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Bicyclist hit by car in Brighton
By adamg on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 7:36pm
UPDATE: Boston Police report the victim has died. See the comments below for some first-person accounts.
Kelton Street is closed at Comm. Ave., Kaz and Mike Juergens tweet.
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Comments
Any news?
Has anyone seen or heard anything further? There were quite a few cop cars there (plain clothes and others) which made me think this was either a very bad accident or something more involved than just a car vs bike accident (chasing down a drug dealer on a bike or something?).
I walked by the corner of
I walked by the corner of Kelton and Allston at around 7:05. There was a cop blocking off the block of Kelton that goes to Comm Ave with his squad car, but I didn't see anything in the street. Just another cop car at the other end of the block at Comm Ave blocking the street as well.
I jogged by around 6:30 or
I jogged by around 6:30 or so. The bike and car were still there, looked like the cops were doing forensics-type stuff, checking out the impact on the car, measuring stuff, etc. I didn't get too close to the bike, and didn't want to gawk, but from what I could tell, one of the wheels was bent, and the bike looked a little rough. The person on the bike must have been hurt pretty bad with all the cops that were there, hope they're doing OK.
I drove by around 4:15 and
I drove by around 4:15 and saw the biker on the ground with a few people standing around. One person was holding the biker's head and there was a big pool of blood under their head. The ambulance had not yet arrived. It didn't look good
DO NOT EVER MOVE A PERSON'S HEAD
If you come across a cyclist or motorcycle rider who has crashed:
DO NOT TOUCH THEIR HEAD. DON'T REMOVE THEIR HELMET. In fact, unless you have current emergency medical training, don't touch them ANYWHERE unless they've stopped breathing or they're going to bleed out- ie their life is in imminent danger. You're not MacGuyver.
The sheer act of removing the helmet is enough to turn a spinal injury into a spinal severing. Lots of motorcycle riders can attest to the fact that for some #@!%ing reason the first thing John Q Public feels the insatiable urge to do after coming across a person in the road is to yank their helmet off. More of a problem for motorcycle helmets than bike helmets, but you still have no business moving the head or spine of a person lying in the road.
CORRECT!
I saw a cyclist get doored on Mass Ave about 13 years ago. No helmet, classic "over the handlebar" vault with sickening thud into pavement. The motorist who doored her was starting to freak out about "getting her out of the road". I threw a body check to keep her from touching the woman, who was unconscious (for 51 seconds) and told her firmly that you NEVER EVER EVER touch somebody who might have a spinal cord injury (other than to cover them up to keep them warm).
When the injured woman started to regain consciousness, I bent down and told that she had crashed her bike, that help was coming, and not to move.
Panic makes people do stupid things sometimes. Doorwoman was also upset that I was timing how long the woman was out, without "helping her". Guess what the EMTs asked when they showed up?
Clarification
I was there. Nobody was holding her head. A doctor and nurse were the first people on the scene. The doctor was holding a towel to her ear in an attempt to stop the profuse bleeding. She was not moved in any way until the EMTs arrived.
RE: The accident
The people on the scene were medical personnel coming directly off their shifts at the hospital. They did everything they could for this girl, but unfortunately, she was not wearing a helmet, listening to an iPod, and ran a red light. It is tragic and horrible but people MUST be responsible when they are riding a bike among traffic.
Her name was Marly Pineda
My sister went to college with Marly, the young woman who was killed yesterday, and her alma mater wrote an article about her that can be read here:
http://www.smith.edu/news/2009-10/pineda-216.php
I had the privilege of meeting Marly on several occasions and she was truly a talented swimmer and charismatic person. This world has lost an incredible person too soon. Please keep her family in your prayers.
I saw the whole thing!
I was the 1st car at the red light looking to go straight onto Kelton Street. There were no cars at the red light coming from Kelton but one was driving from a distance. The light turned green, and just like anyone coming up to a green light, the car just proceeded to drive through the intersection as he should. Right when he got to the cross walk a biker (girl, mid-late 20's) FLEW through the intersection with no caution whatsoever and got SMOKED by the car! I am not saying anyone is to blame since it was purely an accident...but common sense- whether you have the right of way or not, you're on a bike unprotected you should probably take caution and slow down to look around you for cars- however in such a busy intersection, the driver should have been more aware, as well, even if he did have the right of way. It was absolutely horrific. This girl went about 20 feet high in the air, spun extremely fast in mid-air about 30 times as she was thrown about 20 feet where she landed on her head (no helmet) on concrete. She was not moving and blood was flooding out of her head. I have never seen anything like it. I have been searching the internet all morning trying to get an update, but so far nothing. I actually woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it. I keep getting flashbacks- absolutely terrible. I really hope this girl is alive.
Thanks for sharing
I too have been trying to find anything on this accident all day. Sounds very scary for all involved, including witnesses.
I hope everyone is okay.
fixie
I came by on the T when the cops were marking the scene. The bike was pretty messed up. I didn't see the girl(?). It looked like the bike was a fixie/hipster bike. Thats a pretty big hill. I'm wondering if she couldn't really stop/slow down all that well (if she was headed down Comm Ave). Sounds like the accident was awful.
Brakes and Fixies
Most Fixies lack any brakes - the cyclist holds the bike back by pedalling slower than the bike speed would dictate.
Several horrific accidents like this are why several western cities with big hills require all bikes to have some sort of brake. Fixies can be dangerous on steep downhills unless the cyclist plans ahead and controls the speed from the top to the bottom.
