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Bicyclist struck, killed at Arlington and Tremont streets this morning
By adamg on Mon, 01/24/2011 - 11:00am
Boston Police are investigating the 8:10 a.m. collision that left a 74-year-old man dead.
UPDATED with correct age.
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My sympathies
To the cyclist's family and friends.
That's a grim intersection- it's a mini-highway inserted between three people-filled neighborhoods (S.End/Castle Square, Bay village and Park Plaza) The crash barriers make it feel like a freeway and a real barrier to non- automotive traffic between the neighborhoods.
My heart goes out to the
My heart goes out to the family and friends.
What about the driver?
Did they flee or what? You would think details would be part of the BPD regimen..
the police never include info on the driver
I can't recall a single story in the Globe or any area paper which has disclosed the driver's name, even when they were cited or charged. The police usually refuse to release it.
That's Not True
In fact, they name two drivers in one story today.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/art...
I was referring to cases where cyclists were injured
Not general motor vehicle crashes.
There's a picture on Boston Biker
There's a picture on Boston Biker of a car with a smashed windshield, so I would say no, doesn't look like the driver fled.
That's awful
Imagine how hard the ground was when he hit it at -2. Jesus.
that's not what killed him
What killed him was the collision with the car...
http://bostonbiker.org/2011/01/24/cyclist-killed-d...
Expansion joints a factor?
That bridge has nasty-looking expansion joints. I'm wondering whether they, or ice on them, could have caused the cyclist to lose control.
We don't have any details yet
But given the appearance of the windshield, it looks like the biker's body collided at speed with the driver's side windshield. Also the fact that the bike was shown in the photos a long distance in front of the car, indicates that it was thrown from a hard impact.
If the biker had lost control over an icy expansion joint, and fallen, it doesn't seem that they would have hit the windshield in that manner.
What a tragedy.
Roslindalian
The police report was corrected to say the victim was actually a 74 year old asian man. Very sad indeed.
A tragedy of road design
The news of this crash deeply saddens me.
I think it is greatly unfortunate that senior citizens, unlikely to be reckless, scofflaws or to ride at high speeds, cannot ride safely in our town without being run down.
I have become actively aware of the dangers of this and neighboring intersections since having moved to within two blocks of the accident site over the summer. Tremont too, but particularly Arlington street is a section of road where cars move at excessive speeds for no good reason. There is hardly ever any congestion here but the road being wide, with three or more lanes in one direction and a long stretch from Columbus to Cortes without stops leads cars to accelerate to highway speeds at all hours. Further, the entrance ramps to the turnpike just before and a few blocks after this site suggest to me that drivers are already in highway mode before they get on the ramp.
I would urge the city to enforce speed here as I feel unsafe myself particularly on Arlington street. Further, red light cameras, traffic calming, and bicycle lanes are urgently needed.
To anyone who is familiar or concerned with this area, please voice your thoughts to your friends, city reps, Boston Cyclists Union, and Nicole Freedman.
Unfortunately red light
Unfortunately red light cameras are actually known to increase the number of accidents. More people gun it faster through yellow lights to avoid the fines and cashed strapped municipalities keep reducing the duration of yellow lights to increase the revenue from the cameras. Money would be better spent installing curb extensions at all intersections to slow down turning traffic and narrowing travel lanes. Adding bicycle lanes or at least striping wider gutters or other buffer zones to restrict the average speed of most traffic would help as well.