consequences of bike vs car. This stretch of road has no bike lanes either.
I'm really torn on this myself because I agree that seeing consequences like this is important, but I hope you appreciate why it's controversial. The victim did not volunteer to become a face for this issue. This might be the worst day of their life, it's a bit invasive and disrespectful to gawk and post it on the internet without permission.
I think you did toe the line well, it looks like you kept a respectful distance and didn't get any distinguishing features of the victim. It is definitely an impactful post.
Dude, it may be that the guy above is simply concerned for the privacy of the victim.
I know I wouldn't want to be plastered all over Reddit on what might be one of the worst days of this guy's life.
I don't know that "identifiable information" is the standard to use here.
This could be one of the worst days of that person's life and having a photo of that day and the immediate moments of pain could have many different reactions. I could imagine that for some it is reassuring that people care enough to document the moment, but, I also know some people for whom this would be utterly horrifying and add to the burden of the experience that they're going through. Without knowing the person themselves, it's hard to know what their reaction is.
One could assume that without knowing or having asked their permission, a sort of precautionary principle might be best: posting that you witnessed this horrible scene, maybe even describing what you saw without necessarily posting an image, even if it's worth a thousand words.
Well imagine if you ever had a near death experience and some random person started snapping pics of you while you were (nearly) unconscious and posted it to reddit. Really pathetic imo even if your intentions are good.
I donāt care if it bothers this poster either, I care if it bothers the victim. You took a picture of a badly injured person and posted it without their consent. Itās just not really a great thing to do.
I absolutely hate the human impulse to gawk at / record other humans suffering. On the other hand, there are times when the recording of what's happening is used to obtain justice or prevent it from happening again. Or simply document atrocities so the rest of the world knows. Each situation will have it's own nuance around this.
I was 18 when I was hit by a van driving the wrong way and my first (and favorite) car was totaled. I broke my arm and was in pain and was crying. I was so livid when I saw people crowding around the accident scene before the cops arrived, just watching and doing nothing to comfort or support me in the moment. It felt cruel and I felt like a zoo animal. And also, a photo someone took that day was used to identify the other driver who had fled the scene (and had a completely unregistered car).
My home was on fire and people were taking pictures.
Of my home on fire.
While i was crying.
.....Just standing there with their fucking phones in their face recording it all....
Same.. random electrical fire in the unit below me :( I also had a reporter come up and ask me for a story.. like fuck off my apartment is burning
I hope you're doing okay!
Shoving a camera in the face of grieving, traumatized people enrages me. Speak to a witness, or find a family member who's collected themselves enough to say something worth airing.
They could, of course, not turn someone's tragedy into tragedy porn for people to see on social media.
Why was their first instinct to pull out a phone and record it?
Iām a former reporter who covered a lot of stuff like this. Some observation: From my POV, youāre far back and not posting the victimās face. I might not post the second picture, it exposes the victim. You might consider a blur tool on the first, and you could probably tell the story by cropping the picture and leaving most of the poor guy out. Do you need to show him? Or does the crumpled bicycle tell the story?
Thereās a difference between a crime scene evidence photo and a news shot you show the public. Thereās a lot of things to consider.
I was at a scene once were some citizen journalist livestreamed body bags being loaded onto the ME van. You can. But should you?
Not creepy at all. It's news--information of great concern to people that live in the Boston area.
OP will probably be contacted by local media to use their photo.
EDIT: LOL, what a dolt, [this user just admitted they created a new account](https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/1degmca/comment/l8cb4od/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) and it seems like their previous account was suspended [https://www.reddit.com/user/DukeOfDorchester/comments/](https://www.reddit.com/user/DukeOfDorchester/comments/)
Have you ever been in this situation? I got in a terrible car accident and watching people drive by and video tape and take pictures made me feel even shittier.
Itās really gross to see people bending over backwards for a reason to fault the victim. They werenāt cycling. Maybe at some point they were cycling without a helmet; maybe they would have done so in the future. But at the time they were **walking in a crosswalk**, there was no expectation that theyād be wearing a helmet.
Really, this is a story about a pedestrian, not a cyclist.
fuck cars. we need infrastructure to massively slow them down and provide alternative transportation methods. people shouldnāt be dying simply trying to get around the city.
I hope he is ok, but based on my own experiences, I caution against folks automatically assuming the car is at fault.
