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Shaw's trailer truck kills pedestrian in Central Square
By Ron Newman on Mon, 03/17/2008 - 10:58am
According to witnesses who reported it on b0st0n LiveJournal. Bus traffic was substantially delayed.
Update, from Cambridge Chronicle: Harvard student dead after being hit by truck.
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Comments
The MBTA sure knows how to handle a crowd
"The not-so-sensitive mbta official told everyone to deal with the delay because everyone gets inconvenienced when someone gets hit by a semi."
The guy died :(
"Due to a fatal pedestrian accident at Central Square and the recreation of the accident scene by law enforcement officers, Mass. Ave and Prospect intersection has been shut down for traffic for this morning."
(email to users of MASCO's shuttle that goes through the area.)
Also, are you seriously commenting on the MBTA, when Livejournal users are making jokes about how there was blood all over the pavement, and that'd make a great band name? And worse?
Plus, we know everything we read on Livejournal is true, couldn't possibly be exaggerated or sensationalized to get the poster attention. *rolls eyes*
Not Adam's commentary
He's actually quoting a comment from a witness from that LJ post.
Harvard grad student
Harvard student in critical condition after being hit by truck.
?
Someone on livejournal says that they saw that the person died, or at least was fully covered with a blanket. Cambridge Chronicle quotes Frank Pasquarello as saying the victim is in grave condition... is that "don't panic" talk for dead?
Or one of them could have
Or one of them could have been mistaken. I guess we'll find out as the story progresses.
Don't know
I edited the headline from "kills" to "critically injures" after reading the Chronicle article.
If you read TS's blog
It isn't uncommon for responders at the scene to *not* declare a person dead at the scene. They leave that to the hospital for a variety of reasons.
too many negatives
i'm trying very hard, but i can't understand that first sentence by what it is. But by some negative elimination I think you're trying to say that it is common for responders not to declare a person dead, or again, it is uncommon (or isn't common) for a responder to declare a person dead.
Declared "dead"
The folks I know who have worked as EMTs and in emergency medicine prefer that a hospital declare a person dead.
Unless someone has clearly been dead for some time, it is better that the hospital make the determination because they have more/better equipment to make absolutely sure.
I suspect that this is why the paper intitially reported the event as it did.
TS
His wisdom is missed. EMT camp sucks!
I rode by there at around
I rode by there at around 9am on my way to work. A cop yelled at me to get off the road as I approached (though his colleagues futher back said nothing about the road being closed). I did see that something was covered with a sheet. As a regular bike commuter up Mass Ave, I usually think the worst when I see something like that. I hope I am wrong.
I was there about 8:30 getting on the T
It looked pretty grim. Shaw's truck (a semi)
was kind of across two Boston-bound lanes, driver
looking dazed. Mass Ave was basically closed, and
there were emergency vehicles everywhere. Looked
like a pedestrian accident.
boston.com link
Breaking news link.
It states that the pedestrian was taken to MGH. They don't usually rush dead people to the hospital, so I'm guessing they thought there might be a chance for him.
not so fast
Well, they didn't rush him, and as was stated before, it is sometimes protocol to bring a victim to the hospital to be pronounced there anyways. :( poor guy.
Meanwhile at the Glob
Boston.com reports that an amtrak train derailed in Connecticut disrupting service, but has yet to put up anything (anything that I can find) about this situation or the road closure or T disruption.
CORRECTION: seems it cross-posted, more than five hours after the event:
boston.com...harvard_student.html
Terrible Intersection
That intersection is terrible for both pedestrians and motor traffic. Cars run the lights and make illegal turns while pedestrians jaywalk constantly.
So sad, but entirely foreseeable
I lived two blocks away from that intersection for five years, and it's always surprised me that there aren't more fatalities.
I wonder if they will release the details of what happened. I could very easily imagine the truck coming down River Street, having a green light and turning right on Mass Ave. This turn could blind the driver (turning directly into the sun), and I could imagine the driver not seeing the pedestrian walking in the crosswalk with the light. So sad.
I hope this will encourage the city/state to revisit this intersection.
Central Square
I have learned long ago to avoid going through Central Square. I used to bike through there, over the bridge, and then cut over toward the Longwood Medical Area.
Once I found alternate routes, I used them. It is one scary place to navigate. If it isn't the cars "borrowing" the bike lane to park or cut around other cars, it is the random walk pedestrians and profusion of side streets. Then there is the morning sun heading south, particularly in October through April (September still has enough leafy trees to cut it down some).
