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Bicyclist dies in crash outside Museum of Science; was a BU grad student

State Police report a crash around 8:15 a.m. on Monsignor O'Brien Highway at the Museum of Science between a dump truck and a pedestrian left the bicyclist dead.

BU Today reports he was Meng Jin, 24, of Shanghai, who arrived here in September for graduate studies in economics. He was living in Cambridge.

According to State Police:

Upon arrival, troopers found that a bicyclist had been struck by a 2016 Western Star truck, driven by a 50-year-old man from Leicester. The bicyclist, a 24-year-old Cambridge man, had life-threatening injuries. The bicyclist was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was pronounced deceased, as a result of injuries sustained from the incident.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the truck was stopped at the intersection of Museum Way and O'Brien Highway, waiting to take a right turn onto Museum Way from O’Brien Highway. The bicyclist was also stopped, on the right side of the truck, waiting to take the same turn. When both the truck and bicyclist began to make their right turn, the bicyclist was struck by a tire of the truck.

Photo of the scene.

CB reported shortly after the crash:

It's really bad, quick thinking nurses jumped in and began CPR appeared to have no helmet suffering from head trauma

She adds the crash happened as the driver was making a turn, and that the driver stayed on scene.

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Comments

And the post below is about a driver flipping his/her car on Hyde Park Ave.

It's almost like we have a serious problem with terrible drivers in this city.

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You've found the driver at fault. Because, Boston doesn't have any shitty cyclists....

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The description from the state police shows that the driver was at fault. There is nothing a cyclist could’ve done except stay off the road.

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As a roadway cyclist you don't keep to the right of large trucks at intersections, or pull up alongside them. ESPECIALLY when they are in a right turn lane.
If cyclist pulled up on right of truck, dangerous move. Wait behind the truck to be sure it clears you. If it pulls alongside, get ready to leap off to your right if it starts turning.

If truck passed cyclist, the driver saw him, and should have checked mirror along right side of truck before turning.
Cyclist may still have been in blind spot.
But still... bonehead move.

Street smarts 101.

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But not the law.

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You're right.

You're dead right.

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Well, he doesn't say anything. He died from driving everywhere before I even met him - lung cancer from diesel exhaust.

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Why is it unreasonable to expect drivers to follow the law? Why is it unreasonable to expect corporations to pay for side guards and camera's for 18 wheelers? How can a cyclist avoid a truck that rides up from behind? It isn't even possible for cyclists to avoid riding alongside trucks, but lets just make more excuses for killing people.

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But your broken record is getting tiresome.

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you can't bully me into silence. This is an important issue and telling a cyclist to avoid trucks is wrong on the facts and the law. Blind spots can be erased with technology. Dump trucks kill pedestrians and cyclists every year in boston. It is fixable, and I am going to keep talking about it. If you want me to stop, you welcome to help me change things.

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Help me change the law so that it's illegal for a cyclist to roll up on a motorist on the right at an intersection.

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Stevil the troll as usual

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What I can't see.

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Blind spots can be erased with technology.

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Good drivers (and cyclists) avoid blind spots.

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That is the dishonesty of your argument. It is not possible for cyclists to avoid blind spots while the truck is constantly moving the blind spot at a higher speed.

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You obviously don't know anything about defensive driving.

Back to driver's ed for you.

All honesty, how old are you?

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feeling desperate? 1950's driver education is the problem, not the solution.

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You're a complete troll. Russian by chance? Help our dear leader get elected?

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Yeah Russia is boosting Vision zero

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...is awful, especially during the congested rush hours. a couple years ago, i saw a pickup truck drive right up over the back of the VW beetle in front of them trying to force their turn onto the dam road from Edwin Land Blvd.

the same afternoon, about 20-30 minutes later, i saw an SUV clip a the back of a scooter and the scooter driver went tumbling off. thankfully the scooter driver seemed alright, but i'm not surprised pedestrians and bicyclists are at such high risk along that stretch. absolutely nobody looks where they're going pulling in and out of the museum.

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There's gotta be something better they can do with the museum entrance, when I drive there I'm always worried someone's gonna rear-end me when I slow down to pull in. And to pull out you basically have to either wait forever or Masshole your way out. It's not good for anyone.