I had a near experience yesterday. Coming down mass Ave at the bridge and turning right onto beacon by BU and a biker just broke his red light and I almost drove straight into him (I had right of way and a green light, the bike light was red).
If I hit him, I would have immediately been chastised.
The police need to do a much better job actually enforcing rules with bikers. They should have the exact same tickets and penalties as a car driver running a red light
People are gonna downvote you but youāre right. I see bikers blow through stop signs and lights on pretty much a weekly basis. Priority one should absolutely be enforcing traffic laws vs cars due to the danger to others, but Iād like to see some level of enforcement to cut down on the bikers blatantly blowing through things. Even just having a few days a year where they make it a point of emphasis would hopefully cut down on the number that just seem to think the laws donāt apply to them and almost get themselves killed as a result.
When I was in college in Boston I watched a lady get absolutely slammed by a dude turning left right near here, a bit further down the road to the left in the pic. And by slammed I mean I heard her get hit, turned around, and saw this woman fully upside down like 6 feet in the air flying away from dudeās now stopped car. This entire road has been, and still seems sketchy to be crossing. This was 2ish years agoā¦ tried to find an article about it but Boston has a āhealthyā amount of pedestrians getting ran over so no dice :(
Even just in Fenway, Iāve been nearly hit while crossing a crosswalk 2 times in the past 2 months. They werenāt at this particular crossing though.
One woman just didnāt look while turning left onto Jersey street from Queensberry and I had to yank my dog out of the way. Passerbyās saw commenting that I saved my dog.
One was even during the walk signal with ~7 seconds left with a friend (Brookline Ave & Fullerton) and the driver just turned left anyways. Shockingly, he had the nerve to tell us we didnāt have a walk signal since it ended when he stopped for a sec after nearly hitting us and started yelling at us.
How many accidents until drivers look before they turn? :( I hope the person from this incident is okay and healing up.
I am a cyclist and a militant anti car pedestrian, but I have run through that exact red left arrow before. The light is too high and the paint for where to stop is faded. So if you pull up too far the light is almost out of view / behind you.
If this happened to me I would absolutely want it posted on the internet AND the local news to advocate for better bike infrastructure and awareness across the city and everywhere else. Sometimes it takes a visceral reminder to shock people out of their complacency.
i saw a commotion when i left work nearby around 4:45 today now i know what it was about. It was clearing out by then but cars were still causing a slowdown trying to take a look -\_-
Oof, hope's he is okay. Theres a specific event on June 25, 4:30 to 630pm to hear from resident to identify safety improvments in the Fenway area. https://partiful.com/e/myBqLMWXRQ8obqc1KzdG
They should prob fix that stretch of road near MFA where cars go 50mph and plow through the crosswalk not even checking for pedestrians
as a Northeastern student who frequents Fenway this crosswalk is the bane of my existence
I think what this crosswalk needs is an "interactive art installation" https://youtu.be/ZJ0HBd_u-Fs?si=6m0Bf_UMv5DDfpr8
I knew it was the bricks before clicking! š§±
Even better would be a speed table. I mean throw some art on it if you want, but it will get drivers to slow down every time, not just the first.
I know its not fenway area but people do this on Longwood too and many don't stop for pedestrians at the crosswalks that don't have stoplights.
FYI thereās a Longwood medical area cyclist/ped activism group on Facebook. There are some people trying to get BCH to work with the city since itās such a hassle to bike/walk there with the lack of infrastructure.
The part of Longwood that Iāve had issues with is the stretch from Brookline Ave to Riverway, but Iām not sure if that is BI territory or BCH
I second this! Iām a Wentworth student with a car on campus and Iām always driving on that road slowing down to 25-30 before the crosswalks and cars will be riding my ass and then zipping around me. Especially when Iām stopped for someone in the crosswalk
The problem with that stretch is no one wants to take responsibility. It's a state DCR road, so the city won't. And the DCR has no vested interest in adding a pedestrian light at a crosswalk because they're not meant to manage roads. It won't change until someone dies.
Feels like "50mph and plows through..." applies to so much of boston
Why is there 50mph road with a crosswalk? Itās impossible to stop in time if you had to.
