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Bicyclist killed when truck driver tries to make turn at same time as her in Harvard Square, police say
By adamg on Fri, 06/07/2024 - 7:44pm
A Florida woman on a bicycle turning from Mt. Auburn Street onto DeWolfe Street in Harvard Square around 4:30 p.m. died when hit by a box truck whose driver was going in the same direction but then decided to make a turn, Cambridge Police and the Middlesex County District Attorney's office say.
The woman, 55, was taken to Cambridge Hospital after the 4:30 p.m. crash, where she was pronounced dead, officials say, adding the truck driver remained on scene.
Authorities say local and State Police are continuing to investigate the crash.
More details and background by Cambridge Day.
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Comments
Looks like a human mistake.
Looks like a human mistake. The infrastructure is not to blame. It is a well designed and marked intersection where cars can turn right only on green arrow.
I bike and drive this
I bike and drive this intersection, was last through it last night (Thurs evening) on a BlueBike.
I will be interested to hear more about what the truck did, where the biker was, etc. Hopefully, there is video.
Regardless of the specifics on this crash -- There absolutely is an infrastructure problem here. The bike lane goes straight, with cars getting a right turn lane that crosses over the bike lane. There's a bike signal, but the signaling is pretty confusing to me. And I bike it regularly, and am a comfortable/reasonably confident biker. And yes, I drive a car too - and think this intersection is dangerous when I drive it.
Why are we writing it off as a mistake?
This is a classic “right hook” collision that has killed many cyclists before. Did the driver turn right on red when they weren’t supposed to? Did the cyclist ignore the green arrow and proceed forward? (I’m a cyclist who admittedly runs reds when it’s safe to do so.) Instead of writing it off as a “mistake” let’s find out what happened and make sure it never happens again.
This
The truck should have yielded to the cyclist before turning right. its negligence.
Yes, probably, with some potential caveats
1) It's possible the bicycle saw the truck in the straight through lane, no cars in the right lane, and figured "the truck is going straight, so am I, I can keep going." You can do this legally if you shift over to the left lane; I've done this when there are cars turning right. Basically you "turn into a car" and use the car signal. The logical next step is "well there are no right turning cars, why should I bother swinging left to then swing right to comply with the letter of the law" and the answer is "what if the truck turns right?"
2) That said, a right-turning truck should not be traveling in the left lane. There's no way to make a wide right turn there without going at least somewhat to the left given how narrow the street is they are turning onto. Taking a right from the left lane would be a marked lane violation, and the layout of the street should make it possible to take a right from the right turn lane. If the truck was in the right turn lane and the bike passed it, well, I don't know what to say about that.
3) I'd also be interested in the destination of that truck. DeWolfe Street goes down into Harvard's River Dorms and then Memorial Drive. It's not marked no trucks, but probably should be. But unless the truck was making a local delivery, what was it doing going down there?
The two bike lanes (straight
The two bike lanes (straight and left turn) are like a whole car lane there so no need for a truck to swing left in order take a right turn from a right turn lane.
Someone went against their red light here.
No need for it …
Does not mean that it didn't happen.
Yes, likely someone ran a red there. And we've done the right thing by signal separating this (as we've done where there was a similar right-hook coming off the Harvard Bridge on the Boston side). Signals have this flaw, though, which is that they don't keep people from running them.
Signals could be better here - bike light is in line with crossw
The bike light here is off to the side, in line with the crosswalk. The light directly over the bike lane is probably meant for cars, but how does one know that? Why not have the bike lights over the bike lane, and the car lights over the car lane, and the pedestrian lights in line with teh crosswalk?
Yes, agreed. This
Yes, agreed. This infrastructure is not intuitive for the bike lane at the intersection. I bike it (and drive it too).
The other thing that stands out is that as a biker, there are just a small handful of signalized intersections that have a bike signal. Until these are much more common (universal), it can be very challenging for novices or even routine cyclists to parse which signal to look at -- and especially so when it is not lined up directly with the bike lane.