So sorry for the cyclist and her family, the motorist, and anybody (like our correspondent) who had to see this. Just fracking awful!
jumping to conclusions
I have to admit I did not see any of the aftermath, and it's a tragic regardless of the specifics, but I think it's a pretty big leap to presume this woman was on a fixed-gear (also, please, stop calling them fixies)... cyclists keep abreast of accidents, and the first report that went out from someone who saw the bike down specifically noted it was a "geared" bicycle (i.e. not a fixed gear). Clearly that doesn't mean she wasn't definitely riding a fixed-gear, although cyclists who ride fixed are fairly reliable when they say a bike had multiple gears, but I don't see a need to jump to conclusions and make blanket statements about people riding "brakeless" (also, your description of how to stop a fixed gear betrays that you don't really know what you're talking about).
Clearly it's a very sad day for her friends and family, and no doubt a horrible day for the motorist as well.
OK then, how does one stop a fixed-gear, brakeless bike?
Because the way I've always seen people do it is by doing what Swirrly says-- pedalling slower-- or, in a more extreme situation, locking the rear wheel up so that it skids. Which is essentially the same thing-- counteracting the rolling of the wheel by applying pressure in the opposite direction. Is there a third way?
Description Off?
I think you are the one jumping to conclusions here: I've ridden a fixed gear bike without a "formal" braking system, so "knowing what I'm talking about" isn't the issue here. Maybe I'm just not talking what I know about well, or simply not describing it as you would.
Can you describe it your way then? Not everybody just skids the damn things in a long patch on the tar.
I also know what I'm talking about when I say that some areas require brakes because they have had some fixed-gear related accidents that fit the description of this one quite closely, regardless of whether this particular cyclist had/didn't have brakes or gears.
Your explanation made sense
Your explanation made sense to me. I don't have a lot of experience with such bikes, but I've ridden them on flat surfaces, and can see exactly what you meant about how to slow the bike down. Essentially, you are using your pedaling speed to force the wheel to move more slowly, thereby breaking. I'm pretty sure some fixed gear bikes have a coaster brake, though. Perhaps that's the kind the other person is thinking about, in which case pedaling slower would not be an apt description of the braking process.
In the old days ...
Thanks, Henry.
There was a time when cars had "standard" transmissions that had to be manually shifted using either a clutch or by matching the engine and transmission speeds. You can pull a similar trick with these types of transmissions - and I did just that when my brakes failed on a very hot day with my 1976 VW Rabbit on Storrow Drive at rush hour!!!!! I used the transmission to slow the car, downshifting when I needed to come to a stop and using the handbrake to hold the car.
Bonus Points: 'BCN was playing Locomotive Breath.
There's just such a car
Parked out front of eekastan. Only sort I've ever owned.
.
.
brakeless fixed-gear riders deserve anything they get
Preface: I have no idea whether the woman in question was riding a fixed-gear bike or not.
I've biked through intersections (after waiting for the green!) at night with both front and rear lights and nearly been clipped by fuckheads on fixie bikes, dressed completely in black, on a black bike, with not a single reflector, and no lights. I don't expect other people on bikes to dress like human traffic cones, but I do expect to be able to see them, especially if they're going to engage in stupid bullshit like that. One actually said "sorry man no brakes" as he flew by.
It seems these individuals have spent so much money on their custom anodized components to be able to afford a $20 bike light and some AA's, or they're lacking sufficient brain cells to process the fact that it gets dark out and they might need to bring a light along. My favorite, however, is the fixietard with the bike light (with mostly-dead batteries) clipped to their messenger bag aimed (usually) straight up into the sky, lest an airplane attempt an emergency landing on them.
The vast majority of fixie fucktards (fixietards) flying around Boston in their black pants with studded leather belts, wifebeaters, and designer sneakers (they save the Italian cycling caps for when they're riding public transit so that other fixed-gear riders can ID them, or when they're in dive bars drinking PBR) are doing so without brakes. They're a menace to everyone around them, and it's not just Boston; they're a menace in NYC, too.
They're too busy worrying about "flow" to be bothered about things like chain maintenance/tension, checking their lockrings, etc...so it's not uncommon to see a moron coasting along trying desperately to stop his fixed-gear bike by jamming his $300 puma sneakers against the rear wheel because he's dropped his chain.
Also, I don't think you should be lecturing anyone about how to stop a bicycle. Anyone that thinks using the chain to slow/lock the rear wheel or skid the bike is the fastest way to stop a bicycle....has a fundamental lack of understanding for basic physics concepts proven thousands of years ago.
It Ain't The Vehicle
Massholes come in 2 wheel and 4 wheel varieties. The equipment isn't the issue, the rider or driver is the problem. You can just as easily salmon and run red lights on a huffy as you can on a homebuilt recumbent or a fixie. All that is required is the attitude that other people don't matter and a sense of immortality.
wrong.
The fixietard culture specifically *advocates* blowing through red lights and basically not stopping for anything or anyone.
It's also considered unfashionable to have lights, a front brake, helmet, etc.
Yeah...she's wrong about your
Yeah...she's wrong about your rear wheel NOT dictating your behavior...sure...
Crass
Besides the fact that your baseless rant against fixed gear riders and hipsters in general is mostly wrong in every way...
A young woman died (who may not have been riding a fixed gear bike anyhow).
Show some compassion instead of saying people deserve to die.
And remember that most people who ride fixed gear bikes are couriers, professionals, and know what they are doing far better than anyone on two or four wheels or two feet when it comes to navigating urban traffic.
We have several posters here....
...who are big proponents of consigning people to death.
bike couriers are "professionals"?
And remember that most people who ride fixed gear bikes are couriers, professionals, and know what they are doing far better than anyone on two or four wheels or two feet when it comes to navigating urban traffic.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bike+c...
I challenge you to keep up recording all the violations.