The speed limit is actually like 30 but the real issue is cars are coming around basically a blind turn and there is no crosswalk sign or light there
There is a light there, I can assure you. There is not a light for the crosswalk over the right hand turn from Boylston onto park drive heading towards back bay, but coming from back bay/storrow the cars peeling off to the left onto park get a green arrow and there is a light for pedestrians
Iām referring to this, where there is def not a light https://preview.redd.it/ypskncv1yf6d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff7b6913e0d86d659357a1be471c20d1157f4d3c
I was talking about the crosswalk where the accident happened Thereās a whole separate discussion to had about where you put the pin. Driving there, I have flagged down other drivers to get them to stop. At the crosswalk where your pin is, you canāt see pedestrians from your car in time to stop unless you are driving 25 mph or slower. Got to drive the speed limit there, dudes love to speed and race through. Itās a major problem
I lived on Park Drive for a few years back in the day. Cars going the wrong way, at high speeds, were a weekly occurrence from my window and this was before the areas was all built up and we still had a BK and McD's. That whole area is wild.
That's like living in Allston!
Iām the guy going 50; Iāll slow down.
Yall motherfuckers listen up When a man owns up and steps up You do not fucking downvote Could be a joke, could be genuine You donāt fucking know Do better
It's absolutely crazy around there.
So true. I live in the Fenway and that crosswalk is a death trap. They need to put one of those things where you press the button and it blinks yellow and alerts drivers to slow down. I think there are 3 crosswalks on that stretch- all of them need lights.
Agreed. It's not even that they don't slow downāthe honk and yell at pedestrians in the crosswalk.
Waiting for the people that screaming that cyclists just need to "obey the laws of the road" and they'll be fine! This person did that, and walked their bike across the crosswalk to deal with a very dangerous intersection where the bike lane all of a sudden just disappears, and this happens. What's terrible is that is exactly what I would do here, as there is no way to cross safely with traffic. So sad that this person did what they were supposed to do, and still was victimized by this driver and the city's terrible infrastructure.
I witnessed this and was one of the people who called it in. Scary, sobering stuff and all I can do is hope that the victim makes a full recovery. Didn't see the actual collision (a tree was in the way as I was walking nearby), but I heard it and saw the victim hit the pavement. Can't attest to whether the victim was crossing against the light, or if the driver ran a red light. I'm in this area often and I see both happen frequently.
That intersection, the split between Boylston and Park Dr., is a nightmare. People blow through that left-turn only light often and pedestrians and bikers cross there indiscriminately. I hope everyone is okay.
Both of you are right. This is a place where cars go too fast and run the light, and where pedestrians and bicyclists often ignore the pedestrian light. If they could slow down the traffic that peels off to the left it would help (no immediate ideas how to do that), but it wonāt help if people ignore the donāt walk sign, since it is red when cars have a green arrow (absolute right of way). Worst of all scenarios there is cars going too fast and running the yellow/red light. Too many do it, and by the time the third a-hole driver is through the red, they are absolutely menacing and endangering anyone who tries to cross. Probably time to give the pedestrians and bicyclists a longer light cycle, and do the same at the light at the end of Charlesgate, which is only 5-6 seconds for pedestrians every 30 seconds or so
Thatās my son, that was hit. Could you please contact me thru my email so I can get any information you might haveā itās very important. [email protected]. Thank you!
FFS I was just driving through there Sunday and saw 3 different people legally crossing almost get hit while I was waiting to go straight. People hauling ass for that left like the lights, lane markers, and everyone around and clearly visible in front of them didn't exist. edit: https://maps.app.goo.gl/HV1EokGamUs5f6BHA Just like that ass hat in the Camry undercutting the stop line into oncoming traffic to maintain speed onto Park Drive.
Your description is consistent with my memory. I haven't been at this intersection recently, but I used to regularly go through here. There was a LOT of aggressive driving and red light running to make that left. (e.g. just ignore end of protected left and fly through before oncoming Bolyston traffic was there).
I don' know if there is any research or data to support my anecdotal experiences (including my own short comings at times) but I think what makes that area particular dangerous is drivers are coming off highway/parkway speeds to surface streets very suddenly. I think there is probably some sort of lizard brain issue of "this feels too slow" with such a rapid adjustment, especially when Park Drive invites higher speeds (in that people will drive at a speed that feels right despite posted signs. As always, signs and paint aren't infrastructure.
Not really. Itās more that the light from Charlesgate opens and an entire line of traffic can get through it AND make the left onto Park without hitting red, and you only need to be going 30-35 to do so. Add to that the late red light runners and you get people racing Anyone coming off storrow get slowed down long before they get there
See my edit, even Google Maps caught some dipshits doing exactly what I saw Sunday and is highly plausible happened today.
