Hey, there! Log in / Register
Bicyclist seriously injured in South Brookline crash
By adamg on Tue, 11/19/2019 - 9:24am
NECN reports the crash happened on Newton Street, off Allandale Street, in an incident serious enough to close off the road for an accident-reconstruction team to be called in. This led to cascading traffic delays across parkways in the area.
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
Why is neutral tone so difficult for journalists?
Seriously, the brookline police are not sure if cyclist hit a car with force?
Speaking as a reporter here ...
It's possible what happened was whoever wrote that knew at the time that a bicyclist had been seriously injured but did not know how.
A bicyclist has been
A bicyclist has been seriously injured on Newton Street in Brookline. It is unclear what caused the injuries. Or it is unclear whether other vehicles were involved.
One Sunday I came upon a cyclist lying on Mass Ave. The ambulance was already there. I asked what happened and my friend that happened to live there said they thought it was a heart attack. I do realize that other things cause injuries. However, it is frustrating when they suggest the cyclist might have hit a vehicle while admitting they know nothing is the same sentence. It illustrates the bias against anything non-motor vehicle which is literally killing more people every year.
It IS clear that another vehicle was involved
The story - perhaps a later update - said that the driver of the car that was involved had stopped and was being helpful.
Chances are that the car hit the bike, as opposed to the other way around. I ride by that spot just about every day (including today.) Where the bike was sitting in the photo, there is a decent shoulder that is OK for biking. A few yards later, the road narrows and there is no shoulder. I'm not sure what happened, but I was somewhat reassured by the fact that the bike wasn't noticeably mangled.
https://www.boston25news.com
https://www.boston25news.com/news/bicyclist-in-serious-condition-after-b...
It took me a while to find fox25's story, the NECN story hasn't changed.
Based on the photo, the bike
Based on the photo, the bike itself looks to be in good condition for having been involved in a serious injury, so maybe it's that the cyclist was run off the road or some other form of vehicle aggression other than an actual collision.
There can easily be serious
There can easily be serious injury with barely a scratch on the bike. One hypothetical - skid, wheels go out from under the cyclist, head injury.
Single vehicle incidents
These do happen.
Sometimes they are caused by road conditions, sometimes they just happen.
My two worst and only serious injury wrecks as an adult fall into this category. One involved a poorly maintained railroad crossing. The other resulted from my wheel catching in a place where pavement over old rails chunked out.
wait a minute
There is no information here indicating that the automobile driver was in anyway at fault. Also bicycle us are just as capable as automobile drivers at engaging in aggressive behavior.
I hope the person will be OK. I lost a dear friend to a head injury in a bicycle crash with no vehicle involved. Just him on a country road .
check the fox25 story
It states that a motor vehicle struck the cyclist. I would respectfully disagree that cyclist are just as capable as automobile drivers at engaging in aggressive behavior. Aggressive is a subjective description, but data certainly doesn't back up finding cyclists equally at fault in crashes.
Watch traffic for a while on
Watch traffic for a while on just about any road in the city. Cyclists demonstrate aggressive behavior at least as frequently as automobile drivers - running stops, running red lights, lane changes & turns without signalling, wrong-way, insufficient lighting/reflectors, dangerous passing... Quite frequently more aggressive - probably due to the illusion/delusion of being nimble and able to fit in spots.
That's not a defense of the virtues of the stereotypical or even average Masshole driver, by the way - it's saying the cyclists (who come out of the same pool) are at least as bad.
Cyclists are more vulnerable to the consequences of aggression - whether their own or motorists'.
And who kills?
Motorists kill.
there's this thing
Called physics. Good read.
Yes, it's true: in a physical collision between
an automobile and a cyclist, the cyclist is going to bear the brunt of the damage -- all too often fatally.
So, a logical person would assume that given this reality, the cyclist would want to be extra cautious, because the consequences are so much worse for them no matter who is at fault.
But we don't live in a city of logical people. We live in Boston, where people believe they should be able to do anything they want at any time and someone else is always to blame.
Dishonest.
Cyclist behavior has little or no effect on whether a car hits a cyclist. The most common type of crash is hitting a cyclist from behind.
https://www.chapelhillopendata.org/explore/dataset/bicycle-crash-data-ch...
https://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Transportation/gettingaroundcambridge/bi...
where do you get that
I see nothing like that in the NC link and the Cambridge link says rear end collisions are only 4% of crashes. Mostly dooring and "angling".
Cyclists are often at fault. I've personally witnessed or know of 5 at least accidents caused by cyclists taking illegal action - and I don't know that many people that bike.
Mostly this resulted in more injury to the cyclist than the other party - with one exception (bike going the wrong way hit a pedestrian and smashed in her face when she hit the sidewalk),
In the NC link, Cause of
In the NC link, Cause of incident = top reason is Motorist overtakes cyclist.
that doesn't mean they plow them down
Sideswipe, overtaking and turning right.
I'm sure it happens - but if you can see a cyclist, you usually avoid them. It's the ones you don't see that are the problem (no lights, wrong way down the street, and more)
Do you avoid them?
All the things that you Describe are the motorist responsibility.
Two way street
Most accidents I've heard of where the motorist is at fault don't involve deliberately unsafe or illegal actions. Usually a matter of not seeingbthe cyclist. There are exceptions of course.
Can't say the same for the cyclists I've seen at fault.
nonresponsive
Again records show that motorists are almost always at fault.
That may be entirely true
But nobody (well maybe save for a couple of total whack jobs) is mowing down cyclists.
The accidents happen because you don't see them. Perhaps you SHOULD see them, but, we are human and we make mistakes.
Preventable mistakes are not accidents
Infrastructure and responsible drivers can stop these crashes.