I could only stand a minute
I could only stand a minute of this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj1-218EnvY
I hope that if I saw someone driving that recklessly by pedestrians, I'd be able to detain him til police arrived.
Resent
And nothing you see in any of those videos is wrong in the slightest. People who have a problem with those things are just being petulant because they feel inadequate. It's similar to the same vitrol punk rockers and skateboarders used to [and perhaps still do] got in the 80's.
1.
Couriers are paid to hurry by any means necessary. Any. You don't rush, you don't get paid. Couriers get paid by the delivery, not the hour. That is why they hurry. Not from some blatant disregard for the world around them, but because they like to have money to pay rent and buy things.'
2.
Young people also like to hurry and look cool. Big shocker. You might as well also rant about people street racing cars on Columbus Ave. Or people who weave in and out of traffic and do wheelies on their motorcycles on the highway.
Some of us can remember what it was like to work physically hard for a living and be young and bold and don't resent those who still are.
This thread is not the place for your heartfelt defense....
...of bike couriers.
> You might as well also rant about people street racing cars on Columbus Ave. Or people who weave
> in and out of traffic and do wheelies on their motorcycles on the highway.
You know what -- lots of people also find these other kinds of actions quite objectionable.
But like I said -- you really should create your own topic thread if you want to pursue this subject.
"And nothing you see in any of those videos is wrong..."
Except for: riding on the sidewalk, salmoning, cutting in front of moving cars, cutting in front
of pedestrians (that one with a flourish, right in the beginning of the video). That guy in the
first video is a total Yac-ass.
the bike
Boston Biker has a photo of the (post-wreck) bike & says it wasn't a fixie and had brakes. Still awful.
http://bostonbiker.org/2010/08/10/potential-fatal-...
Really? Most? I know that
Really? Most? I know that *some* fixed gear bicycles lack brakes, but *most* that I see on a daily basis (including one of my own) do have a brake.
it wasn't a fixed gear, it was a geared step through hybrid
I have seen pictures, this bike had multiple gears, and brakes. Not a fixy.
The bike was not a fixie or brakeless
I saw the bike after the event.
It was a purple faded to blue womans geared bike. With a bright blue seat and hand grips.
It was a step through bike.
Everyone reading the comments after this realize that it was not a fixed gear bike.
Thanks for the first-hand report
Maybe people will pay attention (or maybe not).
sorry....
mego- sorry you had to see that. our neighborhood (and that intersection in particular) can be really dangerous. i'm wondering if she was new to the area or something because anyone who has been in the neighborhood for any period of time knows that a bad spot. hoping for the best for everyone.
She was killed in the
She was killed in the accident. It's a horrible tragedy. She was a wonderful person.
confirmed?
Has BPD confirmed this? If so, its tragic. I feel awful for everyone involved and the victim's family.
Oh I am so sorry for your
Oh I am so sorry for your loss. I actually called the ambulance that ended up coming as soon as I saw it happen. I am not sure you feel comfortable with this, but would you mind e-mailing me her families contact information? I would like to write a letter sending my condolences.
I happened upon the scene
I happened upon the scene later, and just knew that must have been what happened (also, the position of the car and bike were such that it was pretty much the only explanation if the car didn't blatantly run a red). Too many people fly through that intersection on their bikes without even slowing down or looking (you can get a real turn of speed going on that hill). I'm an experienced cyclist and I still get nervous riding through it obeying all the lights; it's way too dangerous and full of hazards to be going through blind.
YIKES! I'm familiar with that
YIKES! I'm familiar with that area. Was the cyclist going inbound on Comm Ave? If so, that's a pretty steep downhill, with some bad bumps in the road right before Kelton. I wonder if she had a brake failure. I hope she'll be OK.
Yeah, it was inbound on the
Yeah, it was inbound on the service road portion. I didn't get a good look at the bike, but it was the sort that may have had a coaster brake, which that hill is plenty steep enough to burn out.
Re: coaster brakes
Even if it didn't burn out, coaster brakes generally just don't have enough power to quickly stop an adult who is going fast, especially if it's downhill. Also, it's important to note that, even for those who might take issue with the effectiveness of coaster brakes, you're still often talking about one wheel only-- the rear one, which is the less-important of the two. Not making a comment about this poor rider's choice of bike, and I didn't see the accident, but if all she had was a coaster brake, that might have been a contributing factor.
Coaster Brakes and Skill
Coaster brakes work fine if you can remember how to use them. They do have the advantage that you won't endo if you stop short, but they take some planning on hills.
When I don't pack my folder along, I use my aunt's one-speed to navigate the Greater Portland area. (when their neighbor had a fixed gear, I used to borrow that). It has a coaster brake, and the bike and I are not lightweight, yet I have no problem with it on the hill my Dad lives on, which is rather steep in sections with stop signs. I do take it around the neighborhood and "rewire" myself before I hit the streets, including hill stopping.
Hey, its a one speed cruiser! Take time and be happy!
it was horrible; the driver didn't have a chance
I saw it too. Was waiting at the red light on Comm Ave. The driver from Kelton Street didn't have a chance to react. The bicyclist came from nowhere, way too fast down the Comm. Ave hill, and ran the red light. The driver was not going fast, and the driver had the green light. People tried to come to the bicyclists aid right away, but honestly, I don't think the young woman made it. (Bicyclist looked to be in her late teens -- college age.) The sight of her body laying there, seemingly lifeless, is haunting. I want to scream out the window to all of the helmet-less bicyclists I've seen since then: please, please, PLEASE, put on a helmet! Sometimes reckless driving is the cause of a horrific accident like this; but this one was not the driver's fault.
Eyewitness, file a report please. . .
