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Crunch time on the Silver Line

By adamg on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 12:35pm

Video provided by the MBTA.

The driver of a rental truck plowed through a red light and slammed into a Silver Line bus about to descend into the tunnel at Northern Avenue and D Street shortly after noon today, the T says.

Photo of the collision. Another photo of the crash.

Neighborhoods: 
South Boston
Free tagging: 
buses


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Comments

By toddr4fun on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 1:12pm.

Considering how useless most of the SL tunnels are with speeding up the ride -- a place where tunnels truly would be helpful is under this exact intersection. The lights are long, and no preference seems to be given to the SL.

I am in infrequent SL rider, but even I have been a SL passenger in an accident just like this -- same spot -- same direction. It's almost like drivers don't see the busway coming from Silver Line Way and think it's a pedestrian crossing or something and blow through the light.

By Mark- on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 7:07pm.

Look at the video. The light is red at the start, it turns green 3 seconds into the video, and by the 0:13 mark it's already yellow. That doesn't look like a safe way to control traffic in any intersection.

By anon on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 1:01pm.

For the busway, the red light is long and the green light is short. The opposite is true for D Street.

By anon on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 9:47am.

I don't think so. Maybe the traffic light(s) in that area should be synchronized a bit better, but that didn't excuse the reckless driving on the part of the driver of the rental truck, either.

By Mark- on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 10:42am.

I never said anything in favor of the truck driver. Look at how fast he tore through the intersection, and there's no question that the T bus had a green light. But the terrible timing of the traffic signal adds another danger to this intersection and it should be addressed.

By anon on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 10:54am.

has to be addressed. That's true. But I stand by my position that the truck driver was at fault for speeding and running the red light.

By Boston_res on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 3:54pm.

What can he possibly say when presented with this evidence?

By anon² on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 4:36pm.

"good thing I took out the insurance"

By Boston_res on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 11:11pm.

Snort...HA!

By George on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 7:57am.

Better have Kramer pull out the Penske file.......

By anon on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 1:42pm.

What about his lawyer, Jackie Chiles?

By datadyne007 on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 6:49pm.

Really high-speed and high-impact collision. That video is incredible. Thank goodness no one got hurt. If the SL bus was a bit more forward, the results could have been considerably different.

By anon on Sat, 12/31/2011 - 5:06pm.

I'm not seeing vehicle damage consistent with a high speed collision here. And the truck not only didn't roll, but pretty much stopped on contact. What I would like to see is some time stamps on the video so I know how long a time we are seeing. That light looks to be 3 to 5 seconds long.

By J on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 8:47pm.

Quickly, we need a knee jerk reaction!

Henceforth, all vehicles, public and private, may not exceed 6mph when crossing an intersection.

Just like the green line after an accident!

By Eighthman on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 9:09am.

It's dramatic, but I didn't think Channel 7 needed to sensationalize it further by saying the truck "came out of nowhere." Sure, it looks like the truck materializes from a camera vantage point 500 feet down a ramp, but that is not a blind intersection.

By coolio on Sat, 12/31/2011 - 10:16pm.

Perhaps you should stop watching the local news. All it does is scare people.