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I was just walking in the crosswalk with the walk sign at the intersection of Galen and Nonantum in Watertown (right where a woman was killed a few weeks ago), and a car blew through the crosswalk at 30mph.

To be a vulnerable road user in this state requires having your head on a swivel at all times.

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I'm always on foot around town -- in this, "the most walkable of cities" -- and can't tell you how many times I've seen drivers blow through red lights as if they were green. I'm not even talking about speeding up to make a yellow, which is egregious enough. I'm talking about drivers who completely ignore red lights, not even slowing down. It's getting worse by the day, and it's not going to change until this city gets serious about enforcing moving violations. The fines would EASILY cover the costs of more human enforcement and more/better cameras. And more importantly, prevent injuries and save lives.

*Edited to add: And apparently this holds true for Watertown, and probably all of Greater Boston.

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I was thinking about the accident and approaching (walking) the intersection where I was almost hit by a pickup truck a couple of years ago (had the walk light and was in crosswalk), when a woman in a Mercedes blows right through the red light and, luckily, did not hit the two of us crossing in the crosswalk at the same intersection. I yelled at her "red light" and saw her face - totally oblivious.

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I'm a transplant from the west coast and was a road warrior for years, so I've driven most of the big US cities as well as some suburbs and rural areas so I've seen a lot but the blatant disregard for right-of-way, whether pedestrian or vehicular, and stop lights is truly breathtaking. It's not QUITE as bad as New Jersey, but it comes close. Buffalo & its surrounding area is the only place I've found remotely sane driving in the Northeast. I mean, bad drivers are everywhere, but it's remarkably bad here given the combo of extreme tailgating, fast speeds, and ignoring right-of-way/merging order/traffic signals. /end rant

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This is also right about where I was stopped on my bike at a red light and hit from behind by a driver who was also stopped at the light but decided to make an illegal red on red.

The statie who was directing traffic and pulled us both into the barracks parking lot didn't want to issue any tickets though. Make what you will of that.

Edit:added 'on my bike'

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That says it all. A driver broke a law and assaulted you and the cops refused to even issue a ticket. Drivers will continue to kill and injure pedestrians and cyclists because they suffer no consequences.

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Requiring bikes to pull into the traffic lane and not to pass cars on the right at intersections. That seems to be the cause of the vast majority of fatalities involving bikes and cars.

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Or y'know, drivers could just check before turning, like they're legally obligated to do? And maybe actually use their blinker, which they are legally obligated to do?

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Half are below average drivers and even the good ones are far from perfect.

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n/t

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with fat thumbs and bad eyes :-)

should stick to posting with my computer instead of the phone

#Bqhatevwr

:-)=)

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At this point, that’s usually what I do in most instances to ensure the motorist sees me. I should’t have to do so but want to be safe. Everyone check your mirrors and blind spots before turning!

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Like when the duck boat ran over the person on the scooter who did just that?

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I can't even begin to imagine how this would be implemented, what changes to existing infrastructure this would require (but wouldn't get made because cycling infra is a joke here) and of course, completely changing how cyclists like myself would ride to accommodate that. Instead of worrying about gettin right hooked by inattentive drivers I get to worry about being rear-ended by inattentive drivers. Yay?

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That's why he hit me. Thank God I wasn't dead center or he would have literally run me over in his g wagon rather than knocked me off my bike and running my bike over.

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You might think bikes stuck in bumper to bumper traffic would be desirable but the reality would be disappointing.

Every bike on the road that replaces a car is improving the traffic situation for everyone even if it seems unfair that they can pass you.

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But if u r on a bike passing cars on the right at intersections, prepare to die.

That said, i think they mentioned that 17 cyclists have been killed in Boston and Cambridge over the past 7 years. Proportionally, is that a big number? A) how much would you have to spend to fix that problem even by half and B) you aren't going to fix it by telling people to slow down or be better drivers. Nobody is taking right turns at 30 mph and you don't make people better drivers telling them to be better. People make mistakes and it'll stsy that way until we have autonomous vehicles.

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I am over-exaggerating, but you can stand at any traffic light in the Metro area during rush hours and witness 1-2 cars blatantly blow through red... yeah, we have aggressive, disrespectful, entitled drivers.

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drivers don't blow through red lights only during rush-hours. They do it at all hours of the day and night. It's dangerous and disgusting. They put other people's lives, as well as their own, in danger.