If you want advice on alternate routes, I'll provide.
alternate routes for bicycles
If you're going from MIT to Harvard, Green and Franklin streets are good alternatives to Mass. Ave. (They are a pair of one-way streets parallel to Mass. Ave.)
Inman Street is a good alternative to Prospect Street, but it's one-way southbound. Even so, I'd rather ride northbound against traffic on Inman than with it on Prospect.
Wrong way biking
I wouldn't recommend it (nationally, biking against traffic is associated with a lot of accidents).
Inman has a paired street that goes the appropriate direction (but is not a major road). I don't remember the name of it, but it is only a block or two away. I used to use it to get down to Harvard street, and then over to Inman in the morning.
There is the ever popular Beacon to Hampshire swing, too.
I don't know why more cyclists don't use all of the small, low speed streets through Somerville and Cambridge. Once I found them, I used them for much of my commute because they have little traffic and the cars can't go much faster than a bike can because they are often narrow. Makes for a pleasant, low stress ride.
oy vey
I'm fairly certain Ron was using hyperbole..
Nope
And if you've seen both Prospect and Inman streets, you'd probably agree with me.
In the Netherlands and Germany, most one-way residential streets allow two-way bicycle traffic. This would work well in Cambridge and Somerville, too.
or..
I hope this will encourage the city/state to revisit this intersection.
Or encourage them to prohibit tractor-trailers from city streets.
Prohibit tractor-trailers?
Can't really do this. Star Market has to get its deliveries somehow, and this accident happened just a few blocks from their University Park store in Cambridge.
Use smaller trucks.
Many countries prohibit tractor trailers off of major highways. Goods are delivered (by truck, ship, rail, etc) to regional intermodial depots where final delivery is done by smaller vehicles.
but it's not clear the truck size mattered
If this was caused by sun-blindness, it wouldn't have mattered how small the truck was. The pedestrian would still be dead.
Sun Blindness
Also known as negligence and failure to account for the driving conditions.
Not that it was the case here ... that intersection is a free-for-all of red-light running, illegal turns, jaywalking peds, suicyclists, etc. at any time of day.
Sun blindness?
That seems kind of unlikely, given that the accident reportedly took place at 6:45am, and sunrise this morning was at 6:52.
The Globe article says,
The Globe article says, "Officer Frank Pasquarello, a Cambridge police spokesman, said Meyers was walking at 6:45 a.m. across Massachusetts Avenue at Prospect Street in Central Square when he was hit by a Shaw’s supermarket tractor-trailer."
If it really was at 6:45, then that was 10 minutes before the sun rose this morning.
Many Enforcement "Opportunities"
Central Square at Prospect has lots of dangers that enforcement would ameliorate. As a regular cyclist who rides there and one who used to work in Kendall and commute to lower JP through there, I've seen lots of dangerous behavior. I confess too to sometimes treating red lights like stop signs.
When I worked there, local cops ticketed cyclists as well as motor vehicle drivers who ran lights, cut people off and such. That was amazingly effective (even to us "loose" cyclists) to know they were paying attention.
That seems to have slacked considerably in recent years. Something close to half of the MBTA bus drivers I observe pass red lights, drive at pedestrians and cyclists, and put their big, old fat buses blocking traffic when there is an open bus stop. Likewise, I join cars, cabs, trucks and buses in trying to get safely around folk parked in the alleged bicycle lane, otherwise known as the UPS/FedEx parking lot.
The worst and most consistent dangers I face as pedestrian or cyclist at that intersection all cry out for cops with ticket books. There's nothing like thinking about a suspended license and huge insurance increase to make drivers aware that other folk have the right of way.
Pedestrian education is needed too
The one thing I would add to your excellent points is that pedestrians need to also be accountable in terms of looking for traffic before crossing. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen walkers just go right out into the street in front of moving traffic when the sign clearly says don't cross yet. Boston seems to be the only metro area I've seen that has pedestrians crossing whether green, yellow, or red lights. I have no idea what happened in this particular incident. If it was the driver's fault, then he should be held accountable. But if it was the pedestrian's fault, then the driver should not be held accountable. I wish the commonwealth would actually launch a campaign re-educating its citizens to watch for traffic before crossing and learn to obey traffic lights.
Blame the pedestrians?
This is the attitude that is behind the disinterest in doing anything about the complete disregard drivers (and cyclists) have for the law in this town. It must be the peds fault! That's not a real problem because its not like cars will be hurt.
