By adamg on Tue., 11/26/2013 - 6:52 pm

The girl, 7, was walking with her mother on the sidewalk in front of 43 Olney St. around 2:15 p.m. when a white SUV careened out of the street and struck them, police say.
Both were rushed to Boston Medical Center, where the girl was pronounced dead. The mother's injuries were not life threatening, police say.
Olivia Mora, 36, of Dorchester (pictured), was charged with OUI and motor-vehicle homicide, police say, adding additional charges may result.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Sad!!!!
By stacey
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 7:47pm
My thoughts and prayers are with the family... This is so sad!!! I hope the driver gets life in prison. A young girls life snatched away due to poor decisions and a woman who had no regards for her life or anyone's elses
Oh, Adam!
By Brian Riccio
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 8:15pm
You have to put up the mug shot.
Thank you.
By Brian Riccio
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 9:06pm
She looks full of remorse, doesn't she?
What she looks like to me
By Bob Leponge
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 12:10am
is somewhat of a lost soul.
I wish I were Christian enough to pray wholeheartedly for her.
Heroin chic?
By Markk02474
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 1:32am
She looks like she might have had more on board than just alcohol. I love pictures where drunk/whatever people are trying to look sober and alert because it so doesn't work.
How horrible
By Michael Kerpan
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 8:23pm
And why is someone driving drunk at 2 in the afternoon? Maybe if we had the Scandinavian attitude towards drunk drivers, we'd have far less drunk driving.
If we had the Scandanavian attitude toward bikes and trains
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 9:28pm
We may have less drunk driving.
If we had the general Euro attitude toward bars in business districts we might have less driving while drunk, too.
[snark] But I'm sure she just didn't see that family there on the sidewalk, and how could she know that she hit something? She was driving a big vehicle ... and wasn't it irresponsible for the mother to be walking with children on the sidewalk in the first place. [/snark]
A 7 yr old
By anon
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 9:03pm
Died, give your "bike lane" bs a rest. A f'n 7 year old, walking home from school. From f'n school!
So ...
By No one in particular
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 10:50pm
You think that making people drive everywhere has nothing to do with drunk driving? Really?
So sad that your small mind can only hold one idea at once,
Someone MADE her drive?
By anon
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 6:05am
Someone MADE her drive?
Because
By anon
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 9:38am
Commuting from NH to Boston via bicycle is very efficient. Mouth Breather!
Why would anyone commute from
By Boston_Bloke
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 3:24pm
Why would anyone commute from NH to Boston?
Please provide a news article
By No one in particular
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 3:54pm
Describing a drunk person killing somebody in the act of boarding a commuter train or bus.
Now, note that in many enlightened communities - like the Scandanavian countries mentioned above - getting from NH to Boston by train would be THE MOST COMMON ROUTE.
Again, it isn't just Scandanavian laws on drunk driving that prevent drunk driving - it is the fact that you don't HAVE TO DRIVE that prevents drunk driving.
Please
By anon
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 9:37am
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2263354/Cyc...
Cyclist are fast becoming the worst people in this city. Get off you high horse!
Try again
By No one in particular
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 3:55pm
Stand at the corner of Congress and the greenway, and try again.
When was the last time a drunk cyclist killed someone?
By No one in particular
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 11:03pm
How about a drunk killing someone while boarding a train?
In July
By anon
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 9:40am
http://www.examiner.com/article/pedestrian-hit-by-...
Your links to articles about
By ZedThou
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 11:58am
Your links to articles about two pedestrian deaths, in the UK and Nevada, are so very relevant. Thank you for posting.
Okay, so a pedestrian died from drunk cycling at some point
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 4:40pm
That's entirely believable, given the 300+ Million people in the United States, that ONE person might die in such a way in a year (UK is a different story).
Now, let's look at the denominator: You realize that the motorized drunk death toll is about 10,000 times that, right? That drinking is a factor in about a third of all traffic deaths? http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_dri...
Boston would be a model city for the US and the World if only one person a year died as a result of a drunk motorist.
As other
By Kathode
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 5:26pm
People have posted, this is not the place to have a forum on cycling so lay off. You already made one insensitive comment and that's more than enough.
Insensitive
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 6:31pm
Yes, because it is never okay to talk about anything whenever some people think it isn't okay. Because it is easier to shut down all conversation "because its insensitive" than to actually deal with problems in our society.
So, when, according to rules of Kathode's World, is it ever time to talk about what societal and structural changes are needed to stop the killing of people by motor vehicles?
Or is it always "insensitive" to expect those who fear change to contemplate changing the world so that our kids don't get killed?
I think people like you are insensitive. You think you have some right to shut down valid conversation because you have some personal rules that you think everybody should follow, based on your personal comfort level and cultural notions of appropriateness. Well, guess what: not everybody has heard of your rules or accepts your rules.
It's not always
By Kathode
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 6:51pm
About being right. Sometimes it's good to just shut up.