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Large Trucks driving in the city and Cambridge seem to be the ones hitting the cyclists. It’s beginning or has always been the pattern.

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The headline says an accident injured a bicyclist, but the first sentence of the story says "between a pickup truck and a pedestrian"

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But I'm also going with "bicyclist" based on the account from somebody who saw a bicycle lying there.

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State Police say it was a bicyclist and, unfortunately, that he died.

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that the crash involved a pedestrian, but subsequently updated it to indicate the victim was a bicyclist.

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From a legal standpoint, a bicyclist is considered a pedestrian while on a road.

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That is 100% wrong.

Functionally, bikes share some characteristics with vehicles, and some with pedestrians. But legally they are vehicles, period.

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I always thought that a bicycle was also a vehicle, and that bicyclists were subject to the rules of the road, just as cars, motorcycles and other motor vehicles are.

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That's really sad. My thoughts are with his family.

I don't want to start a whole bike/ pedestrian / car thing but it's pretty obvious that we need to be better about safety for pedestrians and bikes. In the end it helps drivers as well...no one wants to hit anyone - even by accident. I think it's time for better infrastructure.

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A couple of potential solutions:

(1) Traffic cameras with ticketing-by-mail.

(2) Dedicated and protected bike lines a la Longfellow, Mass Ave in the Back Bay, New York City.
Seems like the powers that be have effectively been punting on what is really a zero-sum choice:

Cars or Bikes?

At some level, as a collective, we're going to have to poach some of what has thusfar been the preserve of cars. It cannot just be status quo into the future. Cambridge is one of the better cases for bike-and-car coexistence. But it's still rough. (Ever bike through Inman?).

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Oh, Inman. The redesign had so much potential. What's even happening with it now?

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Projected to start construction in the Spring.

Here's a copy of the presentation from the last public meeting: https://www.cambridgema.gov/theworks/cityprojects/2016/~/media/C5155B2E4...

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though i was kind of hoping for the peanutabout

thanks!

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ride a bicycle, but even for walking that section of road is just scary, especially crossing over to get to north point park. DCR sucks at roadways

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That section of road is horrible even for very experienced cyclists. There really really needs to be bicycle infrastructure put in there, now.

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You have a major point of interest in the Museum of Science and a major artery connecting north-south traffic and people. You'd think the state (I think it's a state road?) would care an iota about making that safe for all users but nah, we'll just let someone die out there instead.

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...how about some helmets please!

I have a friend who would still be alive today if he had been wearing one.

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I"m so sorry about your friend.

But this person didn't die because he wasn't wearing a helmet. He died because he got hit by a truck.

How about people in cars/trucks/whatever stop hitting cyclists? How about we actually care enough to create protected infrastructure where it's needed most?

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Helmets help a lot for children and the kinds of falls they experience.

Most adult cyclists die from being hit by vehicles. Helmets don't help that.

Why don't we make drivers take driving tests every time they renew so that they are aware of the need to pay attention and not right hook cyclists? How about we blame "ignorant drivers"?

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Very true-I witnessed the accident and in this case a helmet would likely not have prevented this tragedy. But a good idea to wear regardless.

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How about cyclists take a test since they are required by law to follow the rules of the road, yet anyone can just go out and buy a bike to ride with no requirement to know anything about how traffic operates on said roads?

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How do you think making cyclists take a test will make them better and more responsible, since it clearly isn't having that effect on drivers?

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You make the mistake of assuming every accident is the vehicle’s fault. I see cyclists on a daily basis riding just as bad as cars. Problem being they don’t have a 2000lb safety cage around them.

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The vast majority - and I mean VAST majority of cyclists have driver's licenses.

Nice try, toots.

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So the VAST majority should know better than to blow red lights, cut across traffic, and not yield to peds in a crosswalk?

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Car drivers know that stuff is illegal but they keep doing it.

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adults' lives when they're on bicycles or motorcycles or motorbikes or motor scooters.

i've read some rather intense stories about bicyclists who've taken nasty spills, resulting in their helmets having broken in half, thus saving the same thing from happening to their skulls. It's not a joking matter, either. Some adolescents and/or adults, too, have been permanently disabled or have died due to head injuries due to not wearing helmets. It's nothing to dismiss out of hand, or to laugh at.

