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Comments
could have been me.
Wow. Now I have a good reason to feel like I take my life in my hands every time I cross Newbury Street. The crosswalks are often a couple blocks apart, drivers treat them as mere suggestions, and SUVs especially go WAAAY too fast on that tiny street.
There really isn't ANY reason for cars to be allowed on Newbury Street in the first place; certainly there's no parking ever. Maybe they should experiment with closing several blocks (say, between Copley and the Park? Copley to Mass Ave?) to traffic during certain hours as with Downtown Crossing area. The intersection of Newbury and Mass Ave is one of the scariest in Boston.
Where the else am I gonna go
Where the else am I gonna go in Bahston to show off my Whip!?
Fo’ Shizzle, lay off!
Closing off several blocks
Closing off several blocks of Newbury Street, maybe alternate blocks, is a great idea. It's often clogged with illegally parked cars and double parked cars so through traffic takes a long time to get by. It's often faster to go around Newbury; closing it off won't change much. Some days, it seems like most of the cars on Newbury are cruising, just to be seen. After a whild, you recognize the same cars, going around and around every night, all summer long.
closing off blocks would suck
Newbury Street is the best way to get to the pike or Comm Ave, or Fenway...even with the double parked cars!
shocking
This is horrible news. I cannot even fathom how someone could manage to drive down Newbury Street fast enough to kill someone.
japanese motorcycles
Haven't you seen the packs of attention-seeking guys on their Japanese motorcycles zipping up Newbury Street?
They do this over & over. I think they like the turn in the road at the very end of Newbury. They circle around onto Comm Ave and race back up Newbury.
maybe they feel inadequate
maybe they feel inadequate and/or insecure about the size of their bikes and are trying to cover those feelings with obscenely loud engines.
Probably.
For that we call them 'crotch rockets' (the bane of the Somerville/Everett/Points Further North summer existence).
they're not loud
more like gnats
Dang, you need to get your
Dang, you need to get your hearing checked (and I'm not being sarcastic).
a Harley is loud
a japanese little plastic sport bike is high-pitched and shrill, but not loud
um...
You don't have to be going more than about 2MPH to kill someone if you pin them against another car, and you don't need to be moving at ANY speed if you run them over! That's what drivers always seem to forget...cars are incredibly fatal to pedestrians.
Anyway, Arlington is the very start of Newbury- it's 2 lanes wide, one way. It's not at all like Newbury a couple of blocks down, where it turns into one-lane-if-you're-lucky-because-everyone-double-parks.
shocked, but not surprised
I've had cars actually gun it for me while crossing at a crosswalk. Cars will blow through a stop sign - 3 or 4 cars in a row.
according to the story
the driver was backing up, which probably means she wasn't moving all that fast. The victim may have been knocked over and hit their head the wrong way. Pretty scary.
This is probably the most
This is probably the most merciful way to die: head injury, shock, no pain. But it was an SUV, which often rolls over the pedestrian instead of knocking them down, especially the back of an SUV which won't push a pedestrian out of the way. It pushes the pedestrian until he or she falls then rolls over the body.
Jaywalkers are just as bad
if not worse than the drivers. Jumping out between all those escalades isn't safe. Then you add in all the psycho bicyclists.
I'm surprised more people aren't hurt more often.
Sympathies for the deceased though. Sounds like none of the above apply.
Psycho Bicyclists???
Swirlyy??????????
Psycho Cyclist, qu'est-ce que c'est?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5zFsy9VId
* was hoping for the big suit
** w/the whole Viacom sh*t going down, might as well get it while we can.
I turn that corner every day
I turn that corner every day (from Arlington onto Newbury Street) to get to work (where I park ON Newbury Street without incident) and, not to blame the victim -- but pedestrians cross all the time when they have a Do Not Walk signal, when I have a green light and when it is not a "yield on turns" intersection. It's dangerous. I know this woman didn't die that way but it's still a dangerous intersection.
