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Pedestrian struck on Summer Street in South Boston; suffers head injuries
By adamg on Fri, 12/04/2015 - 8:37pm
Around 8:20 p.m. on Summer Street between A Street and Fort Point Channel. The road was shut from the bridge to D Street.
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Comments
...paging Markk...paging
...paging Markk...paging Markk...opportunity for bullshit grandstanding available, over...
No, let's not do that
It's one thing to join a fight already in progress; it's quite another to do a little goading like that.
With all due respect to you
With all due respect to you for allowing discussion such as this, it's pretty clear my comments were not so much "goading" as a prediction of what inevitably would come.
If I've said anything wrong, tell me. But I can't be blamed for the violent, ignorant, and uninformed comments that come from certain other folks.
Nothing new here
Dark winter nights and dark outerwear trump crosswalk paint. Shame on the clothing industry for not putting some quantity of reflective threads in all outerwear.
Its as if car makers still made cars with no: reflectors, lights, seat belts, seat belt reminders, open door warning chimes, air bags, crash testing, anti-lock brakes, stability control, traction control, collapsible steering linkages, energy absorbing bumpers, headrests, safety glass, padded dashboards, tire air pressure monitors, blind spot detectors, back up cameras, collision detection and braking systems etc., etc.. Though some might look at the situation and consider automakers completely negligent for not having night vision and pedestrian collision detection&avoidance systems as standard equipment.
The real problem
1. speeding
2. ignoring crosswalks and pedestrians in them
3. cops could not give two shits for enforcing the laws
This is an ongoing problem. I have stood there, in a fucking crosswalk, with a fucking high-viz vest and reflectors and a flashing fucking bike light in my hand and counted fifteen assholes not stopping.
This isn't a visiblity problem, moron. Plenty of streetlights, but Mark the Babbling Idiot from Arlington wouldn't know shit about that. This is a driver entitlement and drivers running croswalks and red light (at Melcher) problem.
With all the unchecked bad driving, it was bound to happen.
Sorry, but Adam's post is
Sorry, but Adam's post is about a pedestrian being struck by a car, not a cyclist being struck by a car. Please show some respect for the victim: this is not about you.
Standing on a bike with a
Standing on a bike with a light in your hand is an odd way to ride a bike. Itchy said he was standing at a cross walk with a light in his hand, not riding a bike.
Holding a bike light
Not holding a bike, dumbass. I carry lights in the winter because people like yourself and the city in general don't give a ratsass about clearing walkways.
Too Wide, Too Furious
There does seem to be a highway mentality on the multi-lane streets in the city. From the sprawl of the seaport to Commonwealth Ave to the Jamaica Way. Any time there is more than one traffic lane everyone thinks they're on I-95.
Streets have been that way over 100 years
look at the old photos. Wide streets existed long, long before highways, or even cars!
Horse-drawn carriages didn't
Horse-drawn carriages didn't go at 35mph.
The law requires yielding, not stopping (mostly)
The world will not stop turning for you. You need to start crossing (cautiously) while visible, then its the driver's or cyclist's responsibility to then yield to you. Even then, cyclists won't stop, just go around while drivers without the room to do that will need to stop. Use crossings with lights if that's the level of comfort you want crossing the street.
The law requires no left-hand
The law requires no left-hand turns when the light is red. Why should pedestrians have to play chicken with killer cars?
Reading comprehension
Title XIV, Chapter 89..."Section 11. When traffic control signals are not in place or not in operation the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right of way, slowing down or stopping if need be so to yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk marked in accordance with standards established by the department of highways if the pedestrian is on that half of the traveled part of the way on which the vehicle is traveling or if the pedestrian approaches from the opposite half of the traveled part of the way to within 10 feet of that half of the traveled part of the way on which said vehicle is traveling."
Mass. General Laws are online, check 'em out sometime.
When cars are going 50, I'll make sure they start to stop before I put my 150 lbs in front of 2 tons of metal.
Driver entitlement is outrageous.
I was on Summer St crossing over Melcher around 5:30 last night. I had a walk signal and 2 motorists made an illegal left on red, and rufused to stop for me. It's outrageous.