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Everybody of every age should wear a helmet while bicycling, motorcycling, or doing any rugged sports.

Helmets do help save the lives of people of all ages, not just children who are 12 years old and under.

Helmets are nothing to scoff at.

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Like walking down a sidewalk?

Stop sealioning. You were already told by the admin to knock it off.

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IMAGE(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c4/6b/60/c46b600cfeb0726c6ccb62c253b0ac81.jpg)

Caption: Precious cargo: Denmark's Crown Princess Mary put on a chic sartorial display to retrieve her twin children, Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent

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Do you think a plastic and styrofoam helmet would have saved someone being run over by a dump truck?

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...how about some helmets please!

I have a friend who would still be alive today if he had been wearing one.

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Hey looks it’s THAT guy

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I get it with the helmets but you are not going to change human behavior for those who do not want to wear 'em. And, while they do protect, if you get whacked by a vehicle, the impact can kill you, with or without a helmet.

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Evidence that ADULTS are less likely to die of head injuries when RUN OVER BY DUMP TRUCKS!

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If you're just being snarky, it's not a funny joke, at all.

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Because it is offensive to bring up helmets when a person is run over by a car. It would not have helped. If you want to promote helmets, find a another place to talk about it.

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The discussion of helmets is just as legitimate a subject to bring up on this thread. Maybe a helmet didn't help this particular person who was run over by a truck, but helmets can and do save the lives of people of all ages. If you think that plenty of people don't die or become physically and/or mentally incapacitated for life due to not wearing helmets, you just might want to think again.

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It would not have prevented the death. Helmets do very little to help adult cyclists. It is victim blaming and offensive. At least make an effort to google a subject before you presume to make hurtful comments about another persons death.

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In this case, a helmet would not have saved the guy, but, there are plenty of instances, however, where children, adolescent and adult bicyclists' lives and overall physical and emotional/psychological welfare and well-being have been saved by helmets, which is what I'm referring to, here. A bicyclist doesn't have to get run over by a truck in order to get a permanently incapacitating injury, or an injury that kills him or her outright. It's not blaming this present cycling victim who got mowed down by a truck to point that out. You're getting too uptight about nothing, like a bunch of others here.

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Would you discuss helmets at his wake? Would you have suggested that cyclists should wear helmets if you were standing on the sidewalk looking at his crushed body? Have some empathy. Also learn some science

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/do-bike-helmet-la...

Head injuries are the major cause of death for pedestrians, either hitting their heads on pavement or into the windshields when they are hit by cars. Many of the injuries to people in cars come from head injuries. So why aren't pedestrians encouraged to wear helmets? Or drivers?

Also, didn't Adam ask you to stop posting in this thread?

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How about we prohibit bicycles from multi-lane state highways (e.g. 16, 28, 60) instead.

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That would effectively prohibit cyclists from crossing the Charles east of River St/Cambridge St.

The BU Bridge carries 2, the Harvard/Mass Ave bridge carries 2A, the Longfellow carries 3, the dam carries 28, and the N Washington St bridge is the southern end of 99.

How about instead we try actually accommodating bikes!

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Totally willing to build a separate bike bridge to connect the esplanade with the bike path on the cambridge side.

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Most of the traffic is commuters.

What they should do is make the longfellow bike-only (with trains) and make Boston rip out that giant flowerpot/divided highway thing on Cambridge St. and put in a protected system like in the North End to connect to downtown.

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The vast majority of the commuters who drive along Route 28 are commuters who come into the city from a lot of the northern suburbs, such as Medford and Malden, to name afew.

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Prohibit trucks in the city during rush hours.

Require drivers from Bumfucks to have a special urban license to be off an interstate inside 128.

After all, it isn't cyclists that are the problem IT IS TRUCK DRIVERS.

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Routes 28, 16 and 60 are multi-lane state highways, and are really not meant for bicycling on.

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They are currently not designed for bicycling, correct. They should be redesigned with protected bike infrastructure to accommodate more bicyclists and thereby reduce auto congestion. Ta-da!

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In fact, it is already intermittently closed.

Going over the dam is impossible on a bike - well, possible, but difficult at rush hour.

There needs to be an apprpriate detour with bollard separated bike lanes for the duration.