People like you
By No one in particular
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 11:47pm
Are responsible for pedophile priests not having their careers ruined.
Because being right isn't as important as shutting up because somebody told you to and thinks they have that authority.
Not just the internet
By Matthew
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 10:23pm
One mother I talked to mentioned to me that people, possibly elected officials even, tried to "shush" her when she spoke out about her loss.
This online reaction isn't the same, but, it is reminiscent.
Is this an appropriate time for snark?
By anon
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 9:31pm
A seven year old child is dead and you're going to use the tragedy to score cheap points on a fucking bicycle argument?
Yes
By No one in particular
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 10:49pm
Drunk driving is treated extremely casually by the authorities in MA.
She'll have to kill at least five more children before she does time.
Show some respect Swrrly! A
By anon
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 8:03am
Show some respect Swrrly! A little girl is dead! Suburbanites who drive giant minivans should NOT be preaching right now!
How wrong can you be?
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 4:47pm
1. I live in one of the most densely populated areas of the United States
2. I live closer to Boston City Hall than Adam does - by approximately 3 miles.
3. I spend the majority of my waking hours in the City of Boston
4. I don't drive a minivan. My motor vehicle gets 50mpg. My primary vehicle burns about 1,000 calories per hour.
Also, we disrespect the departed if we don't talk about how we can prevent other people from dying in the future. Somebody mentioned Scandanavian laws, but those strict laws work only because of a concommitant investment in non-automobile options of travel. 0.02 and 0.04 BAH limits are not workable in our society because many people lack viable alternatives to cars.
Unless and until we can discuss these events in terms of potentially preventing future ones, we will continue to have these horrid tragedies, we will continue to have children killed horribly, and we will continue to pretend that they are entirely about the actions of a single person rather than the failure of society to muster the moral and physical courage to stop the murder.
Lay off
By Kathode
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 5:46pm
No one wants to hear it.
Fuck off.
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 6:10pm
Fuck off.
"Somebody"
By lolnon
Thu, 11/28/2013 - 8:07am
"Somebody" mentioned Scandinavian laws? That was you. I guess you got so confused that you forgot which of your handles mentioned it.
Wow, night and day from profile pic.
By O-FISH-L
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 9:37pm
Looks like she's taken a turn for the worse since doing this profile. Reports say the SUV had a "Media Soul" logo and this refers to her as a Babson grad, former instructor at Babson and founder of Media Soul. God bless the 7 year-old and her family. Thanksgiving will never be the same. Tragic.
Probably the same person
By Michael Kerpan
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 10:01pm
Seen here (in cage --as tiger) as PETA activist:
http://www.scnow.com/news/local/article_56e3b9d5-d...
Re: Probably the same person
By O-FISH-L
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 9:56pm
Nice find, Michael. I hope she enjoyed the cage. She'll be back in one for a long time, still in orange but sans the stripes.
No she won't
By No one in particular
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 11:00pm
She'll be out in no time, with a wrist slap, and back on the bottle and throttle. This is MA. Killing people with your car isn't a crime here, and driving drunk doesn't seem to be either.
Well, then..
By Brian Riccio
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 9:57pm
She should feel right at home for next 10 or so years.
What makes you think she's
By Scratchie
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 10:56pm
What makes you think she's going to jail? Isn't this like one year suspended in Massachusetts, or is that only for connected white guys?
She's not
By Dave
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 12:14pm
She's not a Senator.
Stop murdering children
By Matthew
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 11:44pm
This is a terrible, tragic collision, and following closely on the heels of another. A bloody week.
I hope that they are able to prosecute this criminal to the fullest extent, and that the family is able to find peace, somehow.
But the responsibility does not end there. BTD is responsible for maintaining the conditions which led to this death. The automobile-addicted assholes of yesteryear, who designed this death trap, are responsible.
This is no accident. Olney Street is wide. Enough asphalt for 2 travel lanes and 2 parking lanes, and then some. It's practically begging drivers to speed recklessly on it, maybe coming on a wild turn off Geneva.
We need our residential streets to be safe, instead of industrial kill-zones where nobody is safe unless surrounded by two tons of steel.
We need our streets to be safe so that children can walk (or bike) to school and activities without the fear of one reckless driver destroying a family forever.
We need to realize that this is a choice that we can make.
We can choose a path of widening streets and speeding traffic, as we did in the bad old days, a world where parents fear to let their children even walk on the sidewalk.
Or we can choose another way, where car convenience is not put above children's lives, where street design focuses first and foremost on the safety of the people living and walking along it.
It all begins with a simple choice: Stop murdering children:
The difference? The Dutch people decided that it was completely unacceptable for children to be killed. And so they changed their ways. When will we?
Did you miss the part
By drpat1985
Tue, 11/26/2013 - 11:50pm
about her being DRUNK? It's not the street's fault, or the car's fault. It's the DRUNK'S fault.
This is the typical excuse
By Matthew
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 10:26am
"Oh, that driver was drunk/reckless. But it's an isolated case."