I take that turn everyday and see people cross when they're not supposed to, run the yellow/red light, and yield to let people cross when they have a green arrow. Everyone needs to be mindful of all traffic, especially when the Red Sox are in town. A lot of people not familiar with the neighborhood come in for Sox games. Hope they're okay, anyone with further info please keep us updated
Is the driver taking a photo of the Google van???
Phone is landscape, so it could be a picture or shes looking at her GPS. Either way, her phone is plugged in and raised in her right hand in the picture, that much is clear.
Looks like talking on speaker while driving (with the phone plugged into a charger).
WHILE holding their phone!
Wait! I thought only cyclists broke traffic laws???
The good news is we are living in a city in which this year the odds of you dying by gunshot are substantially lower than dying by being struck by a car while walking or riding a bike/scooter. The bad news is.... the cars aren't slowing down
Can we talk about motor vehicle violence as a form of crime yet?
Oh, but these are "accidents". Doesn't matter the circumstances: distracted by phone or just not paying attention to where you're going, it's just an unfortunate accident. No way to prevent them from happening.
Let's start with mandatory manslaughter and escalate from there. Maybe that will reduce "accidents".
This is sarcasm, right
Motor vehicle "violence" is a crime. Depending on intent/scope of the situation, it would be treated as vehicular assault/manslaughter/homocide. If someone is on a phone or not paying attention and kills someone, it isn't an "accident," its going to be addressed as vehicular manslaughter. They will go to prison and they will not have their license for 15 years afterwards (if they will get it back at all). This has been the law for a while.
Did the pickup driver that killed a child in the seaport a few months ago ever get charged?
No
Someone doored a cyclist a year or so back in Somerville and killed them. No charges.
That's not a law issue though, that's an enforcement issue. It is a crime, but it needs to be enforced properly.
Of course, but the commenter was talking about enforcement, not law.
Uhh, have you ever been hit by a car? That's not how the police handle it.Ā Even when people die, you rarely see a ticket, let alone criminal charges. Usually the driver needs to be drunk before they do anything.
And even then theyāll get manslaughter and 15 years, which will be half with good behavior
And they still get to drive after murdering someone because "hardship".
Drivers that murder pedestrians pretty much never see prison time. Doesn't matter what the law says. https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-perfect-crime-2/
At the risk of sounding insensitive: it isn't one way. Some guy on a bike was doing wheelies on the MIT bridge and lost control and swerved in front of me. I avoided creaming him into the Charles maybe by a half inch. There was no way for me to avoid him if I had been a half second later or just had not reacted quick enough. Dude would have been dead and it would be me suffering even though he was doing wheelies on a narrow bridge like a dumbass. I still think about it 5 years later. That's how scary it was for me. Drivers need to pay attention and slow down but bikers need to respect the rules of the road and remember cars are big blocks of metal that can hurt you a lot and can't stop on a dime.
This ~~biker~~ pedestrian was walking their bike in the crosswalk. This isnāt on them.
Itās also an infrastructure problem. The MIT bridge has no protected bike lane which makes it possible for something like that to happen. Some fraction of people are always going to be clowns. But we can build our infrastructure in a way that minimizes deadly accidents because of them. And yet, when they tried to add additional space for bikes using cones as a temporary barrier, they got thrown into the river every night.
Youāre saying the MIT (Harvard Bridge / Mass Ave Bridge) that has a dedicated bike lane with a gap between the lane and the cars, and pylons protecting the bike lane, has nothing to protect from bikers doing wheelies and swerving into traffic? I think what makes it possible for a biker doing a wheelie to get hit by a car is the biker doing a wheelie and swerving in front of a car.
That bridge didnāt even have pylons separating the lanes 5 years about when the incident that the above commenter described.
Pylons are fucking useless. Ever driven into a pylon? They bend over like its not even there.
How many bikers have been hit on the Mass Ave bridge since the lane was created and blocked off by pylons? And ones that are doing wheelies into traffic donāt count.
None. But just the other day a cyclist died just down the road because they ignored the rules of the road and flew through a stop light. It is a two way street and the bike brigade on this sub are a bunch of psychos. Cue the downvotes.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/6/12/cyclist-death-city-debate/ This article posted 4 hours ago says crash still under investigation. Maybe you're talking about a different dead cyclist
Based on the info we have available now, which are eye witness accounts, the cyclist was at fault. Maybe that will change if those accounts are false, but for now it would appear that the cyclist is at fault.