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but This:

How about we prohibit bicycles from multi-lane state highways (e.g. 16, 28, 60) instead.

is an excellent idea whose time has come. Multi-lane state highways, such as Routes 28, 16 and 60 are really not designed for bicycling on. As someone who lives right near Route 28, I've seen quite a few people bicycling on that highway, which they do at the risk of limb and life, which makes no sense.

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Coming from Lechmere when you drive toward Boston under the green line overpass, there are three lanes there, there is space for maybe 2.5 lanes, and there are NO LINES PAINTED ON THE ROAD. So many near collisions there I cannot count, and I feel like its a spot where Boston goes "It's Cambridge's problem," and Cambridge goes "It's Boston's problem" and in reality it's a state road, or some dumbfuckery like that. SOMEONE PLEASE ADDRESS THIS ISSUE. Damn, I have actually thought about stealing orange cones, buying spray paint, and doing it myself.
Another issue is that the whoe road from that point all the way to storrow zigs and zags, as in, the lanes shift, and again, the lines are faded/not there, the shift happens at intersections where there are boxes drawn. At night I cannot tell you how many almost-head on collisions I've had because folks don't shift with the lanes, there is no clear demarcation to follow. When its dark and raining its even worse. I know how the road goes because I drive it all the time but the Lyft driver from Marlboro who has been in this country for 73 days will come close to side swiping me every freakin' time.
TLDR: this entire stretch of road from Cambridge to Leverett Circle needs some serious attention, bike lanes, repainting lines, signage, the works.

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DCR just doesn't give a crap. The roads are like living in the 60s, with 60s traffic.

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there weren't nearly as many cars on the roads as there are today.

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We really need to rein back all the space we give to cars.

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extensive and efficient, the need for driving cars right into Boston and Cambridge wouldn't be so great.

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infastructure is the first way to fix this--and you pay for it by forcing all motorists to take an additional cycling awareness test to keep their drivers licenses. problem solved.

ultimately though, that's just a band-aid, and all cars must be banned in Boston

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Updated the original post based on a correction from State Police.

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So that's two dump truck killings in what, one month?

Maybe someone needs to teach dump truck drivers how to drive?

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DCR committed to restripe this stretch of road with bike lanes once the Longfellow Bridge was fully reopened to cars, which it now has been for months. The striping plan has been ready to go for years. Cambridge has reminded DCR of this commitment but they still have not restriped the road. If they had already done so, it may have saved a life.

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How awful. I'm not convinced anything short of bollards will really help there but the fact that they're not even putting paint down is terrible.

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How would striped bike lanes or bollards have done anything to prevent this particular crash?

EDIT:
According to State Police both the truck driver and cyclists were waiting to make a right turn. A wide enough bike lane that would force the driver be at a 90 degree angle might have made a difference.

I know at the entrance to Storrow at Beacon St in Charlesgate doesn't do this. Drivers making a right just pull over into the striped area more or less eliminating any possibility of getting a 90 degree view of the bike lane.

http://www.mspnews.org/2018/11/bicyclist-struck-and-killed-in-cambridge/...

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That's a fair point, I have been almost right-hooked more than once at Mass and Beacon, even after they put the separated "lane" there (which of course was only put there after someone died).

But your edit is exactly right. If it's done correctly it could likely have prevented that. Also, staggered green lights like on Western would have prevented that crash.

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This is another tragedy - my condolences to the friends and family of the deceased. Their lives will never be the same. It is totally horrible.

Without minimizing the incident at all, I did want to comment on one thing that will be a long bike thread. I live in a 128 suburb, and I just took my first ride in a while (on a blue bike) up Atlantic Ave from Pearl St. to Fleet St. The bike lane on Atlantic, while not perfect (especially with the delivery vehicles blocking it every few hundred feet) is definitely an improvement over the last time I rode up that way. It is still pretty harrowing for anyone but so-called "strong and fearless" or "Enthused and Confident" riders though.

That said, the curb-protected bike lane on Atlantic from Christopher Columbus Park north is AMAZING. Even with the idiot jogger inexplicably running southbound in the northbound bike lane in spite of the 10-12 foot wide sidewalk just to her left (my right), there was plenty of space it was just and unbelievably pleasant experience.