Firstly, I appreciate that you're not rushing to judgement about what is obviously a terrible situation.
Secondly, if you have not, please contact the police and give a witness statement. Doing so may spare all parties involved (and the family of the young woman) a lot of grief, litigation, and perhaps provide a sense closure.
Yes, I filed an eyewitness report
My condolences to the family. Yes, I already filed an eyewitness report of the tragic accident. May her soul rest in peace, and may the driver find peace, too.
Everyone needs to stop using the term "accident"
...Boston Police included (they just announced that it was a fatal crash): http://www.bpdnews.com/2010/08/10/fatal-bicycle-ac...
am not saying anyone is to blame since it was purely an accident
An accident is something which was faultless or had an unforeseeable cause. Automotive crashes are almost never faultless. For example, when it's snowing out and you slide off the road into a ditch, that's not an "accident"- you were driving too fast for conditions or you shouldn't have been out driving in the first place.
If the driver didn't have the right of way, it was their fault. If their windshield wasn't clean and they couldn't see her in the sun, it was the driver's fault for not cleaning the windshield.
If the cyclist didn't have the right of way and her brakes were working, it was her fault for not following traffic laws designed to protect everyone, herself included. If the bike brakes failed, then it's possibly her fault for not properly maintaining the bike- or maybe the bike shop, if she recently had it "tuned up."
If the traffic signal failed and showed them both a green light, the city would be at fault for improper maintenance.
If an asteroid descended from the sky and knocked her into the road and she was hit, then THAT, ladies and gentlemen, would be an "accident".
two things
1) I think you need to look up the definition of the word "accident".
2) Either way...not really the time or place
Ok...well Brett...I am not
Ok...well Brett...I am not sure if you're trying to be funny but I really don't think this is an appropriate situation to be correcting the use of words, especially when they are being used in a sympathetic context. I highly doubt the biker intended on getting hit and killed (with all due respect), and I highly doubt the driver had any intentions of hitting the biker...therefore this "accident" (or mishap, misfortune, mistake and the serveral other synonyms for the word "accident") I will still say, was purely an accident.
deference to the victim doesn't help save lives.
"Accident" implies there's no fault or that the outcome wasn't foreseeable. The chances of either being true are pretty remote. And despite what you think, sympathy and compassion are not mutually exclusive of saying "someone was at fault here."
What will save future lives is recognizing that there was a CAUSE, and thus providing the chance to address that cause. If we stick our heads in the sand in deference of the victim, we learn nothing and thus the rest of us who cycle around Boston aren't any safer.
where exactly are you pulling
where exactly are you pulling that definition from? That doesn't square with any definition of "accident" i've ever encountered, but then again I don't have "Outofmyownass Dictionary" on my shelves.
You must get so confused when people talk about an "accidental pregnancy".....
Definitions
Merriam-Websters Online Dictioonary definition of "accidental" -- note 2b, especially:
http://mw2.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accidental
Similarly, see its definition of accident, especially 2a:
http://mw2.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accident
I understand finding out the
I understand finding out the cause in order to prevent it from happening again in the future. I just don't agree with having to argue over using the word "accident". You can be sympathetic and skip over small details such as the one you picked up on and still find out the cause of what happened. As Michael showed us above, an accident is also something unexpected and I am pretty sure no one expected this to happen.
I'm generally loathe to
I'm generally loathe to belabor points, but Brett's callousness in the face of such a horrible incident has compelled me to comment and back up mego...not that he or she needs my help.
Brett, there should and will be a time and place to review what happened yesterday evening so that we can all learn from it. In the meantime, might I suggest you keep symantical arguments regarding the classification of this tragedy to yourself. I'm generally weary of those who formulate such passionate opinions base on conjecture. And that's exactly what you're doing.
that very explicitly includes
that very explicitly includes "carelessness", so i guess Brett's argument is Kaput
My only memory of her was one
My only memory of her was one of her spinning in the air after jumping off a diving board into a pool at Smith. Now I imagine her spinning in the air ... :( :( :( *sigh*
Another bicyclist hit last night
There was another bicyclist hit by a car last night at Western Ave. and Soldiers Field Rd around 8pm. I must have arrived just after it happened because police and ambulance had not yet arrived. It looked serious because the bicyclist appeared motionless lying in the road but was being attended to by several people.
And on Sunday night, nearby
Cambridge St. in Lower Allston, at the split between where cars either go to the Pike or to Cambridge. Came up on the scene around 9 to see six police cars blocking the concrete curbing between the two, which had a very mangled bike on it. The rider, who presumably left in an ambulance, was gone by that point. Didn't see anything on the news; happened right at a point where cyclists (myself included) are very exposed to cars.
This is very true. That is
This is very true. That is an awful hill to be riding inbound down. She definitely either didn't know the area or her breaks failed because that intersection is dangerous to even walk through. Whoever was driving must feel so terrible. I just hope everything is ok.
:(
I live in the area, near the top of the hill and I often bike to work.
There are a *lot* of unsafe riders in the area. People fly down the hill through the intersections (or fly down the sidewalk). Often people aren't wearing helmets and don't have adequte brakes/aren't judging stopping distance correctly.
It's horrible what happened; I can only hope that some good comes out of this by raising awareness.
Kind soul
The accident victim was a shy person who bravely came to the Northeast from the Southwest to achieve her dreams. She received a BA & MA from a prestigious NE college and was to start her dream job. She was a great athlete and a sweet and kind person. We should all be so unafraid to conduct our lives the way she did. Please send your positive thoughts to her family and to all those involved in this tragic occurrence.
She has succumbed to her injuries
http://www.bpdnews.com/2010/08/10/fatal-bicycle-ac...
