Driver plows into three pedestrians downtown, runs away; passersby tend to the injured until EMTs arrive

By adamg on Thu, 08/18/2016 - 12:31pm

Crash at School and Washington streets in downtown Boston

School and Washington. Photo by Mark Novak.

A driver from Needham in a New Jersey car hit at least three pedestrians around noon at School and Washington streets downtown, then got out of her car and ran away.

WalkBoston reports that one of the first people at the scene was a man dressed as a Minuteman, who opened the car's driver-side door - only to see the woman driver bound away. When police arrived, he pointed out her direction of flight.

Marc Ebuna reports other pedestrians sprang into action, tending to the injured and blocking traffic until police and EMTs could arrive. He reports he started crying when he saw one of the injured was just a kid.

Kevin Wiles Jr. reports two people were taken to Tufts, one to Mass. General.

Joe Ranft shows us the car - with driver nowhere to be found:

Michelle Moran saw it from above:

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Comments

One way

By anon
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 2:47pm

All of the street here are one way leading drivers away from DTX. If drivers and pedestrians just slow down a bit and follow the signals it should all work just fine. But no one does.

Drivers in Boston do not stop

By Trump-Baker 2016
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 4:49pm

Drivers in Boston do not stop at stop signs, and Boston cops do not bother ticketing drivers who blow through them. So stop signs are useless around here.

Conflicting Report

By BostonEl
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 1:56pm

The Globe is reporting the driver stayed at the scene?

Not the Globe, boston.com

By adamg
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 4:50pm

The Globe reports the woman stuck around briefly, then left.

I was there.

By Cappy
Fri, 08/19/2016 - 7:47am

She exited the car after the accident happened, walked into a brown door next to Chipotle. The police came and I told them where she went. An officer walked into the building and led her out. She was on her cell phone. She didn't run away. She wasn't chased. No one was screaming to stop her. I saw the whole thing. My pics are on the REAL Downtown Crossing Page on FB. I also heard she wasn't charged and the three people who were hurt are going to be fine.

But

By bosguy22
Fri, 08/19/2016 - 8:59am

She almost knocked over Swirly's boss as she was sprinting away. I'm confused, was she running away as Swirly stated or did she briefly walk away come back as Cappy (and the Boston Globe) stated?

Was there a passenger?

By anon
Fri, 08/19/2016 - 10:42am

Because people were running up Washington, too.

Um, Cappy

By whyaduck
Fri, 08/19/2016 - 10:06am

she is charged up the wahzoo.

And she did run away.

Well, she was charged

By adamg
Fri, 08/19/2016 - 10:04am

Needham woman faces charges for Downtown Crossing crash that sent three to the hospital. So only her car was from New Jersey.

She WAS Charged

By Cappy
Sat, 08/20/2016 - 7:57am

She was definitely charged. When I typed that she hadn't been yet. But I watched her walk away into the building. Her husband it turns out was in there. I told the officer where she went. They led her out a few minutes later. She didn't sprint anywhere. But whatever.

boston.com "Police said the driver stayed"?

By downtown-anon
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 2:01pm

boston.com seems to have finely edited their account of the story.
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2016/08/18/...

"Police said the driver stayed at the scene and the incident, called in at 11:58 a.m., is still under investigation."

Returned to the scene?

By anon
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 2:07pm

People just said that she ran off.

some construction worker almost ran me over in that same spot

By Frank Rizzo
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 2:07pm

A construction worker in a pickup truck almost ran me over in that same spot not but 2 hours before. i was crossing vitamin shoppe and he was looking at his phone and actually speeding up while i was crossing the street. I got so mad I threw my drink at him, man was I pissed and now no drink. :( Also no apologies.

Sorry to hear that...

By whyaduck
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 2:25pm

I am actually going to start walking with my mini air horn in my hand. Hopefully I'll have time to hit it if I feel that I am about to be mowed down...again :)

Indelible paintballs

By lbb
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 2:27pm

Or stickers that say something like, "This vehicle was moving when this sticker was placed here. Think about it."

Hmm, not bad.

By whyaduck
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 2:31pm

My husband says I should carry a whacking stick.

Smudges

By BlackKat
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 3:15pm

Just don't carry an umbrella as Officer Friendly may decide to tackle you.

cars

By Saul
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 3:22pm

Don't read some of the comments at https://www.facebook.com/7NEWS/videos/101551150825... if you want to maintain your blood pressure.

These pedestrians act entitled and show no respect towards vehicles on the road.

Just shows you how the car has been elevated to this mythical and awe-inspiring object in some people's minds.

Replace "vehicle" with just about any other noun and see how silly you sound.

These pedestrians act entitled and show no respect towards fire hydrants on the road.
These pedestrians act entitled and show no respect towards light posts on the road.
These pedestrians act entitled and show no respect towards mailboxes on the road.

Not all drivers are perfect but the pedestrians shouldn't feel so entitled in a congested area.

I dunno, it's not the pedestrians who need two tons of metal to propel themselves around downtown.

what do you suppose...

By Malcolm Tucker
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 4:00pm

...is the overlap on a Venn Diagram between those car fetishists and #AllLivesMatter dimwits? My guess is that it would just be a circle.

Car Privilege

By anon
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 4:13pm

This is Car Privilege in a nutshell: the belief that the thousands of people in that area are less important than one or two special people in powered/wheeled conveyances is utterly astounding.

As if they truly believe that having a car makes you super special - instead of super selfish taking up so much room for one person.