Cops and 311 don't give a fuck!
What illegal
I don't know that intersection, but on the off chance you didn't know, a car preparing to make a left must clear the intersection when he gets red. The fact that the pedestrian green isn't delayed a few secs to accomodate that other fact of the law is bad traffic engineering (gasp! in Massachusetts?!), not driver entitlement.
Bullshit
There is no cross street to block. Complete bullshit.
It's illegal
to enter an intersection if you're unable the clear it.
When making a left turn on a
When making a left turn on a green ball, cross the stop line and enter the intersection. If the light turns red, any traffic after the stop line has the right of way to make the turn and any cross traffic must yield.
This is different than "blocking the box," which is illegal.
At least this was the rule when I took my road test in the early 90s.
Again
It is illegal to enter an intersection if you cannot clear it.
eh, shabazz
was only advancing what was inevitable
Summer St could be fixed
The BRA had plans ready to transform the MadMaxian dystopia of Summer St into a living neighborhood. Shovel-ready for 2014.
http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/planning/planning-initiative...
But, as I recall, the powers that be were more concerned for taxis getting to and from BCEC than they were for the folks who work, play, and live in and around Fort Point.
Boston Complete Streets....slow but progress
These projects are moving forward in many areas (I have coworkers designing some around North End). Yes new projects are going slow, yes it will take decades, but I'm told everyone involved knows city wide approach must be done over that long of a time frame.
Boston area professors are part of city's (eventual) new guidelines, basing on European approach. 20 MPH and 30 MPH except arterials. Too slow you say? Make the road narrow enough, with raised crosswalks, and you magically kinda get those speeds!
Another Pedestrian Hit Thursday evening
On Thursday evening a pedestrian was hit and suffered critical injuries on Comm Ave:
http://www.bu.edu/today/2015/pedestrian-struck-commonwealth-ave/
considering the westbound side of Comm Ave was closed for 3-1/2 hours (which also affected B-Line service) I was surprised to not see this reported anywhere other than BU's website, T site and BPD Twitter. Incidentally, there was also a long shutdown of the same stretch of the B-line lateWednesday evening, due to "vehicle on the tracks".
Was reported elsewhere
The BU story references Globe reporting. I recall reading it on boston.com also. There was a commenter who was directly behind the car who hit the pedestrian and said they had a green light. It sounds like this was a turning situation where pedestrians don't get an exclusive walk phase. They have a walk light at the same time as vehicles turning on to Comm Ave have a green light.
Ever notice
those signs at most major and many other intersections?
TURNING VEHICLES
YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS
Pretty simple, really. And if it's dark you slow down a bit so you have enough time to react. Also pretty simple. And people can continue to dress the way they want.
The Time: The Big Dig, The Place: In front of So. Station
walking across Dewey Sq. toward Summer St., about 9:30 AM. Waited for light to change. On green , checked both ways, started to cross. (I'm blind in my left eye.) Suddenly a cab ran the red light at about 20 mph from my left. I never saw him. I bounced off the hood and did a face plant on Atlantic Ave. Lying there with my face looking like bloody hamburg, the other pedestrians headed north STEPPED OVER MY BODY and kept walking. Two cops on a detail over by the Federal Reserve saw the whole thing and went back to their coffee. The taxi driver stopped about 200 yards away, got out, looked at me on the ground and apparently figured that if it wasn't a big deal to the cops, it wasn't to him either. He took off. Finally a kind soul stopped and asked if I was OK. I was still on the ground in my suit, clutching my briefcase and bleeding from my face.. I answered that I thought so. She extracted some sort of antibiotic Wash n Dry type towelette from her purse. I thought she was a nurse but she turned out to be a visitor from NYC, where such things were apparently common. I foolishly walked to my office on Congress St. dabbing at my face with a bloody handkerchief, rather than determining if my head injury amounted to anything.Never forgot the time my fellow Bostonians abandoned me and a New Yorker didn't.
Lack of lighting
The lack of lighting in that section is criminal. And also Northern Ave., D to the rotary. Forget about Day Blvd. that's like Darlington!