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Pedestrian struck near Mass and Cass; roads shut
By adamg on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 8:58pm
A pedestrian was hit by a vehicle around 8:45 p.m. on the Mass. Ave. connector near the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard and was rushed to nearby Boston Medical Center in serious condition. Boston and State Police shut the busy intersection and some surrounding roads, including the offramp from I-93 to allow for an investigation.
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Comments
crazy police presence
came across the scene of this about 5 minutes after it happened. with how many cruisers and officers were there (i lost count at 15) i thought there had been a multiple shooting. hopefully the person who got hit will be ok.
Terrible road design (e.g. a
Terrible road design (e.g. a busy highway offramp/exchange) combined with a lot of desperate people means that this was inevitable.
But only inevitable because of Marty Walsh's lack of will and lack of concern.
I hope this person is able to recover.
Alternate Lede
Unless the vehicle was autonomous, here's a better lede: "A motorist hit a pedestrian around 8:45 p.m. on the Mass Ave. connector..."
It's past time to change this road:
(6/24/2019) Pedestrian struck and killed on Mass. Ave. Connector
https://www.universalhub.com/2019/pedestrian-struck-and-killed-mass-ave-...
(4/14/2014) Pedestrian in bad shape after being hit by car at Melnea Cass and Washington
https://www.universalhub.com/2014/pedestrian-bad-shape-after-being-hit-c...
(9/20/2010) Bicyclist not in good shape after collision with car at Melnea Cass and Mass. Ave.
https://www.universalhub.com/2010/bicyclist-not-good-shape-after-collisi...
(9/17/2009) Bicyclist down: Accident by Boston Medical Center
https://www.universalhub.com/node/27677
Nope
Maybe you know more about this crash than I do, but I don't know how this man was hit. Maybe a bad or distracted driver hit him or maybe the guy darted into traffic. I'm not going to assign blame without more facts, which I don't have.
Nope
Whomever is to blame for the crash is irrelevant for the lede. That supporting information, including outstanding questions, can follow.
Stating that a motorist hit a pedestrian doesn't connote blame, but does make clear that the vehicle doesn't have any agency.
Unfortunately, "vehicle hit" framing contributes to the sense that crashes are an act of God and not preventable, thereby leading to political inaction on safer street design.
But what caused the crash?
Either the motorist missed the pedestrian being in the roadway, or the pedestrian entered the roadway having missed the vehicle, which is what hit him or her. If the pedestrian stepped of the sidewalk as the vehicle, theoretically with the right of way, drove by, then it's a question of the pedestrian hitting the vehicle. To say a motorist struck a pedestrian implies the motorist was at fault. Until the facts are known, the safest description is that a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle, which is what happened for sure.
Nope.
Nope.
The one doing the striking is the one whose front made contact. It says nothing about fault.
If you have a green light and a car on the other street runs the red, and the front of your car makes contact with the side of their car, you struck them. Even though they're entirely at fault. That's how the word "strike" works in English.
There is an implication of fault
But of course, using the logic you give, the motorist didn't strike anything. The car did, which is how this thread began.
I think most resonable
people understand that a "vehicle doesn't have any agency."
I agree with Adam. Right now, we do not know enough to say what happened and I will not victim blame the driver of the vehicle without knowing more.
Of all the intersections in the city
that could use a full-time traffic enforcement cop, this one is probably in my top 3. People come off of 93 at highway speeds, merge onto Melnea Cass (which is 4 lanes in each direction), and absolutely FLY through the light at Mass Ave. Meanwhile, the intersection is usually staffed by buskers weaving in and out of traffic, and folks in, um, let's call it an altered state of consciousness. I can't count how many times I've had someone wander out into a lane near me with traffic going at full speed.
needs an under or overpass to
needs an under or overpass to separate the through traffic to from the highway from the local traffic on Mass Ave. Major Big Dig design blunder.
A busker is a musician. I
A busker is a musician. I think you mean "panhandlers".
I often hit that intersection from the I-93 southbound
exit, and vehicles routinely cruise into it at 50-60 mph, trying to beat a long light. Really dangerous, given all the foot traffic and panhandling.
Don't forget that cars
Don't forget that cars turning onto Mass Ave from I-93 have a very short distance to get into the proper lane. People going southbound who are going south on Mass Ave and people going northbound who are going north on Mass Ave both have to cross over several lanes of traffic before they get to the light.
If the alternative to
If the alternative to highways is a surface "boulevard", in the form of a highway without the overpasses so it gets extra-wide intersections with multiple turn lanes, I wouldn't call it a win for pedestrians.
Look at how well they re-stitched the fabric of the urban community all these decades after cancelling the Inner Belt: https://goo.gl/maps/VdwhzUJdQn1F4fGg6
I feel the same way about Forest Hills: https://goo.gl/maps/f8hqNXp5yevW7qT39
And the proposed tear-down of McGrath: https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/08/14/Grounding_McGrath_Execut... . Scroll down to page 18 for the preferred alternative, where people walking from Somerville Ave to Brickbottom will have to cross 12 lanes of traffic.