When I am standing at a sidewalk, maybe 1 in 10 cars will stop for me. On a good day. That's throughout Boston and Cambridge when I've walked there. Even the one who stops usually only does so because I've started walking into the street. Drivers simply refuse to acknowledge a pedestrian's right of way in this city and have done so for my entire 12 years here.
Now, lets say your a pedestrian who knows that you'll never really be able to cross when you have the right of way because drivers will ignore you. You get trained to take your chances when you see them. Which isn't safe, but also isn't ultimately the pedestrian's fault. I actually walk this town, and without a light, there is virtually no chance of getting across a street without a break in traffic. With a light, it will still be a struggle if some drivers decide they want to turn on red or turn from the other way. This city shows no interest in enforcing crosswalks, and without that, it won't matter what we tell pedestrians to do. They'll just see themselves screwed over and go back to doing what they need to to get across the street.
This isn't a us pedestrians versus them "car people" issue
Although I agree that very few people in this city obey laws regarding pedestrian traffic (both drivers and pedestrians) that does not entitle me to walk without a signal or away from a crosswalk and then blame the drivers as if I had no choice.
What I do is this: I stand at a crosswalk. I then make eye contact with the next driver coming. Then I wave. If they stop I wave again, make eye contact again and thank them as I cross.
If they don't stop, I give the finger and I scream as loud as I can "That's a red light", or "This is a crosswalk" as I point at it. That allows me to vent the steam I need to vent. To this day I've never had somebody stop their car and deny that in fact that light was red when they crossed it, or deny that that indeed was the crosswalk in front of me.
Nevertheless, I've never been hit by a car or come close. Ultimately, I believe I am far more maneuverable in the city as a pedestrian than a car or bicycle, and I can act defensively, for the most part by not being in front of vehicles until I see them completely stopped and waiting for me to cross.
One last thing, very few people really understand that a long vehicle has a substantially smaller rear wheel turn radius than front wheel. I see trucks turn corners all the time with the front wheel 2 meters away from the curb and the rear wheel hugging the curb. More than once, I have had to take a few steps back to avoid being hit. Now I know that this is just the way long vehicles track due to their size and I avoid waiting on the street for my turn to cross.
Although this is speculation, I saw the marks left at central square after this accident, and they were consistent with the type of accident resulting from misjudgment of where the rear wheels are going to be.
-arr
I don't break the law
I don't rush out into traffic either. I always cross at crosswalks, no matter how difficult it may be. But doing so, I know how frustrating an experience it is and how the knee-jerk, "blame the pedestrians" reaction will do no good. THe problem in this town is that drivers accept no responsibility for what they do. I'm sure the same drivers who fly past me without even thinking about stopping are the same ones who whine about how pedestrians jump out in the road. I'm sure some are complaining about pedestrians "jumping out" into crosswalks where they have the right of way. This city keeps treating this problem the wrong. Instead of policing the people walking, they need to start policing the people driving murder weapons around recklessly. Whether that happened here, i don't know, but it didn't take long for drivers to do the "blame the peds" push back that hampers enforcement in this city.
the contest of who's most
the contest of who's most guilty of ignoring traffic laws, cyclists, motorists, or pedestrians, is a pretty tight race. i know this particular crosswalk, and motorists do bang that right turn without so much as looking to see whether pedestrians, whose walk light coincides with their green light, are in the crosswalk. i don't know the details of the accident, as many other posters have admitted, but i sure wouldn't assume it was pedestrian error. now, if it was further down mass ave, that would be another story...
Haven't had that many
Haven't had that many problems crossing the street in the immediate Boston metro area, as long as I wait for the light to turn red before crossing - in Central Sq., downtown, Davis Sq., Coolidge Corner, etc.
(Harvard Sq has been the only notable problem b/c of the wacky intersections, which I find equally confusing as a driver and pedestrian.)
Try Boylston and Tremont
Tons of fun having four or five cars blow through a four-way red light a few times a day.
Try crosswalks without lights
Those are the real problems where it becomes impossible to cross. They aren't hidden, either. There is one right on Massachusetts Avenue. I pass several each day as part of my commute. Drivers going straight will probably stop at red, and your problem becomes turns. Mass and Huntington is very difficult for that. If you're starting out on the same side as traffic, they are likely to ignore you (and your walk light) and just cut you off. Never mind that this is also one of the major intersections in Boston where the ped signal regularly doesn't work. Another is Comm and Chestnut Hill Ave, which is no picnic trying to cross without the crosswalk light working.