It's not an accident. It's not an isolated case. It's dangerous by design.
What's remarkable about the Dutch story is that they stopped accepting such excuses. They said: Stop murdering children.
When Americans stop making excuses for their bad streets, then we will see some progress.
You're not even making sense.
By Sally
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 10:46am
No one is saying this is an isolated incident. It was, however, drunk driving and has nothing--zero--to do with with poor street design. Dorchester as we know it was designed and built as a streetcar suburb, not a raceway, more than 100 years ago.
You're missing the point
By Matthew
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 11:28am
And making excuses, again.
It has a lot to do with poor street design. Yes, the woman was OUI, and she should be held culpable for that crime. But her rampage was enabled by the dangerous design of the streets, which makes speeding easy, even for a drunk.
More background: Dorchester was designed as a streetcar suburb, yes. In the 19th century there was a fad for wide streets, mostly unpaved. Street layout commissions did not anticipate the invention of fast motor vehicles. Then when cars were mass-produced, and started killing people and children in large numbers, many parents in many cities started calling for slower speeds to be imposed by any means necessary. For a variety of reasons, mostly due to the industry not wanting to lose speed as a feature, these efforts were quashed around the country. One of the excuses they used, by the way, was: "blame reckless drivers, not the rest." As a result, we have 19th century wide streets that are fully paved and with hardly any mitigation for the much-faster vehicles which use them today.
If the original street designers did not anticipate the dangers posed by fast-moving motor vehicles of today, well that is unsurprising. But it does not absolve the responsibility that today's street designers have to make streets safe, even if they have inherited poor conditions. And they have had nearly a century to think about it in the context of motor vehicles.
I want people to think about the consequences of our choices as a city. Enough with brushing the death of children under the rug, chalking it up to just "another drunk driver" or similar excuse. It's more than that. I want this to stop happening. I hope that other people want this to stop happening. And instead of just wishing, making real change, and confronting our addiction to dangerous streets.
You sir
By anon-a-mouse
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 11:55am
Are nuts.
First off clearly speeding was not "easy" for the drunk. She did hit a few things along the way
Secondly, the street is a 50' ROW laid out in 1876 and revised in 1883. It has what looks to be 7-8 foot sidewalks which leaves a 34-36 foot curb to curb travel and parking way. Assuming its 36 feet, that leaves two 7 foot parking lanes and two 11 foot travel lanes. How would you change this?
Remove the parking lanes? They present a pedestrian SAFETY feature as they shield pedestrians from traveling cars AND they discourage speeding.
Clearly in this case, this is an event that NO design featur could improve. The driver was reckless (as evidenced that she hit a car, hydrant, child, adult, fence and ultimately came to rest at someones front door. She was likely speeding to evade a previous accident. I dont think she cared if it was an easy road to speed down.
So do us a favor, get off of your illogical rant in this topic. While yes, many of the downtown roads have been unnecssesarily designed in an auto-centric fashion, that has NOTHING to do with this story.
So...
By Sally
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 12:00pm
We should just demolish Dorchester and start over? Again--I can't even believe this conversation is happening and I can't imagine the kind of redesign you're imagining that would've prevented this. Why you're so bent on ignoring the main cause of this accident is beyond me and your hyperbole and callousness isn't doing any favors for anyone who believes in livable streets.
agreed
By anon-a-mouse
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 12:07pm
its pretty much just disrespectful at this point to further some tangential agenda by hijacking this overal sad story.
Think about it and come back later
By Matthew
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 2:33pm
I can see that this will still take some time for you to accept and understand.
Let me just point out one final time: the Dutch went from having more dangerous roads than us, to having much safer roads than us. The reason? They decided not to accept the death of children on the streets. They decided to do everything in their power to change the story. And they succeeded. Read about the movement "Stop de Kindermoord" (Stop the child murder) in the 1970s. Read about how a group of parents changed their entire country because they refused to stand back and let more children be killed. You can start with the link I posted earlier. Here's a more thorough article with pictures from that era.
The only callous act is to not speak up, and to pretend that this kind of event is acceptable. It is not.
The main purpose of livable streets-type movements is to prevent these kinds of tragedies from happening in the first place.
P.S. Bob Leponge hit the points pretty well too.
Stop just pleas freaking stop
By anon-a-mouse
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 3:13pm
You are just becoming mor despicable by the moment. This has nothing to do with livable streets.
You, sir, are sick
By Matthew
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 4:06pm
I don't know why you keep attacking me, and I don't understand why you defend the dangerous design of the streets.
It is, of course, a free country, and you are free to express your opinions against safer streets.
In my opinion, I find it despicable that you would do so when yet another child has just been killed because Americans value fast driving more than the lives of children.
Good day, and please drive safe, "anon-a-mouse."
"defending the drunken reckless behavior of the driver"
By Michael Kerpan
Wed, 11/27/2013 - 4:00pm
Where did he do this?
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