I felt a least as safe out on Atlantic as I do in the 128 town in which I live, where there is absolutely no bike infrastructure (sorry, I don't consider sharrows anything but a waste of perfectly good paint).

Making improvements like these are not going to bring today's deceased rider back, and we need to know why DCR had not made the improvements that they apparently committed to by the MoS. Making improvements like the Atlantic Ave/Commercial protected lane will, however, reduce the number of families that get the awful news that today's deceased's family received. They will also have all kinds of additional benefits for riders, city residents and everyone else in the city. We need to keep pressing our elected officials.

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With State Police account of what happened.

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General Observation : What's the deal with all the new car tv commercials that show a driver mad dogging it in a city enviroment, quickly accelerating, cutting through alleys, racing to and through red lights. One even has a dude driving like a bat out of hell while listening to one of his daughters give iGadget up to the second short cuts , to meet up with his wife ? as she runs a road race. Who drivs like that anyhow ?

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Irresponsible people...that's who!

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The bike and personal belongings can be seen near the crosswalk on O'Brien westbound between Museum Way and Land Blvd.. That doesn't fit with both vehicles making a right turn from O'Brien onto Museum Way, as claimed by MSP.

The physical evidence is more consistent with turning right from Museum Way onto O'Brien, intending to take a left on Land Blvd. During the investigation, the truck was parked in the right left turning lane from O'Brien westbound to Land Blvd. The bike looked like it had been run over.

As to the traffic there, I blame the City of Cambridge for allowing all the redevelopment in former rail and industrial land in a place not needing ANY more traffic. The dump truck may have dropped a load at Boston Sand & Gravel, thus was exiting Museum Way. The red truck lacked stealth technology so the cyclist should have been able to see it and avoid it.

Other stupid overdevelopment include North Cambridge/Alewife, Longwood area, and Fenway/Boylston area.

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many motorists treat it as optional for the first few seconds. I can't believe how often I observe this. I drive a fair amount around the city and it is everywhere. I agree that camera enforcement with huge fines is the only way, because the idea of causing a serious accident resulting in death does not seem to deter many drivers. And there isn't enough live police enforcement of traffic violations. But something has to change. My sympathies to this young man's friends and family.

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It is a pattern. I've tragically lost track of how many cyclists have lost their lives under low-visibility trucks around here.

Obviously you can't control large vehicles passing you. But please try to avoid being alongside one, if you can help it. This includes tour buses and duckboats. If you come up on one stopped at a light, please just pull up 5-6 ft. short of its rear bumper. Even if you have a clear bike lane ahead of you.

These ongoing tragedies have really drilled home the point of better-safe-than-sorry when it comes to giving wide berth to trucks. Even if the road laws are technically on the side of the cyclist.

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How about trucks following the law? When a vehicle passes you they are responsible for yielding before turning right.

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It happened right in front of me. I was heading North on O'Brien and stopped at the stop line with a red. I saw the dump truck coming off the Gilmore and turning from my right but couldn't see the bicyclist as he was on the opposite side. As the dump truck passed in front of me all of a sudden I saw the bicyclist and his bike on the road 50' in front of me. There was a large pool of blood and he was not moving. It did not appear he was wearing a helmet but in this case it's doubtful it would have mattered with the weight of truck and dual rear wheels. Some pedestrians from the crosswalk immediately came to his aid but it appeared nothing could be done. And as stated by the State Police the driver stayed on the scene. I think everyone there was in shock-I looked at the driver next to me who driving a big red pickup, maybe a construction worker, and the look on his face said it all-simply horrific. I used to drive through there all the time 5 years ago and it was a horrible intersection and streets then but now worse. This should be a priority fix. Deepest sympathy to his friends and family.

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that's awful. I'm so sorry you witnessed it.

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The state police said they were both waiting to make a right on to Museum way. If the truck was coming off the Gilmore it wouldn't be making a right on to Museum way. Was it making a left?

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Definitely a right turn,

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Thanks for your witness account and confirming the truck took a right. Can you clarify again where the truck and the cyclist where coming from? I am still not understanding the general picture. Thanks a lot!

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With bicyclist's name: He was a BU grad student.