FATAL BICYCLE ACCIDENT IN BRIGHTON
Posted by MediaRelations on August 10, 2010 · Leave a Comment
At about 4:17pm, on Monday, August 9, 2010, officers from Area D-14 (Brighton) responded to a radio call for an accident involving a bicyclist being struck by a motor vehicle in the area of Warren Street and Commonwealth Ave. On arrival, officers located and observed a 24 year-old female victim being attended to and treated by EMS. The female victim, suffering from life threatening injuries, was transported to the Brigham & Women’s Hospital where she later succumbed to injuries and was pronounced. The cause of the accident is currently under investigation.
Bad Biker Behavior
First, any loss of life (no matter how idiotic the biker was), is terrible. This kind of thing is totally tragic, in large part because it is so avoidable.
I live in the Back Bay, near the intersection of Mass Ave and Comm Ave, and the regularity with which non-helmet wearing cyclists absolutely blast through the red lights wantonly, is alarming. That set of intersections (from Boyslton and Mass Ave, north to Beacon and Mass Ave) are hairy enough for DRIVERS as it is, but these cyclists have a death wish it seems. More than once, I've had to jam on my brakes to avoid killing a biker that is whipping through red lights or weaving in and out of traffic. And of course, never with a helmet.
It's akin to just sprinting into oncoming traffic and flipping off the cars that honk at you. I don't get it, and I have to believe dozens more bikers will be killed in the coming years. It's unfortunate, but as many times as this happens, behavior doesn't change.
The BPD should start dropping actual tickets and actual fines on biking scofflaws. And law abiding bikers (of which there are many) should start calling out these other idiots for giving all cyclists a bad name.
Let's leave out words like
Let's leave out words like idiotic for now, shall we? Somebody died, and we don't really know why. It is sufficient enough to acknowledge tragedy and offer condolences.
We do not know whether this was avoidable. When we do, we can have the usual UH conversation about cyclists running red lights. For now, I'm going to go with the assumption that her breaks failed, or if it was a no-break bike, that her chain popped off the gear.
My heart goes out to her family and friends, and to the driver who must feel absolutely horrible.
consider this
If she was on the access road and not the main road, could it be possible that (from her vantage point) the light looked green? (even though it was the light for the opposite direction?).
I was reminded of this because there is an intersection in Somerville where the light is aimed more towards a road that is not any longer in the direction of the light. This means that, due to cluelessness or poor maintenance, the light for Broadway going toward Powderhouse shines at Boston Ave going Northbound.
There is a similar situation near south station where there are two ramps coming together, and the light for the right side looks to the passenger in a car like the driver on the left ramp is running a red light, when there is a green light on the left.
I think you might be right
I think you might be right about that. I used to live on Allston St. and Comm Ave., which is just a block from Kelton. As I recall, most of the intersections with the service road offered difficult to see or read traffic lights, which made biking in the area somewhat frustrating. It was a long time ago, though, so the lights may have improved since then.
I frequently bike on this
I frequently bike on this section of the carriage road (or access road, or whatever it's called) when taking my son to school, and as far as I've seen, the view of the traffic light is fine. Even with a longer stopping distance riding with the trail-a-bike, I've never had a problem stopping in time for a red light. That's why I suspect brake failure as a possible cause of this accident. The road condition leading up to this area is not so great, either, so that may have been a factor.
I sincerely hope we hear a followup with the results of the police investigation. Whatever can be done to prevent another occurrence of such a terrible event, should be done, whether it's by drivers, cyclists, police, public works, etc.
What I expected
It sounds like what I expected based on what I saw too somewhat after it happened.
I have had a friend go over his own handlebars due to a car pulling out of a side street onto the service road along that downhill and have also taken a spill myself on my bike a few years ago on the service road due to the poor condition it was in at the time. I also approach that traffic light with caution in both directions on the main lanes of Comm Ave there on my scooter (the other direction also has people merging from both sides of the T tracks into the right lane).
Going through that particular intersection without knowing the full traffic situation (what part of the traffic light cycle? are there cars down kelton or warren? is someone coming from the service road next to the T tracks? are there any left turners from Comm Ave?...) is about the most dangerous thing you can do on a bike in all of Boston besides riding in the opposite lane of traffic. Doing it at 20-30 mph from Summit Ave on downwards just amps up the dangerous nature of the situation.
It sounds like she was a fairly intelligent person. It's a shame she didn't apply that to her bike riding as well.
I would ask that those of you
I would ask that those of you who are making judgements or negative comments please keep in mind that her family and friends are following this feed and to respect their feelings in their time of grieving.
We are not making judgements
We are discussing the possibility that this young woman with her entire life ahead of her has lost said life in such a sad and wasteful way. I understand the family is grieving.
Had she not run the red light she might still be alive, had she worn a helmet she might still be alive.
Might I respectively suggest that the family do something with their grief? Perhaps talk at local colleges about how their daughters life was cut short by a bicycle accident?
Those conclusions are
Those conclusions are premature. Not only is there not much information, but what information is available should not be taken as truth, given that initial reports are notoriously unreliable.
Cant we have a moment of respect?
Every time this happens the internet devolves into some flame war between fixed gear v breaks, or pretentious snide remarks almost implying the departed deserved to be hit in some way. What's wrong with you people?
I girl died here. I have lost friends in bike and scooter accidents and have seen how it devastates family, friends and the community at large. Is this really the time to get into semantics, or cynical lectures from those have apparently never made a miscalculation or had a close call on the bike friendly streets of Boston.
Regardless of who's fault it is, or what bike she were riding, or what the technical term is, a 24 year old girl lost her life today and I think before anyone goes offering their condescension, before all the facts come out , no less, they should stop and respect the gravity of the situation.