And when the sign says "cross now"
Some self important asshat driver or fixy rider on a cel phone decides the light doesn't apply to him or her. Or the light is set up to pit right or left turns against crossing pedestrians because we can't make drivers wait very long.
Or some bonehead city councilor or selectperson, who have authority over stop lights and signals in many municipalities (rather than traffic professionals), decides that "those pedestrian lights take too long - shorten the cycle" or "we can't have a light there because it would bother ME" without regard to any national standards for intersections, and the problem snowballs.
The bigger picture: if Massachusetts put the sort of comprehensive, systematic and professional planning, effort, and maintenance into its traffic and pedestrian and cycling infrastructures that Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal, etc. do, this wouldn't be a problem.
Safe for Bikes
http://safeforbikes.org/
how about a little help from all you concerned citizens? Central could be safe if traffic laws were enforced. They aren't.
Larger Issues
I think there are larger issues that incidents like this keep coming back to. Namely how dangerous driving, walking, and cycling can be in Boston, especially where they all intersect.
Any of these deaths could be preventable with the right combination of education and infrastructure.
This seems like an issue that everybody agrees on; everybody drives or walks or bikes if they live or even visit Boston. Who wouldn't want safer roads and intersections?
So where are the lobbying groups, where's the petition to sign, is there anything any of us can really do?
Victim's name
The Globe identifies him:
He wrote about poetry for the Forward.
I was friends with Isaac.
I was friends with Isaac. I've known for several hours that i was him. And I work in Central Sq. and did see the accident this morning, not knownig it was my friend.
I am always freaked out when semi trucks have to take those immensely wide right turns from River on to Mass Ave.
It is a dangerous intersection that I cross at least 4 times a day.
Oh, my
My condolences!
I am truly sorry
So sad that you had to see this, and so sad that you have lost a friend.
More
His old friendster page (the blog link goes to his ukelele band, The Rothschilds)
His last known address suggests he was probably headed in to Harvard from walking up Magazine St from his home in Cambridgeport. He would have needed to cross Mass Ave to reach the outbound Red Line.
He seemed really well learned in poetry and the classics.
Edited to add: Just saw your post, Laura, I'm really sorry for your loss.
Bike Rider at 9am
To the tool bag who was trying to ride his bike through a crime scene. Didn't the yellow crime scene tape tip you off the road was closed?? I saw you riding at 9am when the cop rightfully yelled at you. i think he should have drilled you off the bike. Go back to mcdonald's on your 10 speed wearing your suit. You tool bag!!
"Death Before Yielding"
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/death_befor...
I happened to read this yesterday.
Friends remember Harvard Grad Student
Article from The Patriot Ledger.
Witness account, photos
Very graphic account.
So much for "I just wait for the red light"
This intersection allows turns and gives vehicles a green light in parallel with the pedestrians. The problem: there are a LOT of pedestrians and people who got their licenses in MA are among the most ignorant of the laws of all drivers in the nation. In other words, they see green light, they hit gas, they probably actually don't understand - or don't care - that the peds have the right of way!
Some intersections I've seen even give turns a green arrow light in conflict with a walk signal, assuming the nearly-unconscious cell-phone addled massholes behind the wheel will notice this and understand they have to yield.
Given the way this state gives away licenses in cracker-jack boxes, is it any wonder these things happen? Unfortunately, the state of intersection design, which could adjust for the documented regional driver knowledge deficiencies, is just as deficient.
Rear wheels of a semi
I'm not sure if I can really blame the semi driver here without more information. I'm concerned with the fact that Isaac was struck by the rear wheels it seems. Semi trucks making that right-hand turn usually have to berth well to their left first, then right. What ends up happening is that the rear wheels travel far less wide than the entire rest of the truck. The truck also appears to be in the left lane or not interested in turning right at first. All of which could easily fool any pedestrian who is waiting in the crosswalk for the rest of the truck to pass so they can cross behind it.
This may have just been an unfortunate accident in how the truck needed to turn at that light and where the pedestrian was standing. Or the truck may not have given himself enough turning radius and ran up over the curb where Isaac was waiting to cross, not knowing anyone was there, and be completely at fault. But I don't think we can determine any fault from what we have seen or heard yet.
What is pretty clear is that it would be good if right turns there were somehow limited by vehicle size, or different timing with the pedestrian walk signal (not all signals require concurrent traffic), or some other means to help prevent this from happening again.