Riverway van crash kills elderly woman from Somerville
![Crashed handicap-transport van on the side of the Riverway](https://www.universalhub.com/files/styles/main_image/public/images/2023/vehicledown.jpg?itok=081cnG1f)
State Police report a woman in a wheelchair died Monday afternoon after the driver of the van she was in veered off the Riverway and into a tree at the intersection with Longwood Avenue.
State Police say the woman, 71 and from Somerville, was in her wheelchair inside the van at the time. The driver, 39, also suffered serious injuries in the 3:45 p.m. crash. Both were taken to nearby hospitals; the woman died, the man is expected to survive.
The reason for the crash remains under investigation, State Police say, adding, however, that no other vehicles appeared to have been involved.
It's at least the second serious crash on the curving section of the Riverway and Jamaicaway since April.
Ad:
Comments
Couple of things …
1) The Twitter person who posted this is probably not State Police reporting (that may be, but isn't what is linked).
2) "windy outbound section of the Riverway and Jamaicaway since April."
Given the location of that electrical box and the angle of the car, it seems that it was probably traveling inbound, although maybe it hit some other vehicle and spun around.
Given the heavy use of the crosswalk there to get from the T stop to Longwood, it probably could have been worse.
Also, I hope whoever wrote
Also, I hope whoever wrote that about that part of the Riverway being "windy' isn't trying to make excuses. If the road is very curvy and crowded, that means people should be careful and slow down.
No
Wrote that to let people know which particular stretch of the parkway it was (also changed "windy" to "curving" since there are two different ways to pronounce "windy" and wind isn't an issue there).
Couple of things...
@Ari O
I assume you're not local if you haven't seen all of the informative news posts, along with good comic relief in others, from @adamg on Universal Hub. I, along with numerous followers, would give a little leeway to @adamg. He's all over Boston and surrounding towns getting the best info, typically before anyone else posts about an event. I've called on him with DYK what's happening requests a few times and he's always available.
Let me check to see if my spelling is always correct. Oops, nope! I received directions to a family party that directed us to a "windy" road and after telling the host politely that its correct spelling is "winding", we all had a laugh.
@Ari O, have a wonderful rest of the day, as I'm sure @adamg will! At least, maybe, he'll get a good laugh over this one.
Thanks!
Corrections made.
Yikes
Okay well if we are going to lob ad hominems:
[I feel like I am a NIMBY at a bike lane/affordable housing meeting, ick.]
But if you have been reading UHub for a while, you know that Adam covers everything as best as he can, but that quite often people add information in the comments, fix links, etc. For instance, he may have meant to link a MSP report and instead linked the photos. Both are useful to the general public, so what I'm saying here is "hey, if you meant to link x, you maybe put in the wrong link." When it's just an html tag, I'll often send a link about that. In this case, it seemed that it might be pertinent to the story.
And then in the second comment, I'm pointing out to Adam that the way he wrote it initially might be confusing. I'm sure he doesn't appreciate that, because he went back and change it from "windy" to "curving" … oh but then also took out the outbound reference. So, IDK. Maybe he'd appreciate if people didn't tell him when his posts weren't as clear as they could be and we'd all have an inferior product. But for now, I'll keep posting stuff like this. How rude of me!
Link fixed
The State Police link now actually brings up the State Police link. I guess I just didn't hit control hard enough when copying the link after pasting the link for the photo caption.
As you'll see at that link, State Police were thinking no other vehicle was involved in the crash.
Terrible
That’s so sad to have someone’s life in your hands and drop the ball. GOD rest her soul.
IMO, one of the best things about UHub...
...is the community of contributors that Adam attracts, including Ari O. So much wisdom, wit, and Boston-centric experience in one place! Yes, there are a few, shall we say, eccentric voices, but the outright trolls seem to be vanquished eventually by our remarkably patient host.
So, 71 is elderly....
Ugh
That’s all that bothers you about this post?
Yours and several other posts seem to brush aside the fact that this woman died a horrible death and just use it to complain about other issues.
As for the age of what is elderly, some organizations define near elderly as 55 to 62 and 62 on as elderly. Maybe at one time the word elderly had connotations of wisdom and other positive attributes. But yeah, it’s outdated now. We keep coming up with new euphemisms to hide our fear of old age like “senior”. Now we can accuse people of ageism. Rightfully so. But the fact remains, we are all mortal.
And before I forget this poor woman myself, what a terrible thing for anyone who loved her. I hope she didn't suffer.
I wonder which of the many dangers of road travel, speeders, texters, poor road design, etc contributed to her death.
Actually, no
Yes, it's a terrible tragedy. Condolences to family and friends, having someone they love die so early in life.
So, am I supposed to pour out every emotion I have to every post here? I should spend 5 minutes, 10, 30, or more coming up with just the right words? You are assuming that because I didn't say something, I was feeling something else?
No wonder Costello thinks you're a dick.
You’re absolutely right.
I have no business telling you or any of the above commenters to express condolences. It has been done to me too and it’s obnoxious.
« dick « is sexist. I prefer
« dick « is sexist. I prefer to be called an asshole.