My thoughts are with her family and friends as well as those of the driver and I hope we can all have the decency to give them some time to mourn.
bingo
bingo
Deserved it?
I don't see a single comment here that suggests the canard that she deserved to die. My comment was that she was not riding intelligently. Eyewitnesses have her riding through that particular intersection from coming down that particular hill (which I'm very familiar with having lived on it for 10 years) through a red light and without a helmet. Those are facts and the simplest conclusion from these facts is that she was not riding intelligently yesterday. That doesn't preclude her from ever riding intelligently, or being a smart and otherwise very amazing person. In the end, she made a costly mistake yesterday.
It should not be considered disrespectful to acknowledge the facts as we learn them. Her friends and family may better be served by sticking to reading and discussing their remembrances of her elsewhere if they don't want to read people discussing the facts of the matter at hand at a local news/aggregator site. They're also welcome to share all of their remembrances as there's plenty of room in the comments for more than just a discussion of the facts. As long as no one is being crass about it or worse, I don't see the compelling reason to stifle a rational discussion of what happened yesterday.
Rational discussion, Kaz?
Reporting the facts as they come in is one thing, casting judgment and adding your own editorial license to those facts is quite another. "She was not riding intelligently." That's your own conclusion, based on access to very few "facts" actually in.
(which I'm very familiar with having lived on it for 10 years): Yep, all about you.
Well
Do you think she was riding intelligently?
That's the point
It doesn't matter what I think. It doesn't matter what you think. The facts you gathered should speak for themselves if you've strung enough of them together. Let them. You're too good let yourself sound this self-important.
Whether or not she was riding intelligently
in your or anyone else's opinion isn't the point. The point is that she's dead. Happy scootering today Kaz!
Well, there is this post....
"brakeless fixed-gear riders deserve anything they get"
Ah
Sorry, I had my anti-Brett screed filter on.
Respect
Please refrain from negative comments and judgements. Remember her family and friends are following this feed and deserve the utmost respect and privacy in their grieving.
Nothing on Wicked Local?
How wicked disappointing...they're usually pretty good about covering stories like this.
On top of that, there have been 3-4 bike-related collisions in and around Brighton/Allston in the past few days and I can't find anything about them in the Globe or anywhere else either.
Globe finally posted something
Shortly after 2 p.m. today.
Meh
That's impressive. Here, you didn't even have to go out and find witnesses and you've already got more details in the comments here than their MetroDesk has after 24 hours.
Did you notice if they wrote something up for the accident over at the Pike exit/entrance?
I am a daily bike commuter,
I am a daily bike commuter, and I always try to observe the rules of the road. I don't even ride to the corner without my helmet. Even if you're doing everything right and drivers are doing everything right, you just can't plan for what might happen, and you're way too fragile on a bike with no helmet on. I just don't know what possesses people to go helmet-less on major Boston roads, much less run a red light while (allegedly) listening to your iPod. How can people think they're so invincible???
Plus now this driver, who it appears was doing absolutely nothing wrong, has to live with the fact that they killed someone. All because people don't want to muss their hair, or take the time to put on their helmet, or don't want to worry about carrying it around, or forgot it.
I'm very sorry she died, and I hope people learn a lesson from this. Wear your helmet ALWAYS, no matter how quick you plan to be or how light the traffic looks. It's like sex without a condom, friends. It only takes one time.
Helmet off for a moment
Yes, there are a lot of crash situations where helmets help - I still have one with a big crack to show the boys every time they start to get indecisive about theirs. I tossed out another that quite literally saved my face in another wreck years later.
I'm not sure a helmet would have mattered here. However, most accidents are not this extreme and sad. The more common situations - dooring, sand skidding, etc. - helmets can make a huge difference.
As the kids across the street say "you always wear your helmet because you never know when you're gonna crash". They started saying this after they saw my younger son take the corner at the bottom of the hill at speed via a road sand moraine and totally spill - he was okay, just scraped up a bit, and I bought him a new helmet.
Excuse me but I don't believe
Excuse me but I don't believe you have any place to make accusations such as the ones you have just presented. She may have not been wearing a helmet and she may have had an iPod in...but by no means are those grounds to speak on her the way you are because no one deserves to die. The facts have not been presented here, including how she passed. But regardless, I think we should all show some consideration and keep any sort of negative opinions to ourselves since, as mentioned above, family and friends of this woman are surely reading every comment. As a witness to this incident from before it even occurred, I want to extend my condolences to her family and friends and let them know that I am deeply, deeply sorry for their loss. If you're reading this, my thoughts are with you in this time of grief.
Ummm... not a negative comment
All he was really saying is that it's a shame, because her odds of surviving would've been a lot higher if she was wearing a helmet.
Frankly, I say kudos to him for his respectful comment, cuz I'm a whole lot less sympathetic over this whole thing.
With all due respect....
...and fully agreeing that people should be as polite and sensitive as possible, pedople here are examining how this sad event could have occurred -- in a situation where the official press has been missing in action. People are going to speculate -- it's one of the reasons this forum exists. (This is not to excuse any "deserve to die" sort of pontification).
Maybe when there's a new
Maybe when there's a new tragedy and people want to talk about issues, which might or might not be relevant to this particular tragedy, they should start a new story for the issues discussion.
Maybe that will help people keep facts and sensitivity straight.
Bullshit, Michael
People are "examining what occurred" and are "going to speculate?" Every commenter on this board who stood up to defend their right to play cub reporter for the day and make someone's tragedy their past-time as they wait for the clock to hit 5 p.m. is completely self-centered and catering to only the prurient interest.