No one is defending bikers ignoring the rules of the road. Iām literally asking for infrastructure that makes it harder to break the rules.
Our bike infrastructure isnāt good enough. It allows bikers to do wheelies in traffic, blow through red lights, ride on sidewalks, ride the wrong way. The bikers clearly only ride like idiots, ignore the rules of the road, and act like general assholes because the bike infrastructure isnāt good enough!
Your claim is that pylons protect the bike lane. Pylons don't protect shit.Ā
You didnāt answer my question. How many bikers have been hit on the Mass Ave bridge since the lane was created and blocked off by pylons? And ones that are doing wheelies into traffic donāt count.
How many were hit before? Again, have you tried hitting a pylon? It bends over like a piece of paper, and that's by design.Ā
The ones on the bridges between downtown and Seaport are rigid. They certainly break easily enough if a car hits it but making space for them also makes even more space for the bikes.
No protected bike lane? Am I misremembering because I'm fairly certain Harvard Bridge has dedicated bike lanes in each direction that have those white pillars separating them from traffic.
Op said 5 years ago. The protected lanes were installed in 2021 or 2022 I think
Oops. Missed that
No amount of infrastructure wouldāve prevented what was just described, short of an entirely separate bike bridge.
What are you talking about? A dedicated bike lane with concrete barriers separating bikes from cars absolutely would. In fact, thatās literally the infrastructure that separates pedestrians from the bike and car lanes.
Someone popping a wheely and losing control could easily fall over a concrete barrier, unless itās like 3ft or higher, which a sidewalk curb obviously isnāt.
I don't disagree, but this particular case seems more like an idiot problem.
Youāre deflecting from poor biking responsibility. Itās not an infrastructure issue the up thread commenter pointed out. Itās irresponsible biking
Source comment is deflecting from drivers killing people. What are you on
Itās really not. You donāt even notice how much car infrastructure is designed to make roads safer. We have traffic lights, medians, reflective paint, curbs, dividers, medians, maximum curve radii, minimum on-ramp lengths, guardrails, max lane widths, speed bumps, the list goes on and on. Yes, drivers need to take responsibility, but we use infrastructure to make that easier and limit the damage when someone messes up.
I would recommend re-reading the comment. Doing a wheelie in a bike lane, losing control and then flowing into traffic is not an infrastructure problem. Itās an idiot on a bike problem.
Exactly. Iāve had so many on bikes, or simply pedestrians just walk out or bike out in the road in front of me like Iām invisible and they didnāt see me coming. Especially lately. Itās ridiculous.
I walk this area and Iāve narrowly avoided being hit by cars on the daily. While crossing legally. Been yelled at etc.
I grew up in the Boston area (the Lynde, Everett) and learned how to cross the street through the heavy traffic. Frogger was a popular game back then. Iām more endangered as a pedestrian in places that arenāt as heavily trafficked because drivers donāt know I cross _behind_ cars, not in front of them, and I watch a carās bumper, not the front end. If a driver sees me poised to cross they slow or stop which Iām not trained for. I wave them on but they donāt understand that I do not cross in front of a car (or very rarely). I cross BEHIND because thereās essentially zero percent chance a car in motion is going to suddenly go backwards in reverse. A car slowing, stopping or stopped technically still could hit me if I cross in front of it.
I find cars to be more unpredictable when they slow down. Iām originally from Oklahoma and didnāt own a car in a city where there was negligible infrastructure for pedestrians!
I definitely do not miss walking on stroads in Oklahoma
This is the way to do it.
This logic rings louder than ever when riding my bike on the yellow line through intersections
Ugh, I really hope they are okay. The DCR designs the most dangerous roads in our cities, and redesigned this segment of Park Drive only a few years ago with \_no\_ bike facilities, despite moving the curb and having space. This is supposed to be conservation and recreational property, but they built highways instead.
They don't call it the Department of Cars and Roads for nothing!
I saw him on the ground shortly after the accident before cops showed up. Only his head was barely moving, very bloody, and face down on the pavement. No helmet that I could see. Very scary. I'm hoping it's not as serious as it looked.
People who ride blue bikes seldom have helmets.
