Stroller, van and car at the scene. Photo by Eileen Murphy.
Update: Victim identified as Colin Thomas McGrath, 2, of South Boston..
WBZ reports two young children in a stroller were hit by a vehicle in a crash at L and East 6th streets around 3:40 this afternoon.
One child, 2, died. The second, 4, was injured, but survived.
The BPD homicide and fatal-accident teams are investigating whether the driver of a van heading north on L hit a Hyundai whose driver may have ignored a stop sign on East 6th eastbound - sending the van onto the sidewalk on front of the Foley Apartments and hitting a woman and the two children.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!
Ad:
Comments
"Cars are...ahh...gonna hit you"
By eherot
Wed, 07/25/2018 - 9:42pm
So does that mean this neighborhood will get priority in the mayor's list of favored places to receive "slow streets" treatment? And does that mean that the streets in my neighborhood (which have the exact same problem) will have to wait even longer?
Here's a crazy idea: Throw some real resources at this problem and add traffic calming to EVERY street in Boston THIS YEAR.
Traffic violations are the BPD's deadly blind spot.
By rb
Wed, 07/25/2018 - 11:08pm
Everyone on this thread seems to agree, so why does nothing change?
I've not experienced this issue in other places where I've spent a lot of time -- Somerville, Cambridge, NYC, even Memphis. BPD makes a point to look the other way, and drivers know that they'll get away with almost every bad decision they make.
Sincere condolences to the friends and family of the children impacted by today's accident.
For sure
By anonamizzle
Thu, 07/26/2018 - 10:59am
I drive once a week usually. My route takes me through Boston, then Brookline, then Boston.
In Boston, people drive however the fuck they want. It's totally fine, if someone is driving slower or more hesitantly than you would like, to go flying around them where there isn't a lane. Stop signs and red lights are a suggestion. Police officers who see these sorts of things don't act upon them. When I've called in and told the city I witnessed an officer do nothing about something that could have killed people, I'm told the officers have more important things to do, like deal with robberies, murders, or sitting in their cars because there's construction nearby.
In Brookline, there are officers stationed during peak travel periods at intersections to make sure no one blocks the intersection. There are officers at school and work start/stop times to make sure no one parks unsafely. There are frequent speed traps set up to ticket drivers who are driving perfectly safely 5-10 mph over the speed limit on arterial roads. There are officers stopping cyclists who carefully ride across intersections using the pedestrian signal rather than getting off their bikes to walk them.
Maybe Boston could aim for something somewhere in between these two extremes?
Take insurance lobbyists out of traffic tickets
By O-FISH-L
Thu, 07/26/2018 - 12:04am
One of the main reasons few fines are written is that police don't want to be revenue agents for insurance companies who currently profit off tickets. The courts have supported officer discretion in giving warnings, verbal or written so that is what often happens. Get the insurance lobbyists out of the mix while allowing insurance companies to decide who they want to insure, one or two tickets a year vs. ten a year but not profit on each ticket.
I will defer to Pete Nice but BPD could bring back the dedicated traffic car in each district or high risk area. Your neighborhood patrol car isn't going to get into anything but the most egregious traffic violations, too busy. As for Day Boulevard, State Police are often running one trooper on the desk and two or three on the road from the tunnels to the Braintree split, including the beaches and parks. Better chance of hitting Megamillions than getting a ticket. At one point the Registry Police and State Police had a "55 team" (speed limit 55) that focused only on traffic violations but now more focused on transgender rights and other PC units. Little enforcement.
WTF?
By anon
Thu, 07/26/2018 - 9:09am
Insurance companies SHOULD profit off tickets.
Don't want a surcharge - follow the rules!
Funny how you like the whole "follow the rules" thing when talking about black people.
.
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 07/26/2018 - 9:40am
.
BULLSHIT ^100
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 07/26/2018 - 9:40am
What a waste of neurotransmitters that was.
I don't think they are worried about insurance companies so much
By Pete Nice
Thu, 07/26/2018 - 9:44am
But here are some of my thoughts:
First there are still traffic cars in most districts, and they have all sorts of analysts, charts, maps, studies, etc where they make cars go to specific areas for 'hot spot" enforcement. Most of these "hot spots" are not dangerous areas where people get killed, but areas where people are rear ending each other in heavy traffic because they are texting. I'm not privy to a lot of this information but I guarantee East 6th and L St are not on any hot spot radar, or any sort of complaint areas (where police also respond).
Second is that a lot of these spots are simply not great spots to "pull cars over". The logistics of car stops is something that is difficult to explain, but in order to issue a ticket, you need to see the violation, pull the car over on foot or in your vehicle (meaning you need to position yourself and your vehicle in a certain area), make sure the location where the vehicle is pulled over is safe, not blocking traffic, etc.
Related to the 2nd point, when an officer shows up to that complaint area, people stop breaking the law because they either see the cop, or get flashed/warned by other drivers.
3rd is basically the outrage for the lack of enforcement on this page is not reflected in the complaints received in each district. I bet anything that if 2-3 separate people call about a specific traffic complaint there will be a police response to that complaint.
A distant fourth is this Ferguson Effect where officers are simply doing less work because they are afraid of being called a racist and supervisors aren't really pressing them on this issue. The number of citations dropped statewide almost 50% I believe over the last 10 years.
And it is the opposite regarding the most egregious traffic violations. I could go to 1000 Centre St. by the Faulkner Hospital and get about 15 speeding citations an hour. I could stand at L St. and East 6th and probably get 5 a day (3 of them would be BS rolling stop signs). It looks like I'm doing more work on Centre St. because I'm getting more citations and I'm visible.
My heart breaks
By LeslieOlson
Mon, 07/30/2018 - 8:50am
Hello
My heart breaks for the parents, family,extended family of this beautiful little boy. I am retired navy veteran and lived in South Boston when I did a tour of duty at Naval Air Station . I love south boston and am in south boston frequently. Your little boy will be your guardian angel and watch over you and the community of south boston forever. Again my deepest sympathy.
Pages
Add comment