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Two pedestrians die in Boston in less than 24 hours

Boston Police report two women died after being hit by cars in separate incidents Friday and Saturday.

Around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, a 51-year-old woman was hit by a Brookline cab in Andrew Square, police report. She was taken to Boston Medical Center with what turned out to be fatal injuries.

The driver, who was operating a Brookline cab, did stop and did make himself known to police.

Around 3:20 p.m. on Saturday, a woman, 79, was hit by a car near 1925 Commonwealth Ave. in Brighton, police report. The woman was conscious when taken to a local hospital, but died not long after, police say:

Officers spoke to the operator of the vehicle who stated that he was attempting to back into his driveway when he backed into the pedestrian. According to the operator, he didn’t see the pedestrian. The operator of the vehicle was cited for failing to use caution when backing up.

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Comments

Bike and biker, right? There's no way that drivers in this city could be responsible for two deaths, nuh uh!!!

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"Now Billings, look both ways before you cross the street! And remember to use the CROSSWALK!!"

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... how's that working out for ya?

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I was struck in front of Landmark Ctr in broad daylight in a cross walk with a walk signal. The driver was an older man who was belligerent - he rolled down his window to yell at me. I called 911 - was transferred three times before getting to an officer who couldn't have cared less. Meanwhile, the driver drove off, and the officer didn't even want the lic. plate #. I hobbled out of the crosswalk - no one stopped to help.

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Glad you are all right. I've maintained the Landmark Center must be one of the circles of hell, as it seems everyone closes their eyes and hopes for the best when driving through there....

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The vehicle and pedestrian traffic is pretty complicated there. The pedestrians get the walk signal at the same time that cars get a green light to go through the crosswalk.

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Avoid the transfers, at least - in Boston dial 617-343-4911 to go straight to BPD. If you dial 911 from a cell phone, you go to the state police.

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Cited with a ticket? That will teach Boston drivers to pay attention while driving. If drivers were charged with manslaughter every time they killed a pedestrian, they would exercise a lot more caution, slow down, put their phone down and kill much fewer people every year.

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"The Homicide Unit and Accident Reconstruction Team are investigating this incident."

Adam, can you follow up on whether this driver will be charged with murder?

To echo the above comments, if someone accidentally discharges their gun and kills someone, it's murder. Yet if someone accidentally misfires their two-ton power tool (their car) and even admits being careless, there's some doubt as to whether murder charges will be brought.

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Regardless, I hope a steeper charge than "failing to use caution when backing up" is brought against this driver. Whether intentionally or not, his (admitted) carelessness killed someone. Weapon of choice? His car.

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Neither do I. But first, my sympathies. I went to the wake for a young mother of two yesterday and it's still killing me.

Let's make it clear that I'm not defending anybody here because I have no idea what happened - and neither do you. You're ready to throw this guy in jail without even knowing any details. Maybe she was engrossed in a cellphone conversation and walked right into the path of the car. Who knows.

Settle down.

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Feeling sympathy for the victim and discussing what criminal charges may be brought against the driver are not mutually exclusive.

"Maybe she was engrossed in a cellphone conversation and walked right into the path of the car."

No, I wasn't there. But this statement is irrelevant. It is the driver's responsibility to be sure that there is no one in the way when backing into his driveway. Of course pedestrians (and drivers) should be fully alert to their surroundings, and always assume that others will do the unexpected. But when crossing a sidewalk entering or leaving a driveway (as presumably happened here), it falls onto the driver to be sure that his path is clear. Like it to not, when misused, a car can be quite the lethal weapon, and all too often, the authorities tend to view incidents such as these as regrettable accidents and not as case of negligence.

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Guess which one kills more people in MA yearly?

Guess which one you can kill somebody with and not get prosecuted, cited, or held responsible?

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But when crossing a sidewalk entering or leaving a driveway (as presumably happened here), it falls onto the driver to be sure that his path is clear.

It's also the responsibility of a pedestrian to not walk right into the path of an oncoming car.
Again, you don't know the circumstances, yet you want to hang the guy.

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Then why was "the operator of the vehicle cited for failing to use caution when backing up"?

I don't want to hang the guy. But I want the driver to be prosecuted to the fullest -- and not just given a traffic citation -- if his actions caused the pedestrian's death.

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Then why was "the operator of the vehicle cited for failing to use caution when backing up"?

You don't charge someone for manslaughter if you don't know what really happened. Got it?

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I did not say I know what happened. All I said was that if the BPD investigation concludes that the driver was negligent, that he be given more than a traffic violation.

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In the law and lexicon murder does require premeditation. I suspect though that homicide is plain enough to folk who are bright enough to understand contextual comments.

Taking another's life by inattention or malice can bring a whole range of charges, or none it all. A patronizing cop might go on about what is and isn't murder or homicide. The offense might range from involuntary manslaughter to vehicular homicide all the way up to second or first degree murder or even into murder of a public official or police officer or to war crimes. There are many degrees and variations.

Here we don't know what the deal is. Perhaps it's as the driver said — oops, he was a clumsy backer upper. Maybe he saw the old woman and was pissed off that she was making him waste a few seconds while she passed so he plowed her down. Those are a world apart.

Our speculation is silly and the charges likely depend on the morality of the investigating officer(s) and prosecutor. What a pity that we who grew up thinking that we'll all due justice end up relying on the caprice of who's up at bat.

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You don't have to worry about morality or caprice. The gradations of homicide are relatively clear.

A homicide is a killing of a person by another person. Within that umbrella term of Massachusetts law are murder, manslaughter and justifiable killings in self-defense or war or what have you.

Murder is an unlawful killing with malice. First degree murder is committed with premeditation, extreme atrocity, or in the course of a felony punishable by life in prison. Second degree murder is committed without premeditation or atrocity, or in the commission of a felony punishable by less than life in prison.

Involuntary manslaughter and voluntary manslaughter are not spelled out in the statute but have been described as an unlawful killing without malice but with an intent to kill (voluntary) and an unlawful killing without the intent to kill (involuntary).

Voluntary manslaughter is usually an intentional killing with excessive force in self defense, sudden combat, or after provocation. Involuntary manslaughter is usually an unintentional killing through wanton or reckless behavior.

None of these describes a person driving a car under normal circumstances who strikes and kills a person who shouldn't have been in its path. I don't know about either of the cases under discussion in this thread or the hundreds of other car-related deaths each year but any talk of sending people to prison for them ought to be accompanied by at least some understanding of the law.

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Sure, we can do the "common sense" and "it's in print" stuff. Let's not lose sight of the tremendous difference the investigating officer(s) and prosecutor(s) make. They can and do make broad judgments on the actions and intent of the perps. If they declare the driver, fingerman or whomever made an accidental move or the like, poof, no charges. You betcha there's morality and honesty and other human traits involved.

Saying, "Oh this could happen to any driver," is not an honest answer. Rather, it may fit the event into the convenient. This type of situation, rather, calls for real forensics.

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an accidental discharge is not Murder it's Manslaughter. You need to go to the Mass Gen laws and read the law

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n/t

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