You bring nothing to the discussion by speculating on events you didn't see or chatting up "witnesses" who couldn't even wait to wipe the blood off their hands before firing off a comment on this page. See something? Tell a cop. Be useful. Just making a hunch about a helmet, iPod, fixed-gear bike, single-gear bike? STFU. You're white noise and your hackish play for relevance just makes you look petty.
Want to turn this into your personal PSA for helmets, Mona Mour?! Take your safer-than-thou crap walking. IF the rider wasn't wearing a helmet, I'm sure everyone here has the basic intelligence necessary to draw a lesson from that person's death. We don't need you interjecting just because you haven't flapped your gums in a minute. Michael... Brett... Andrew: Fuck you too. It's your right to come on here and run your mouth as you so often do when bicycle issues arise, but when it's a story where the person dies it STOPS BEING ABOUT YOU. This isn't about what you want or what you think or what you want everyone else to think: This is about a family who lost a loved one, friends who lost a member of their circle, a driver who likely lost a bit of his or herself through no fault of their own and a rider who lost his/her life and will be -- for your purposes -- a white ghost bike at that intersection.
Speculating about this person's death, further aggrieving their loved ones through the bits of two-cent wisdom you so thoughtlessly and breathlessly belch out and second-guessing the rider's decisions are NOT why this comment field is here. Ideally, a comments field is supposed to advance the discussion, to bring the issues addressed to their next logical step and to share those thoughts AS A COMMUNITY. All I'm seeing today is a bunch of biddies who stepped out of the beauty shop just long enough to point and whisper at a dead body and hope it was wearing clean underwear before it breathed its last.
I thank Adam for his reportage, but I'm sickened by the rest of you who choose to play media games like "No Wicked Local" and "*We* Beat the Globe." I pray you never get the call about your husband, wife, son or daughter that someone out there is receiving today.
This. Place has been getting
This.
Place has been getting pretty smug lately.
-
this is the only sensible comment on this horrible, absolutely foul thread.
So...
What would you say about the finger-waggers who have nothing better to do than shake their shame stick at all the "biddies"? We're commenting on the news. You're just commenting on the commenters. Talk about the self pleasure of prurient interests.
Your acrimonious sanctimony is duly noted.
Also, Adam wouldn't have had his reportage without Mike Juergens and I commenting on what we saw that afternoon. So...you're welcome.
Kaz, I love your posts
But this one is wrongheadded. Many of the commenters here weren't "commenting on the news," they were speculating and adding their own editorial take on a woman who's A) Not a public figure B) Died as a result of this incident and C) Left an affected driver, family and group of friends in her wake. That's acting in the prurient interest, not admonishing them for showing so little respect.
"Adam wouldn't have had his reportage without Mike Juergens and I commenting on what we saw that afternoon."
While we appreciate your efforts, this kind of chest-thumping is in poor taste. File your story, go home, wake up, do it again. Pretend you've been there before. That's what a journalist -- professional or citizen -- is supposed to do. Their byline is on the story, but it's NOT ABOUT THEM.
But we didn't say "please"
Nobody asked you for your Tweet, your "reporting," or your opinions, so quit acting all righteous about your efforts to make yourself a loud voice on the Web. And quit pretending that nobody would have covered this had you not taken to the Web so quickly. Also, quit pretending you're a reporter-- you're not.
As for Adam not having the story without you-- really? Are you really that arrogant and dumb at the same time? Other sites which Adam checks also put word of it up, so he would have found it and passed along the news with or without your "help."
The irony is so delicious
I love posts where people tell you that nobody asked for your opinion. Are you really that non-self-aware?
Also, there are three things that make news news: 1) finding a story, 2) getting the story right, and 3) immediacy. They don't call it olds, they call it news. Your nameless "other sites" posted about this incident on August 10th, a day after it happened, at the earliest. Adam was able to post about it on August 9th and people learned that there was information sooner, including the road closure. People have commented on UHub before that they come here first because the local news is quicker and the selection of stories is more interesting. We even had a place for eyewitnesses to come and give accounts because it was up on the 9th and they found their way here.
Try reading
You were getting all pouty that nobody thanked you-- that's what I was commenting on. "They don't call it olds"-- ha! Good one. It's sad that you didn't go into the news business-- chippy little know-it-all interns brighten any newsroom.
Couple of things:
No answer at all to the post regarding how Soxaholix and Get Your War On are very very similar? Nothing? Are you above even responding to that?
And re: Web creepiness, aren't you the one here who introduced the whole practice, at least on UH, of "Glenn Becking" people re: what happened/didn't happen in 1990? Apologies if you were not... but I think you were, or least you piled onto it, so:
Why won't Kaz answer questions about why Soxaholix rips off Get Your War On?
Last word
My self-congratulating comments on having posted the initial items were a sardonic and acerbic response to the anon "sickened" by my desire to see other news outlets pick up on the death of this bicyclist...but at the same time hypocritically willing to thank Adam for posting the news (due in part to my contribution to the community via Twitter). I wasn't actually looking for applause.
I'm not sure what your fixation with me is, oh-so-brave anon. If you want to talk about me or Soxaholix (which I have no control over), start a blog post here at UHub and I'll be sure to answer it. I'm no longer satisfying your craven trolling here in a thread about a recent bike accident just because you want to derail the conversation to make it about me.
"make it about me"
You're just so fascinatingly awful-- that's why. As to making the thread about you, that's a laugh-- you do your best to make every thread about you. As for you having "no control over" Soxaholix, then why do you link to? Aren't there sites for the collected works of Jayson Blair or Stephen Glass?