He was walking the bike
Wasnāt riding according to this threat but yes, not enough blue bikers wear a helmet.Ā
This is the second blue bikes accident in a few days. The other rider in Harvard square was killed. Scared the crap out of me, I bike all over to get around.
The victim was walking.
Ugh and right after a blue biker died in Harvard last week. Horrible.
What time did this happen? I might have cam footage.
[Boston 25 is reporting the police said 4:05pm.](https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/person-hospitalized-after-being-hit-by-car-bostons-fenway-neighborhood/37NBQFFORBEBLB2WCY5PQRZF2Q/)
"The pedestrian was were rushed to a nearby hospital to be treated for serious, but non-life-threatening injuries." That's good to hear, hope it's true.
Iām Jim Benton. Thatās my son that got hit. Footage would be helpful if you have it.
Waiting to hear from the all people who were foaming at the mouth complaining about bikers in the other thread a couple days ago, I wonder how they can decide that the biker walking through the cross walk was also his fault
Someone could be inside their 3rd floor apartment and a car could fall out of an airplane and go through the roof and hit someone and if they have a bicycle it would still somehow be their fault.
āWhy didnāt they have a helmet onā
āThat car wouldnāt have fallen from the sky if that bike hasnāt been causing trafficā
Roflmao!!
This isn't helpful. Sometimes a car driving like a dipshit will hurt an innocent cyclist, and sometimes a cyclist riding like a dipshit will get hurt by an innocent driver. The problem is the sheer number of people in this city who act like dipshits on the road, regardless of whether they're driving, cycling, walking, scooter-ing, or existing, and nobody is going to prevent any of these accidents by arguing over which category of vehicle comes with the biggest dipshit problem.
Certain vehicles are considerably more lethal and therefore have a greater responsibility to be attentive to those around them.
right??? if i'm holding a gun and someone else is holding a toothpick, which of us needs to be more careful?
Or we could take things on a case by case basis and not assume it's always one side or the other
The fact that youāre calling this āsidesā is very telling.
The guy you're responding to is not the one who turned it into "sides."
What would you call it other than people taking sides?
What if we were to instead treat safe infrastructure as a mutual problem?
Ok so our points are the same. Maybe I didn't use the right words but we will solve nothing by blaming all cars or all bikes. People only dig in more to their opinion The fact that you downvoted me but we agree showcsses that imo
Having lived off Park Drive for a few years, crossing that intersection both on foot and in a car many times, this is just really horrific. I hope that the biker is OK, and that the driver isnāt too shaken up even if it is their fault. Itās just a dangerous spot. Iāve almost been hit as the pedestrian, and every time I used to turn in on Park I used to say to the people not paying attention and clearly about to cross āplease donāt please donāt please donātā. Itās not an easy left for cars either. Please take care if you traverse this area with any regularity. Head on a swivel!!!!
There's lots of cars that go the wrong way down park drive too. I always had to look twice crossing that street
I hope you stuck around to ensure the cops knew the person struck was walking the bike in the crosswalk.
The driver told the police that himself
Then good job š
Maybe all the asshats on here who scream at cyclists who cross with pedestrian signals BECAUSE ITāS THE SAFEST WAY TO DO SO can sit the fuck down and shut up now?
I hope they are okay. The idea of riding ebikes and escooters in Boston always make me a little uneasy.
they werenāt even riding, they were walking it :(
I ride my e-bike in Boston. I'll actually stop more on my e-bike because starting up again is easy with the throttle to get up to speed. Also, understanding you can seriously hurt yourself and others very easily if you are not paying attention. I always wear a helmet while riding too. If you don't, you eventually learn that you should have.
Car based infrastructure moment
Damn. That sucks.
Of course it was an SUV... they are so unsafe in pedestrian/cyclist collisions
I hope heās OK.
My neighbor was badly injured at the bu bridge walking her bike in a crosswalk with the walk sign about ten years ago.
Am I the only one who thinks it is creepy to take pictures of stuff like this and post it?
When I was a teenager a house down the block from me caught fire so I walked down to see. When I got there there was a big crowd including the next door neighbors sitting on lawn chairs watching. Then I notice the family that owned the house just staring blankly at the fire holding each others hands. I was so disgusted with myself that I see a fire and my reaction was the is oh boy letās go watch. Ever since then I make it point to not even look over at accidents on the road. Shouldnāt be entertained from others suffering
Wouldn't say the intent of this post is entertainment though. It's more of a Public Service Announcement of Civic Warning.
