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Woman on scooter dies in collision with car in Newton
By adamg on Thu, 07/08/2010 - 4:44pm
Wicked Local Newton has the initial report on an incident on Ward Street, in which the woman may have been dragged by the car after she was clipped by it.
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Comments
:(
Why, Newton?
because nobody in Newton gives a fuck?
Because it's a community with a police force that hasn't shown the slightest interest in prosecuting drivers in numerous traffic collisions? Two of which were fatal, one of which would have been if it hadn't been for bystanders who lifted the car off the guy? I'm not even including the woman who was killed on Longwood Ave, where police did fuck-all to investigate, had a guy TURN HIMSELF IN WHO ADMITTED HE HAD STRUCK HER, and instead they declared that she just HAPPENED to fall and magically suffer fatal crushing injuries, all by her self.
Newton apparently has buckets of Magic Cyclist-Killing Fairy Dust.
I find it curious that the state police were involved this time, given the collision happened nowhere near a state road. They weren't in the 2-3 prior cases, where cyclists were struck. Maybe the state got tired of Newton cops fucking around and not doing anything?
They won't even ID the drivers in any of these cases- it's clear they're more interested in protecting their residents than protecting the general public.
Longwood Ave is not in Newton
not even close to Newton.
State Police
The State Police has the resources to reconstruct crashes. This also means the State Police will decide with the Middlesex DA's office whether or not charges will be filed against the driver.
Of course Brett knows that the District Attorneys offices decide whether or not charges are files in these cases. You need evidence of negligence with actual physical evidence in the majority of these cases. (The reconstruction being the physical evidence)
Update
Wicked Local now has an interview with the driver and the name of the victim.
The driver of the car was Harvard Law professor emeritus Detlev Vagts and the victim was Marcia Kearney. He claims she turned left in front of him and that he was not at fault.
Conflicting updates
Boston.com has a new update where Vagts describes the woman as driving from "his right turning left" in front of him. This directly conflicts the statement quoted from him in Wicked Local on Friday when he said she turned left in front of him onto Grant. They also state at Boston.com that he was lost while driving his wife to the dentist.
Furthermore, commenter mgl3312 at the Newton Tab story claims to have been an eyewitness and saw the Subaru hit the scooter while on the wrong side of the road and half on the sidewalk! As the commenters try to understand what occurred that day, a different picture is emerging as to who might have been at fault in the accident.
It's a bit disappointing that a more accurate and better coverage of this story isn't making the papers very fast.
Witness says driver on wrong side of road, sidewalk
Wicked Local Newton reports.
Professor charged with motor vehicle homicide
Reconstruction of the accident showed that the scooter driver was making a left with her signal on and Vagts struck her from behind as she started to make her turn. He was half in the oncoming lane of traffic at the time.
He then continued almost 500 feet down the road before turning around and coming back to the intersection.