Nope
We are not robots - we can always be better - but we only have 2 eyes and one brain and everyone gets distracted, misses things etc. You can be looking RIGHT at a cyclist - or a pedestrian or another car and not process the info correctly and hit that person/object.
some accidents you can prevent - not all no matter how responsible the driver (it's why even good drivers need insurance).
and as I've mentioned - cyclists are often at fault as much as the driver - look around - cyclists with no lights at night/dusk, going the wrong way, riding on sidewalks, blowing through red lights and stop signs like they aren't even there. The one advantage cyclists have is physics they can stop and turn faster.
Low standards or dishonest?
According to records cyclists are not at fault. Protective infrastructure will keep drivers from hitting pedestrians and cyclists.
Your attitude is deadly. As long as people like you ignore facts, and pretend that crashes are inevitable, innocent people will die.
55-45
Slightly more caused by drivers than cyclists.
https://www.bikeattorney.com/bike-accident-common-causes.html
Infrastructure in a city like this can be costly, unsightly or simply consume too much space.
Not saying we can't improve -but with 45% of accidents caused by cyclists (and this doesn't include cyclist on pedestrian which is almost always cyclist - note it's the larger faster moving object that is harder to control - basic physics.
Personally I just don't think we need or should have bikes east of Mass Ave - too dangerous for everyone - and if you are stupid enough to ride downtown, go ahead and roll the dice. You may not be at fault, but it won't matter if you are laying in the hospital or worse.
Much better ways to get around the downtown area. Uber/Lyft, feet, MBTA etc.
You misrepresented the
You misrepresented the statistics in your article. I don't if you lied or don't understand math. Infrastructure is going into many areas and it is beautiful. How much should saving lives cost?
Disagree
First you have to pick a definition of aggressive. You can flout traffic laws without being aggressive.
The definition is behaving in an angry and violent way towards another person. That would be cutting people off, with or without signaling. Just because you signal a lane change, doesn't create room for a safe lane change. Inching your car into oncoming traffic at a left or from a side street so that traffic has to stop for you. Firing off a left turn when the light green without an arrow. Taking a left turn after the yellow and red light. Blocking the box. Running a red light because you pretend it is yellow.
While your methodology is also disqualifying, it also lumps a bunch of careless acts into aggressive. I am not sure how a bicycle can be aggressive with a car just because it much slower. Bicyclists are not aggressive with each other as you describe. It seems that you believe it is aggressive for a cyclist to pass you.
that’s because
Crashes where bicyclists run into pedestrians are not reported on the news, nor is data being collected on these incidents. They happen pretty often in my neighborhood.
Citations needed.
Citations needed.
my personal experiences
I’ve been hit by bicycles going the wrong way down a one-way street three different times, and I barely saved an octogenarian neighbor friend from crashing into the sidewalk ever been hit by a pedi cab that was riding on the sidewalk completely oblivious to the well-being of the pedestrians. Here’s the issue. If I get hit by a bicyclist and it costs me my livelihood because they break my shoulder they are almost certainly uninsured, which means I am screwed.
If bicyclists want to full reign of the roads just like automobile drivers have, then they should be required to be insured.
The math isn’t difficult on this one people!
?
So you failed to report any of these 5 crimes? I don't find that credible.
seriously?
Do you seriously think that the Boston police are going to respond to that situation with the bicycles is long gone with no identifying plates on the bike?
that’s risible
Cinna -
If the cyclist does not stay around, what is the police gonna do? I have had many close calls by zealous cyclists as well as clueless and distracted drivers. We are all in this together.
do you have any evidence?
So unless you're 100% sure that the assailant will be captured you don't report anything to the police?
Does your fancy phone have a camera? A dash cam is $25. or maybe proof isn't what you want.
Turnabout
So, when the BU student bounded through the traffic waiting at a red light at Blandford the other night, but reached the bike lane just as the light went green and I started accelerating again only 10 feet away...so I slammed on my brakes and attempted to dodge her and fell into a parked car and just barely skimmed her elbow...
Do you think she was insured to be jumping out from between stopped cars if I'd gone over my handlebars and "cost me my livelihood"?
Turnabout being fair play and all...
It's sad that the cyclist in question was killed by a car, but
Fenway Crank does have a point when he says that cyclists, too, have engaged in aggressive, irresponsible behavior. I, too, have seen many cyclists run red lights and STOP signs, weave in and out of traffic, and ride on the wrong side of the road, and the wrong way down one-way streets. A bicycle is also a vehicle, and therefore a cyclist is subject to the rules of the road, just as much as a car, truck or other vehicles are.
Is this victim dead?
I can't see any news about the condition of the cyclist that was hit by the car in Brookline. But you don't seem too sad. There is no evidence that the cyclist caused this crash. There is also no evidence that cyclists break more traffic laws than motorists.
WTF?
Are you implying that they deserved it because some cyclists don't follow the rules of the road? That's dark.
It wouldn't be UHub without
It wouldn't be UHub without this!
mplo doesn't think that anyone deserves to die
But she consistently insists that criticizing dead and injured people's hypothetical actions without any evidence is just promoting common sense!
Always disturbing when a
Always disturbing when a human being is hit by a car. Here's wishing a full and speedy recovery.
I have let a couple drivers
I have let a couple drivers not get a citation or additional points on their insurance.
None involved significant injuries or I would have reported it.
Only because they realized THEY were completely at fault.
Or were convincing at saying so.
Usually just not looking or distracted.
That said, my worst crash was caused by road conditions. The bike was fine, I broke a collarbone.
Many drivers are clueless and don't drive defensively or with alertness.
That's exceedingly dumb in a crowded city while operating heavy machinery.
But what are you going to do?
Retake and pay for a road test at each license renewal?
Okay!