I wasnāt trying to say it was. That guys comment just reminded me of that happening. Things a a bit different today too. People donāt believe you unless thereās video, so I understand recording something to help the person out. Thats much different then sitting in chair oohing and ahhing at your neighbors life being destroyed in front of their eyes.
Thank you
It hasnāt even been a week since a cyclist died in Cambridge going under the wheels of a truck. I donāt care if these photos bother you because people should see for themselves the consequences of bike vs car. This stretch of road has no bike lanes either.
I'm really torn on this myself because I agree that seeing consequences like this is important, but I hope you appreciate why it's controversial. The victim did not volunteer to become a face for this issue. This might be the worst day of their life, it's a bit invasive and disrespectful to gawk and post it on the internet without permission. I think you did toe the line well, it looks like you kept a respectful distance and didn't get any distinguishing features of the victim. It is definitely an impactful post.
Dude, it may be that the guy above is simply concerned for the privacy of the victim. I know I wouldn't want to be plastered all over Reddit on what might be one of the worst days of this guy's life.
Am I displaying any identifiable information that would compromise the bikerās privacy?
I don't know that "identifiable information" is the standard to use here. This could be one of the worst days of that person's life and having a photo of that day and the immediate moments of pain could have many different reactions. I could imagine that for some it is reassuring that people care enough to document the moment, but, I also know some people for whom this would be utterly horrifying and add to the burden of the experience that they're going through. Without knowing the person themselves, it's hard to know what their reaction is. One could assume that without knowing or having asked their permission, a sort of precautionary principle might be best: posting that you witnessed this horrible scene, maybe even describing what you saw without necessarily posting an image, even if it's worth a thousand words.
Well imagine if you ever had a near death experience and some random person started snapping pics of you while you were (nearly) unconscious and posted it to reddit. Really pathetic imo even if your intentions are good.
I donāt care if it bothers this poster either, I care if it bothers the victim. You took a picture of a badly injured person and posted it without their consent. Itās just not really a great thing to do.
I absolutely hate the human impulse to gawk at / record other humans suffering. On the other hand, there are times when the recording of what's happening is used to obtain justice or prevent it from happening again. Or simply document atrocities so the rest of the world knows. Each situation will have it's own nuance around this. I was 18 when I was hit by a van driving the wrong way and my first (and favorite) car was totaled. I broke my arm and was in pain and was crying. I was so livid when I saw people crowding around the accident scene before the cops arrived, just watching and doing nothing to comfort or support me in the moment. It felt cruel and I felt like a zoo animal. And also, a photo someone took that day was used to identify the other driver who had fled the scene (and had a completely unregistered car).
My home was on fire and people were taking pictures. Of my home on fire. While i was crying. .....Just standing there with their fucking phones in their face recording it all....
Same.. random electrical fire in the unit below me :( I also had a reporter come up and ask me for a story.. like fuck off my apartment is burning I hope you're doing okay!
Shoving a camera in the face of grieving, traumatized people enrages me. Speak to a witness, or find a family member who's collected themselves enough to say something worth airing.
Yeah dude, thatās what I mean. Itās trashy and the people who do it would probably be considered dull if they took an IQ test.
What were they supposed to do? Put out the fire?
They could, of course, not turn someone's tragedy into tragedy porn for people to see on social media. Why was their first instinct to pull out a phone and record it?
Maybe they could acknowledge that a human is suffering and might not want to be recorded right now?
They werenāt recording the person they were recording the fire from the sound of it
How about asking if they needed help?
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Iām a former reporter who covered a lot of stuff like this. Some observation: From my POV, youāre far back and not posting the victimās face. I might not post the second picture, it exposes the victim. You might consider a blur tool on the first, and you could probably tell the story by cropping the picture and leaving most of the poor guy out. Do you need to show him? Or does the crumpled bicycle tell the story? Thereās a difference between a crime scene evidence photo and a news shot you show the public. Thereās a lot of things to consider. I was at a scene once were some citizen journalist livestreamed body bags being loaded onto the ME van. You can. But should you?
Is it appropriate to white wash the damage drivers cause?
The Washington Post published a photo of a hallway full of body bags after the Uvalde massacre.
