Hey, there! Log in / Register
Jamaica Plain motorcyclist dies in crash on VFW Parkway
By adamg on Mon, 04/03/2017 - 9:28am
Crash scene. Photo by Brookline PD.
State Police report Michael Donlin, 35, of Jamaica Plain, died around 7:45 a.m. on VFW Parkway at South Street in Brookline when he drove into a car making a turn there:
Preliminary investigation by Trooper Michael Szymanski indicates that a 2012 Mazda 5 was turning left onto South Street from the VFW Parkway (northbound side) when it was struck by a 2005 Yamaha FZ6S which was traveling on the VFW southbound.
The driver of the car, a 53-year-old woman from West Roxbury, was taken to Faulkner Hospital for care, State Police say, adding no charges have been brought at this time.
Boston, Brookline and State Police all responded to the scene because of its location on a state road on the Boston/Brookline line. Boston and Brookline emergency medical crews also responded.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
A rare call for Brookline PD,
A rare call for Brookline PD, as the only about 1000' of the VFW is in the town. (Curiously that's also about how much of the Pike they have, due to the unjust theft of Fenway and the riverfront)
Sounds More Like The Car Turning Left Drove Into The Motorcycle
#1 cause of fatalities in
#1 cause of fatalities in accidents between cars and motorcycles. Scares the hell out of me every time I ride. People just don't see us, though high viz gear helps some.
EVERYONE, PLEASE ACTIVELY CHECK FOR ONCOMING MOTORCYCLES BEFORE TURNING LEFT!!!
Isn't there a stoplight there
Most of them have left arrows. Can't place this intersection though
Yes
Someone must have been going on red.
Not necessarily. Google maps
Not necessarily. Google maps shows that there is an arrow on a pole at the left lane, but you can clearly see that the arrow is not lit all the time (ie dark, neither green nor red). The light above the street itself has just red, yellow, and green. No arrows. So you can have a green light with no arrow. The car driver may very well have made a left turn with the green light, not seeing an oncoming motorcycle who could also have a green light.
(edit, removed google map link, Elmer's below is better than my crazy formatted link)
Left Turning Traffic At That Intersection Must Yield
There are many problems with this intersection — the Google StreetView shows the signal status as I imagine it appeared to the woman driving the car. Though it appears to have a protected left-turn phase, it also has this status where turning vehicles don't have the right-of-way.
In addition, the very wide median is filled with trees that obstruct the view of oncoming traffic. Because there's no left-turn lane, cars wanting to turn left are forced into the middle of the intersection at an angle where their view is obstructed even more.
There should be a dedicated left-turn lane where cars may safely queue, and a corresponding red-left-arrow phase to keep them there. Allowing cars to turn left from the through traffic lane just encourages people to turn when it isn't safe. There's not even a "Left Turn Yield on Green Ball" reminder sign.
Too narrow at the intersections
They do have left-turn lanes at some of the intersections further west. The problem with those is they are created by shifting the travel lanes right and disappearing the bike lane just as it approaches the intersections.
There are signs indicating bikes can take the right lane but those have as much effect as you would expect and it usually comes down to a game of chicken.
Carving left-turn lanes out of the median would be the way to go, and would be nice for cyclists and motorcycles too. We don't like being stopped in the left travel lane waiting to turn, hoping nobody drives into us while playing with their phone.
I'll second this. Usually I
I'll second this. Usually I get annoyed when they go overboard with unnecessary red arrows (hello Kendall Square!), but in this case there is no red arrow but there really should be one.
Saw Accident
I drive through this intersection everyday and it's a dangerous one, especially at rush hour. I came upon this accident a couple minutes after it happened and saw them performing CPR on the guy. The left turn arrow lasts about 5 seconds and then you have to watch for oncoming traffic as you try to make the left turn. And everyone speeds on the VFW, making this even more difficult. They need to make a longer left turn signal, and/or add a left turn lane and make it a red arrow when oncoming traffic has the right of way. People also almost always run the light as it's turning red. The people trying to turn left run it as it's turning red, while oncoming traffic does the same. A recipe for disaster.
exactly
"Sounds More Like The Car Turning Left Drove Into The Motorcycle" is right. . .
. . . "when he drove into a car making a turn there" is a pretty unfair thing to say about a guy who's dead because of a careless driver. . . rarely do the left-turning cars have the right of way.
The State Police say he drove
The State Police say he drove into the car. Sounds pretty cut and dry. It was a tragic accident no doubt but don't start a witch hunt on the driver when the report states otherwise.
Not so cut and dry. It's very
Not so cut and dry. It's very common for the car driver to make the left in front of the motorcycle because they didn't see them coming - either because of an actual obstruction or because of inattentional blindness/situational blindness. The motorcycle rider, having very little time to react and possibly nowhere to go, then t-bones the car. Happens all the time. So yeah, the bike may have hit the car, but in such a situation it's the car driver who is at fault. Maybe that's what happened here, maybe not. But it's entirely possible. It's the most common type of motorcycle-car accident.