Update...the three that were hit were part of a

By whyaduck
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 4:54pm

a history tour group and they had the right of way according to witness:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/08/18/pedest...

Good. God.

Something doesn't add up.

By Saul
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 4:58pm

Something doesn't add up.

Craig Caplan, who runs two merchandise carts near the intersection of School and Washington streets, said the tour group was crossing School Street when a Mercedes-Benz struck several people.

The tour guide said the group had the right of way when they crossed the street, Kearney said.

If they were crossing School Street and had the right-of-way, then the woman blew the red light. The photos Adam originally posted seem to indicate the group was crossing Washington Street on the half that does not have a crosswalk.

Regardless of legal right-of-way or not, I hope the driver isn't going back to NJ any time soon, and certainly not in a car she's driving.

It adds up

By Robert Paulson
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 5:05pm

No..they were crossing School street..probably walking toward chipotle. She ran them over in the crosswalk while taking a left turn. She tried to get away by continuing her turn but was surrounded by bystanders so bailed. Thats why the car is at a funny angle on Washington St.

If they were crossing School

By Saul
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 5:46pm

If they were crossing School St and she didn't run the light, then the tour group was crossing against the light. Either the group had the walk and she ran the light, or the group crossed against the light, according to the Globe's witnesses' accounts.

Hence, it didn't add up.

Crossing against the light

By Kaz
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 6:57pm

MGL doesn't have the penalty for that as death by car to be administered by a peer of their choosing.

So, either way it adds up: she hit pedestrians that were in front of her car.

Now, they could have all jumped in front of her car after she thought the way was clear AND she had a green light. It's been known to happen. You get a group of 2-3 mimes with a taste for being hit by cars and they'll just jump out of nowhere as a coordinated group. But I didn't see any white paint on the hood, bumper, or street. So I'm guessing these pedestrians were already well in front of her car when she chose to go whether they were against the light or not.

So we're back to she hit pedestrians that were in front of her car.

Alternative explanation

By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 8:51pm

Driver ran the light.

I didn't see the actual accident but I was very close by and heard it happen - we were near the corner of Washington and Water. What I did see was that a double decker bus was right in front of her and cleared the scene, with no vehicles moving behind. It is entirely possible that she sped into the intersection, ignoring the possibility that the light changed. There was a lot of screaming and people lying on the ground, with people running into help. I turned my entourage around to cut back a block and under Devonshire Lane.

I work near there. There are plenty of jaywalkers AND a solid contingent of red light runners.

I suggest that you walk down there sometime and make your own observations ... oh, wait ... that would involve walking ... your precious Tesla isn't allowed on the sidewalk. Maybe the Downtown Crossing group will soon have those hoveround things for those too sedentary to walk a block or two like they have at WalMart?

LOL

By anon
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 9:10pm

Yeah, somebody makes walking around sound like a fate worse than death in his whining about why you can't expect anybody to do it.

Oh man, I wish I had a Tesla

By Kaz
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 9:58pm

My buddy's is amazing. Auto drive is the future now. Or did you mean Segway? I don't have one of those either.

And I walked to SweetGreen for lunch today. I was there. Right there. I didn't see you though. My office even looks down on the meeting house. I don't think you were actually there.

This was where we turned around

By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 08/18/2016 - 10:30pm

Subway Falafel King
We were there as it happened. Headed for a noon reservation. In earshot, but not line of sight.

You don't know what I look like anyway. Even if you did on a normal day, I was in full business drag and travelling in a group.

I didn't see any jabba-the-neckbeards about, either. Probably because you weren't there or hadn't waddled over there yet ... if you ever were there. No matter - I was too busy getting people to a lunch on Devonshire without getting in the way of mayhem or the responders. I heard it happen, saw the big trolley stop in the road and then pull down Water.

I can't unsee what I did see.

Go fuck yourself with a high speed eggbeater. Oh, wait, for you that would be like the only date you've had in years.

Yo Lochte

By JPNative617
Fri, 08/19/2016 - 9:27am

I see you tried to hijack another thread and make it all about yourself. Unfortunately, you were lying. Can you please admit it, liar.

OK, guys ...

By adamg
Fri, 08/19/2016 - 10:36am

Enough.

Lunch reservations?

By Kaz
Fri, 08/19/2016 - 9:45am

I didn't know Potbelly's took reservations.

And if you didn't see any "jabba-the-neckbeards" then maybe they're not as fat as you think they are. They're pretty easy to spot. But I'm more of a hairless jabba. Maybe that's what threw you off. Or the fact that you have been caught lying to make yourself part of the story again...which I'm sure is stressful. It's probably prone to make someone in that situation lash out and redirect their anger in the hopes of displacing attention to the fact that they got caught.

I'll help you out. You convinced me with your desires for what I should stick my penis in. I was wrong. You were there the whole time. I'd vouch for you. Whew. Feels good to know someone's got your back, right?

Both of you SHUT THE FUCK UP

By lbb
Fri, 08/19/2016 - 10:40am

Kaz, you're being a real asshole here. You started off this subthread with a pointless asshole taunt and you're just piling on at this point. If you'd ever witnessed a pedestrian being hit by a car, you'd know how upsetting it is. You're deliberately taunting an upset person, and that makes you a complete asshole. Stop it. Shut the fuck up.

Swirly, I understand and sympathize with how you're feeling, but you gotta just not go there with the irrelevant personal insults. Step away and let assholes be assholes, it's not like you can stop them anyway, and you're just giving them more fuel. Just walk away.