I would filter out comments
I would filter out comments like that. There is always going to be something in a situation that some will criticize. To focus blame on a specific thing doesn't do justice to what happened, and to extend the argument some are making here, we should just blame her for getting on a bike, because that must be a careless choice to make in Boston. I feel sorry for the people who are saying these things. They have no empathy. As for me, I'm going to get on my bike tomorrow morning like I always do, ride in to work, and try to remember how fragile life can be.
First of all, if you read the
First of all, if you read the comment, it's directed generally at all bikers who don't wear helmets or listen to iPods. There's no "deserves to dies" sentiment anywhere in it. If anything, I'm simply hoping that some good can come out of something so terrible ... that more people put on their helmets. I think her family and friends would be in support of that kind of legacy.
I'm sorry that it appears negative for me to say people should wear helmets. But it's just a fact. People should wear helmets. In 91% of all bicycle fatalities, the cyclist wasn't wearing a helmet. I think this is as good a time as any to remind people of that.
This is a forum for comments, and I stand behind mine.
I think the posts that most bother people....
are Brett's and Andrew's -- not yours (which seemed somber and respectful -- at least to me).
And in...
And in 91% of those fatalities involving helmetless cyclists, how many of those involved motorists?
I wonder
The picture is not very clear but the bike color looks a bit like the woman who almost smashed into me a while back. Right around the same area (so to speak) and the behavior sounds the same. Running red lights, no helmet, not paying attention to what is going on around her.
My heart goes out to the poor woman who must now be blaming her self for the death of this young woman. A woman who would still be alive had she practiced safe cycling.
The picture is not very clear but....
Really, you should have stopped before the "but".
Why?
Why do you feel I should have stopped with the "but" Because I wondered if maybe this senseless death could have been prevented? Because I put some of the blame for this accident on the rider?
It's pretty clear to me that
It's pretty clear to me that you're jumping the gun. You do not have the information to be commenting as you are. Which is irresponsible, not to mention hurtful.
Exactly
The infrastructure in this area is bad enough - poorly aimed lights, etc. - that we don't know what degree of her behavior was involved yet.
We also know that you hate cyclists - oh you cloak it like the right wing cloaks its bigotry in soft language - but it is clear you just want all of us to go away so you won't be bothered to share the road with great sanctimonious pronouncements about how we should do this, that, and some other things regardless of what the laws say.
As I posted elsewhere on the
As I posted elsewhere on the thread, I think (based on my experience at this intersection) that we can rule out poorly-aimed lights as a factor.
I agree that at this point we don't know what the cause was. However, it is *possible* that the cyclist was simply inattentive. We've all seen cyclists blow through red lights without caution. Did that happen in this case? I don't know. But whether or not it did, we should all consider ourselves warned of the possible dire consequences of ignoring red lights, and I don't blame anyone for raising the possibility that that's what happened here.
Fibrowitch...you are out of
Fibrowitch...you are out of line. Senseless death? What do you know? Nothing. The facts of not been presented so I suggest you keep your inconsiderate assumptions to yourself...or at least off of a public blog. Have a heart.
Why?
Why do you feel I should have stopped with the "but" Because I wondered if maybe this senseless death could have been prevented? Because I put some of the blame for this accident on the rider?
Let it go
You're shouting over any message you hoped to send. Think about this situation for a second, consider what your role in it really is, and just walk away. Your helmet comment is noted, but nothing that a reader couldn't have gleaned from the facts presented.
She did not live in the area
She did not live in the area 'a while back' so different biker, same you.
One time
I was almost hit by a car in this area. Pulled out of a parking spot, no signal, not even a look back.
You mentioned that you are in this area, and that you drive. You should be more careful next time!!
See how easy it is?
You know, I can't be sure,
You know, I can't be sure, but I was almost hit by a car the other day. It was a different part of town, but definitely a car, probably the same guy.
Did the car have 4 wheels?
If so, it probably is the same. Especially if the license plate either had a random set of alphanumerics, or a cutesy vanity word.
Me too!
I was proceeding through a green light when I was nearly run down by a maniac leaning on his horn as he plowed through a red light at high speed.
Except that arshole also nearly clipped the cop that was right behind me, and the cop decided to put her sirens and lights on and bang a right for some reason ... like, to hassle a perfect motorist that nearly plowed a bike that got in his way!
Cyclists should be more careful - NEVER head across an empty intersection with otherwise stopped traffic on a green light. You could get yourself killed getting in the way of a masshole!
Heh, that's too much
Heh, that's too much coincidence. What happened to me is that the car drove past me, then slammed into reverse to back into a driveway that happened to be next to my location. I swerved out of the way, then saw the cop that the driver had also not seen. The cop was perfectly positioned to see the whole thing. Flbrowitch, what kind of ticket did you get?
Update
Some people need to be more sensitive. Shame on you. Think before you type.
She was a daughter, a friend, a coach, an athlete and an amazing women.
http://www.smith.edu/news/2009-10/pineda-216.php.
I have started a new blog for
I have started a new blog for this woman. For all who wish to comment positively and regretfully you may do so on that. This blog is getting to be extremely inappropriate and I think it should stop now. Look for my blog and feel free to send your condolences. Maybe family and friends will come across it and find a bit of peace...
What's the URL?
What's the URL?
UHub blog
Small site. You've probably never heard of it.
I am new to UniversalHub. I
I am new to UniversalHub. I joined because it was the only place I could find anything on the accident yesterday morning. This is a great site, though, and hope to post more in the future.
Don't worry
You posted your blog post exactly where it is intended. I was just razzing Adam a bit that it was on his own site when he asked you where you posted it.
Welcome to UHub.
Marlene was my sisters best
Marlene was my sisters best friend. This is absolutely horrific. She was the sweetest most hard working individual I ever had the pleasure of meeting.