Somebody needs to leave their armchair
And actually *gasp* go into the city on a bike and learn some shit before running their keyboard from their suburban bunker.
There is a light phase that
There is a light phase that is straight and right turn for drivers heading east on Mt. Auburn, with the rightmost bike lane having a red bike signal, this is a little frustrating intuitively. Its the same issue at the BU bridge heading westbound, there is a time, idk 10 seconds or more, where straight movement could continue and I could go straight if I were not in the bike lane. This person was from Florida, on a bluebike, I am not sure they even have bike signals in Florida tbh. Drivers of large vehicles need to be more more defensive drivers than they are, expect people to do crazy stuff at any time (I mean we should all expect that...). That said, we need to beef up sideguard regulations asap, We could do something at the statewide level that would cover more trucks, I know we need federal regulations due to interstate commerce, but state level would be something...
Bike riders too
Why anyone assumes anything when navigating the streets of Boston using any means of transportation is mind blowing. When I cross a street on foot I always make sure I’m not going to get hit by a bike or a car. I trust no one, but myself. Same is true when I’ve rode my bike. Always assume the worse and be prepared to act. Sure, maybe the bike or vehicle is at fault, but I’m dead and I just lost.
Pretty sure a truck can turn
Pretty sure a truck can turn left on Memorial and then right onto Western Ave at the bridge - to proceed to Mass Pike, Lower Allston, or (hopefully not) Storrow Drive.
The bicyclist wasn’t killed by a truck, she was killed by driver
Could journalists please stop describing drivers hitting cyclists as “truck hits cyclist”? They don’t do this in other types of deaths (it’s not woman killed by bullet, it’s woman killed by shooter, it’s not knife kills man, it’s person kills man with knife). In America it’s always described by journalists passively to keep drivers responsible free of anything they do.
Don't understand
I don't see why anybody tries to ride a bike around here. IMO it's just too dangerous! Especially for someone from Florida who is probably not used to the congested roads.
Bicyclist killed BY truck
Bicyclist killed BY truck driver making a turn in Harvard Square, police say
fixed it
"by Cambridge Day"
C'mon, give some more credit to Roving UHub offspring Kidlet.
I asked a police officer at
I asked a police officer at the scene if the cyclist had been hurt and he told me no. It's not surprising he was wrong given the state of the bike, but particularly sad to find out she died.
Just a matter of time
when somebody gets killed on Summer Street or Seaport boulevard. The bike lanes here are dangerous because bicyclist do not obey traffic signals.
That isn't why they are dangerous
They are dangerous because of drivers of powered vehicles weighing thousands of pounds who won't be hurt in a collision with pedestrians or cyclists think they are too special to not speed, ignore the signals, block the box, or stop staring at their fucking phones.
FTFW.
Let's not pretend that
Let's not pretend that drivers in Boston are any better at obeying traffic signals. In my experience, they are not. And there are a lot more of them than there are cyclists.
Former ,CDL, cyclist, motorcyclist subway rider, current HP car
Know the dangers.
Driving a large vehicle: truck, bus, construction equipment in an urban area can be very difficult. There are multiple blind spots, primarily on the right but actually all around the vehicle. If people realized how vulnerable they are they would never get near the right side of any truck or bus on a cycle, on a motorcycle, or in a car. I don't think the issue can be adequately addressed without complete separation.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation offers a course that focuses on risk, not just the law. Unfortunately, you can be very right and very dead at the same time. Something along those lines should be offered to.cyclist and motorists. Even if it only saves a few lives.
Also, side guards on trucks should be mandatory.
Cyclist going straight
The third paragraph of linked article says the cyclist was going straight. Not the same as the headline and text of post.
https://www.cambridgeday.com/2024/06/07/bicyclist-dies-after-being-hit-b...
DA statement doesn't saying bicyclist turning either.
https://www.middlesexda.com/press-releases/news/fatal-bike-crash-under-i...
I walked by the scene. The
I walked by the scene. The bicycle was about 5 feet away from the crosswalk on DeWolfe St and the truck was further down DeWolfe.