I like to think of myself as a reasonable driver -- I let pedestrians go against the walk light if it's crap weather or whatever. When there's a crosswalk NOT at a set of lights, pedestrians have the right of way all the time, etc. But at an intersection with traffic lights my thought is -- I waited at the light for my turn, what makes you don't think you have to wait for your turn?
In sum: assholery knows no vehicles. There are assholes in cars, on bikes and on foot.
read your driver's manual
not to blame the victim -- but pedestrians cross all the time when they have a Do Not Walk signal, when I have a green light and when it is not a "yield on turns" intersection
You're damn right we shouldn't blame the victim, since she was backed over, and DEAD.
Furthermore, if you actually read your Massachusetts drivers' manual, you'd know that pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way in a crosswalk. YES, even on a "no-walk signal."
Where in the RMV Manual does it say that?
You may want to read it yourself before you start making things up...
Here is where it says so
p80: "You must yield to any pedestrians entering or using a crosswalk in your travel path"
p93: "You must always yield to pedestrians who are walking in or crossing a roadway"
However, the RMV manual is just a summary of the law; it is not the actual law. And the manual is often wrong.
MGL 89-11 is the actual state law that requires motorists to yield to pedestrians in marked crosswalks. But I am unaware of a state law that requires motorists to yield to pedestrians in general. Maybe someone else can point it out if it exists.
Even the Globe...
...perpetuates the ped always has the right of way in a crosswalk myth. That's as above drivers must stop when there are no lights or the pedestrians have the light. You'll notice that those stop for pedestrians signs appear at crosswalks without signals, where C.89, S.11 applies.
Other sections state that drivers have to slow down if they notice pedestrians in the street (with or without a signal-controlled crosswalk). I'm sure that's why so many drivers who hit jaywalkers don't get a ticket.
I teach my kids always to look for vehicles, even when they have the light or are in a crosswalk without a signal. Never count on drivers to see you and slow, stop or yield.
It's too bad that the Globe traffic writer lets comments about pedestrians always having the right of way in any crosswalk see print. It doesn't serve anyone to give us false confidence when we are walking about.
One way street
Newbury is a one way street. I am sure she looked for traffice from the expected direction. She would NOT have anticipated someone coming towards her, backwards, from the wrong direction!
I am sad for the hurt this going to cause her family and friends.
About victim blaming:
Unfortunately, it's human nature to blame the victim because it makes us feel better about our own imortality; if we can find a reason someone passed, we think we can prevent it from happening to ourselves.
i sincerely hope that you
i sincerely hope that you are not trying to blame the victim in any way.
since you don't even know her, but i'll tell you, she was one of the most kind hearted women i have ever met. She was a fantastic mother and her kids will have to live the rest of their lives knowing their mom was killed by a car that just wanted a coveted parking space. really worth it, don't you think? she was a hard worker and she was actually on her way to work at the time of the accident. i know this because i have worked with her for the past year and she was a dedicated and hard working employee. She was part of our family and we will never be able to work the same again after what happened.
we lost a wonderful and valuable woman and I sure as hell hope that no one would ever try to "blame the pedestrian". because if you are, maybe you should have been the one hit by an SUV.
Well...
It's better than dying like a poor person being shot by a drive by in Roxbury, right?
Maybe it is gang related! Someone went to get their latte on and got iced!
what a horrible statement:
"dying like a poor person being shot by a drive by in Roxbury"
I hope instant karma gets you!
Horrible, but, Darwin'll
Horrible, but, Darwin'll always bit you on the a$$.
poor women
I was there that day, shortly after about 15 minutes. I had an appointment at a salon. It's very sad. The strange part about it is that as soon as they cleared the scene people were crossing without looking and drivers were driving fast down Newbury street. It's very unfortunate. People should use the cross walk and actually wait for the green light to go, the drivers should be cautious for pedestrians. Also If you miss your spot don't back up on newbury street to get it. That's insane... I feel bad for both parties involved. Please everyone becareful.
godbless
Did the police ever announce
Did the police ever announce the names of the driver and the pedestrian?
I haven't seen any more about this accident and it seems to have been forgotten as quickly as it happened.