Pam reports she was having lunch at Stephanie's on Newbury at Exeter this fine summer afternoon when:
Holy crap, a guy just jumped out of his car to punch a pedestrian who crossed in front of him on Exeter at Newbury. Because the driver didn't want to wait for him to cross. I watched.
Went for his neck, another pedestrian pushed them both to the ground. Cops here now.
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Comments
One jaywalker too many for
By Anon
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 3:28pm
One jaywalker too many for that guy.
People with that kind of a
By anon
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 3:43pm
People with that kind of a fuse should not be allowed to drive a 2 ton weapon.
What amazes me
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 9:21pm
They actually got out of the car and got physical.
Massholes are usually all bravely mouthy from the shelter of their cars, yes, but generally too afraid to emerge from their carcoons to back up their bravado.
how about this masshole?
By anon
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 5:27pm
A couple of days ago, guy screamed homophobic slurs at a cyclist and took a swing at him. Includes photos of the guy.
http://www.bitsbybike.com/2013/06/more-harassment-...
Substitute bicyclist for
By tenfortyseven
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 3:45pm
Substitute bicyclist for pedestrian in this story I wonder how many comments there would be.
Oh, I don't know...
By whyaduck
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 4:59pm
why don't we keep a tally?
knew it would happen soon enough...
By anon
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 6:48pm
See recent comment below for a cyclist trying to hijack this thread.
I plan on a long ride.
By Boston_res
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 3:48pm
Especially if driving down Newbury. Haven't done it in a very long time due to all of my (now) fellow pedestrians.
Wow. I hope the puncher gets
By Lisa
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 3:49pm
Wow. I hope the puncher gets arrested, assuming the pedestrian had the right of way. I can't recall if it's a stop sign there or an actual light at that intersection.
I've emailed the BPD twice in the past year saying how most cars refuse to stop at the stop signs on Newbury St. There have been several times when I've been almost hit, even though I'm careful in the crosswalks. I even wave & say "thank you" even though I have the right of way. It's like the stop signs aren't even there. Isn't there an actual
Because if it was jaywalking
By anon
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 9:41pm
the pedestrian deserved to be punched in the face? Regardless of the pedestrian's actions punching someone is NOT okay and I hope the guy gets arrested.
I'm pretty sure you don't get
By anon
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 12:08pm
I'm pretty sure you don't get to punch someone in the face because they jay walked. Just because someone's breaking the law doesn't let you do whatever you want to them. In Mass I think you're only allowed to assault someone to protect yourself or someone else.
Exactly. This isn't Florida.
By anon
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 3:13pm
Exactly. This isn't Florida.
Totally misrepresenting Florida
By Sarcastic Sam
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 4:06pm
Come on now. They don't get out and punch pedestrians in Florida. Because that would involve getting out of the car and actually walking over to the pedestrian to punch them. In Florida they just shoot who they're arguing with and keep on driving.
Drivers have gone too far
By anon
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 3:53pm
Time to ban cars on Newbury St.
Ya
By anon
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 5:05pm
Because nobody lives and works on the street. Let start by banning cars on your street.
Ban cars on my street, please!!!
By anon
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 12:32am
I would love that.
Honestly not a bad idea..
By Sarcastic Sam
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 10:22am
....sarcastic intention aside, we could REALLY use quite a few pedestrian zones in town, and put Newbury St near the top of the list. Vehicular traffic is abysmal about 18 hours out of the day, but so is pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks. Make Newbury St pedestrian only for most of the day.
Deliveries should be allowed early AM, then pedestrians only until 8 PM. Weekends included.
Yeah I know, it will never happen.
Yeah, let's turn Newbury
By anon
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 2:04pm
Yeah, let's turn Newbury Street into another Downtown Crossing. We all know how that turned out.
Hell, no. When I lived on
By anon
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 1:35pm
Hell, no. When I lived on Newbury I had a tough enough time getting food delivered with delivery drivers threatening to sue me because they got ticketed for doubleparking and one that wanted me to go to traffic court with him as a witness. No one's getting delivery or packages delivered on time if they were to nix traffic all together.
Uh, dude, you have alleys on
By anon
Mon, 06/24/2013 - 9:33am
Uh, dude, you have alleys on each side.
Actually it's easier
By Matthew
Mon, 06/24/2013 - 10:16am
...to get deliveries when there's no other traffic to compete against for space on the street or the curbside :P
Usually, pedestrianized/shared streets make exceptions for deliveries.
Generally, I'm not in favor of pedestrianizing streets completely but there are a few exceptional spots. It might be worth a shot to try it temporarily on a few blocks of Newbury and see how it works out. Try out a few warm weekends, invite some street vendors and food trucks. Costs almost nothing. Pretty common thing to do in other cities (or for that matter, the North End). If it's popular, expand the program.