I understand that it is
I understand that it is common for a driver to not see I motorcycle and accidents occurring but I don't think the State Police would report something without investigating it first, they don't just make things up without evidence. To blame the driver without any regards to the State Police report is creating alternative facts.
State Police: Crash Remains Under Investigation
Unless the Mazda had a green left-turn-arrow, and the Yamaha ran a red light, the driver of the car turning left is clearly at fault.
There've been no reports of the motorcycle running a red light. I'm sure as part of their investigation, the State Police will try to ascertain the status of the traffic signals at the time of the collision. Since they've offered not even a suggestion the motorcycle may have run a red light, there's no reason to suspect he did.
The motorcycle struck the
The motorcycle struck the vehicle. The vehicle did not strike the motorcycle. Case closed.
So you're saying it's ok to
So you're saying it's ok to cut someone off, and if they hit you it's their fault. Even if they had a green light. Case closed. Right?
The Driver Who Failed Their Requirement To Yield Is At Fault
( if you don't understand that concept, I hope you don't drive )
How is that "case closed"?
How could that possibly be 'case closed'? Let's say you're driving through an intersection, at a safe and legal speed, with the light, and a car on the cross street, going twice the legal speed limit, runs the red light. With your quick reflexes, you slam on the brakes, which means that, instead of him t-boning you in your driver's door, you t-bone him in his passenger side door.
You seriously gonna call that 'case closed, you hit him?"
I'm sure
I've heard more ignorant statements,I just can't remember when.
The State Police say he drove
Is there some aspect of the words "Preliminary investigation" that aren't clear to you?
Not so. I saw it.
Not so. I saw it.
What Did You See? — What Was The Status Of The Traffic Signals?
your posting re - accident on April 3
Hi there,
You said you saw the accident, would you please tell me what you saw?
Thank you,
Marisa
This light allows you to turn
This light allows you to turn left after the left arrow disappears because there is no dedicated left turn lane for cars to wait in. The left arrow is pretty short. If you're stopped and late off the line you'll miss it. If you're in the middle of the green light you are allowed to turn left but are supposed to yield to oncoming traffic. Visibility can be a bit difficult due to the trees.
To add, I drive this stretch
To add, I drive this stretch every day and it's rare for anyone to be driving the speed limit. Usually I encounter traffic going 40-50mph there.
It's a seemingly safe stretch of road but even that nearby rotary for example has poor sight lines, no lane markings and a lot of people going really fast especially during rush hour.
I drive this stretch of road
I drive this stretch of road on the morning commute, southbound in the morning and northbound in evening.
The leading paragraph of this article seems a little misdirecting of fault. Article writer ought to reconsider the implication of the language here. Not knowing obviously the details of the crash, it's hard to imagine a scenario wherein the left-turning northbound car had the right of way (unless they had the green arrow and motorcycle ran a red light), so it seems to me that the car hit the motorcyclist, not the other way around. But again, I don't know the details.
I'll echo what others have said in that cars traveling on VFW Parkway rarely go the speed limit during the commute, especially if they're southbound and gunning it coming out of the rotary this is the first intersection they hit. However, at this intersection I see people try to squeak in quick left turns from the northbound lane all the time (assuming they have missed the very brief left arrow).
As I'm looking at a map now VFW Parkway looks fairly east-west at that point; I'm wondering if sun may have played a factor at that time of day. Plus at this time of year people aren't necessarily looking out for motorcycles. All speculation of course on contributing factors.
Hate to see this happen on an early nice spring day. My heart goes out to the family of the young man killed. Terrible.
All drivers out there: motorcycle season has started, keep an eye out for them, and for god's sake don't text and drive.
All drivers out there:
All drivers out there: motorcycle season has started, keep an eye out for them, and for god's sake don't text and drive.
THIS.
AGAIN
All drivers out there: motorcycle season has started, keep an eye out for them, and for god's sake don't text and drive.
THIS.. AGAIN.
I drive this road on my
I drive this road on my motorcycle everyday when weather is good and I did have an issue once at this intersection. The direction and details were exactly the same with a person taking a left from the NB side in front of me. No accident happened. At first I thought the person was a jerk cause I could tell they saw me and still cut in front of me but then I realized my directional was on. I had just changed into the left lane after the rotary and right before the intersection. The person thought I was also taking a left. Most motorcycle turn signals do not auto cancel it is manual and sometimes you can forget to shut them off. I wanted to share my experience because most people assume they didn't see the motorcycle or they cut them off but there could be another side .I feel bad for everyone involved in this tragic accident.
Please be respectful
We don't know what happened or who is at fault, please be respectful for the family. He has a wife and two little kids.