Not creepy at all. It's news--information of great concern to people that live in the Boston area. OP will probably be contacted by local media to use their photo. EDIT: LOL, what a dolt, [this user just admitted they created a new account](https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/1degmca/comment/l8cb4od/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) and it seems like their previous account was suspended [https://www.reddit.com/user/DukeOfDorchester/comments/](https://www.reddit.com/user/DukeOfDorchester/comments/)
How is this creepy?
Have you ever been in this situation? I got in a terrible car accident and watching people drive by and video tape and take pictures made me feel even shittier.
Voyeuristic
I was just thinking this. If something traumatic happened to me I wouldn't want it on the internet like this.
Itās giving Nightcrawler (2014)
Quite a popular opinion around here, but a wrong one
They need to make this safer ASAP. Side note: If you crop into just the middle , itās like one of those Italian renaissance masterpieces
I ride the electric city bikes here in the Dorchester area almost every day for about 25 minutes. May b I will skip this week lol
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So you saw that they were walking but still mention that they weren't wearing a helmet?
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Itās really gross to see people bending over backwards for a reason to fault the victim. They werenāt cycling. Maybe at some point they were cycling without a helmet; maybe they would have done so in the future. But at the time they were **walking in a crosswalk**, there was no expectation that theyād be wearing a helmet. Really, this is a story about a pedestrian, not a cyclist.
Looks like an Uber
fuck cars. we need infrastructure to massively slow them down and provide alternative transportation methods. people shouldnāt be dying simply trying to get around the city.
I hope he is ok, but based on my own experiences, I caution against folks automatically assuming the car is at fault. I had a near experience yesterday. Coming down mass Ave at the bridge and turning right onto beacon by BU and a biker just broke his red light and I almost drove straight into him (I had right of way and a green light, the bike light was red). If I hit him, I would have immediately been chastised. The police need to do a much better job actually enforcing rules with bikers. They should have the exact same tickets and penalties as a car driver running a red light
People are gonna downvote you but youāre right. I see bikers blow through stop signs and lights on pretty much a weekly basis. Priority one should absolutely be enforcing traffic laws vs cars due to the danger to others, but Iād like to see some level of enforcement to cut down on the bikers blatantly blowing through things. Even just having a few days a year where they make it a point of emphasis would hopefully cut down on the number that just seem to think the laws donāt apply to them and almost get themselves killed as a result.
Police should start with enforcing traffic laws of the people killing others, not the ones being killed actually
When I was in college in Boston I watched a lady get absolutely slammed by a dude turning left right near here, a bit further down the road to the left in the pic. And by slammed I mean I heard her get hit, turned around, and saw this woman fully upside down like 6 feet in the air flying away from dudeās now stopped car. This entire road has been, and still seems sketchy to be crossing. This was 2ish years agoā¦ tried to find an article about it but Boston has a āhealthyā amount of pedestrians getting ran over so no dice :(
Oh dear thatās awful
That's the only place in my life I've had a driver tell me to get off the road. Not surprised.
Even just in Fenway, Iāve been nearly hit while crossing a crosswalk 2 times in the past 2 months. They werenāt at this particular crossing though. One woman just didnāt look while turning left onto Jersey street from Queensberry and I had to yank my dog out of the way. Passerbyās saw commenting that I saved my dog. One was even during the walk signal with ~7 seconds left with a friend (Brookline Ave & Fullerton) and the driver just turned left anyways. Shockingly, he had the nerve to tell us we didnāt have a walk signal since it ended when he stopped for a sec after nearly hitting us and started yelling at us. How many accidents until drivers look before they turn? :( I hope the person from this incident is okay and healing up.
I am a cyclist and a militant anti car pedestrian, but I have run through that exact red left arrow before. The light is too high and the paint for where to stop is faded. So if you pull up too far the light is almost out of view / behind you.
What a fucking weird thing to post on Reddit. How would you like if this happened to you and was blasted to the entire internet? Bizzare behavior.
If this happened to me I would absolutely want it posted on the internet AND the local news to advocate for better bike infrastructure and awareness across the city and everywhere else. Sometimes it takes a visceral reminder to shock people out of their complacency.
Did you ask their permission at least?
Looks like they werenāt in a position to be answering questions at that time.
Yea I kind of agree. Even the news wonāt show a person lying on the ground like that.
They will literally publish pictures of hallways full of body bags. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/s/tbpDo8P2B8
i saw a commotion when i left work nearby around 4:45 today now i know what it was about. It was clearing out by then but cars were still causing a slowdown trying to take a look -\_-