That suggestion is far too
By Scratchie
Mon, 06/24/2013 - 12:10pm
That suggestion is far too practical to ever be tried in Boston. We're more likely to see 10-15 years of acrimonious litigation and name-calling before the street is closed off entirely to all motor vehicles including deliveries, but allows bicycles to weave in and out of foot traffic, and everyone hates it forever.
Im sure the driver wont be
By anon
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 3:54pm
Im sure the driver wont be prosecuted, drivers have free reign in MA to hit and kill with no recourse unless they are drunk. But of course there are people on UHub/Herald type places where the victim will be blamed.
The killer who murdered Kanako Miura in May was instantly absolved by Boston Police and the mayors office, even though it was a hit and run.
You just won
By anon
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 5:07pm
The most rational comment of the day award, who would you like to thank!
That's a tad cynical
By Pun based on Bo...
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 6:49pm
Vehicular manslaughter is certainly given an exessively light touch by the law, but when you actively get out of your car to attack someone, that's a lot harder to excuse.
Not suprising
By anon²
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 4:41pm
It's Eurotrash central
Walk signal
By Wally Brown
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 4:48pm
If driver was turning left from Newbury on to Exeter than the pedestrian would have the walk signal to cross Exeter with the green on Newbury. Drivers always seem to ignore this fact for all those intersections. I enjoy pointing out the right of way when I encounter Masshole drivers along there.
Check your facts
By anon
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 5:27pm
Are you sure? Much of Boston does not (yet) have concurrent green... in other words, a pedestrian crossing a cross street, parallel to the traffic flow on the main street, does not automatically get a "walk" when the traffic on the main street gets a green. I think they're supposed to (Federal highway code perhaps) but it is wildly inconsistent.
Check your own facts
By joehp
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 9:59pm
My observation is that peds have Walk ROW when cross street has green. I've noticed this both as ped and as driver.
Sometimes they do
By anon
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 10:17pm
And sometimes they don't.
There's no rhyme or reason to it. At least none that I can discern: it's not like there's concurrent green where there isn't much turning traffic and no concurrent green on busier streets, it just seems completely random to me.
Not to mention the intersections (there are about four on my very short walk to work) when pedestrians get a "don't walk" during those phases of the lights when there is no possible way for a car to legally cross the crosswalk. WTF? No wonder people jaywalk so much.
Or intersections with traffic
By Saul
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 12:37am
Or intersections with traffic lights but no pedestrian walk sign, such as Comm Ave and Babcock St, where drivers have a right-turn arrow and if you were to follow the signs (or lack thereof) to the letter, pedestrians can never legally cross.
Re-read the law
By eeka
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 1:35pm
If there is a crosswalk but there aren't pedestrian signals, pedestrians have the right-of-way all the time.
If there are pedestrian signals, then it's illegal to enter unless you have a walk signal.
Half-right
By Matthew
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 2:59pm
Pedestrians have the right-of-way at unsignalized crosswalks (whether due to lack of signals or malfunction). It's not clear from this provision of MGL that lack of pedestrian signal (in an otherwise signaled intersection, e.g. Babcock Street) is considered the same, although I agree with you that it ought to be.
There is also no mention in MGL of it being illegal for pedestrians to cross without a Walk signal. In fact, the second paragraph above alludes to a situation where a motor vehicle operator has voluntarily yielded to a pedestrian regardless of the indication of the traffic control signal.
That's only MGL, of course, there's still other ordinances.
Facts Checked
By Wally Brown
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 2:48am
Working about 4 blocks away from there for the last 20 years and having spent a number of lunch hours wandering the area, I am very familiar with the traffic and light patterns as they have evolved. It also has given me countless hours of observation time of all types of locomotion in the area. In a lot of cases, none of them obey the rule of law or common curtesy.
Another option...
By ScottR
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 4:57pm
Because I'm feeling like a consulting detective this afternoon, has anyone considered that this was *not* an act of random violence? Perhaps the driver recognized the walker, had some score to settle with him, and decided to do it on Newbury? This is a small town, and stranger things have happened...
Ooooh, the Pulp Fiction
By BPlusPlayer
Fri, 06/21/2013 - 5:25pm
Ooooh, the Pulp Fiction angle.
At least he didn't run him down.
Dumb bastard
By Kaz
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 12:00am
If he'd just run him over and said he didn't see him, he would have gotten away with it.
My heavens
By nightmoves
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 10:13am
a fistfight! My delicate sensibilities are offended by these ruffians.
Breaks the Status Quo
By RHookup
Sat, 06/22/2013 - 3:53pm
I thought fisticuffs were only appropriate in disagreements over parking spaces.
what's wrong with this
By poodpeeple
Sun, 06/23/2013 - 12:06pm
what's wrong with this person? you drive down newbury street there are going to be tons of pedestrians everywhere. My guess it's someone not from around here - I know I keep getting harassed by people with NY or NJ plates in that area.
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