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That particular road, Lands Boulevard, is a state highway, however, is not meant for bicycling on. There are too many drivers that are irresponsible, yes, but cyclists have to also be more careful and not bike on highways that aren't meant for bicycling. I've seen more than one cyclist on the McGrath/Obrien Highway, and they fail to realize that they're endangering their limb and life by cycling on there.

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I've ridden on sections of both McGrath and Obrien Highways and Land Blvd. Cycling is not banned on any of them. There are safer alternatives and also sections (specifically the overpass and underpass in Somerville) that I would avoid but cycling isn't prohibited on the basis of irresponsible drivers.

I wouldn't consider Land Blvd threatening, but any of the intersections from Lechmere to Storrow are really bad and I would recommend inexperienced cyclists avoid them. You need to take the whole lane on the way through, be assertive, and expect people to run the lights. Those are long lights, and the longer they are the more people will run them at high speed.

Large trucks are always a major threat on ANY road due to their poor visibility. You don't want to be beside them, directly in front of them, or directly behind them because they screen you from oncoming traffic. The best safeguard against them is distance.

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This:

I've ridden on sections of both McGrath and Obrien Highways and Land Blvd. Cycling is not banned on any of them.

presents a problem. Bicycling should be banned on those highways, because cars often drive too fast on both McGrath/O'brien Hwy and Land Blvd. Both of those highways are also rather horrendous at rush hour, as well

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That's just stupid. Traffic enforcement and improved road design is how you deal with speeding. As far as rush hour goes, bikes are often the fastest vehicles in the city during that period.

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much stricter traffic enforcements, especially when it comes to things like speeding and running red lights and/or STOP signs.

There's also a lot of poor planning and designing of streets and roads around here that has to be addressed. The number of bicyclists who've been killed in and around Boston indicates that biking around here, especially on highways such as McGrath/Obrien Hiwy, and Land Blvd, particularly at rush-hour, isn't safe at all.

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:=

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Because you said that cyclists should be banned because drivers keep breaking the law.

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Another poster here on this thread pointed out something that makes great, good sense: routes 28, 16 and 60 are multi-laned state highways, which are really not meant for bicyclists to be on. Bicyclists should also display some common sense, and, unfortunately, a lot of them don't. It's not blaming the victim to point out that far too many cyclists don't realize that they're taking their lives in their hands when they bicycle on those highways.

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That you don't know what you are talking about, as usual, but are hellbent on destroying yet another blog run by Adam with your vitriolic concern trolling and personal attacks.

Just fuck off.

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you're the one who's making personal attacks on me, without knowing a goddamned thing about me, and you're getting all hot and bothered because I retaliated by giving back what you've been giving me.

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Hell: already there

Bitch: wear it like a crown

Stupid: I went to MIT at age 17, got a PhD while raising small kids and working ... and all of it without any support from my parents/trust fund.

Don't think so.

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Hell: already there
Bitch: wear it like a crown
Stupid: I went to MIT at age 17, got a PhD while raising small kids and working ... and all of it without any support from my parents/trust fund.
Don't think so.

All I can say to you is---Biiiiiig fucking deal!

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When all cyclists don't have to work for a living like you don't, maybe they will follow your legally irrelevant "advice".

I suppose we can blame you for being outside your house when something bad happens to you, too?

How about you just go fuck off?

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I don't agree with mplo's comment but it was neither obscene nor obnoxious.

I haven't boned up on the UH TOS lately but pretty sure it it prohibits telling people to fuck off.

Adam, you'll review this, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks.

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There are too many arrogant jerks on here (not you, though) who are completely intolerant of others' differences or whatever. They're not worth it!

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What is more arrogant then concern trolling every story? Consistently ignoring facts is not a difference I am obliged to tolerate.

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:=)

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You don’t have any. I really can’t tell whether this is Sabotage or mental illness. Of course I intimidate you.

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for a living. I worked a full-time job for 16 years, before getting outsourced, so don't get feeling too snotty, or virtuous.

You're telling me to fuck off?!? Here's a suggestion: Why don't you do the same?

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Victim blaming is a natural human response to tragedy, but it is ignorant and uncivil. Sort of like pooping your pants. Clean your self off and grow up.

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Why don't YOU clean up YOUR attitude and shut up, bitch!

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Go fuck yourself.

You can say what you want, but so can I.

Go fuck yourself.

You can say what you want, but you know what? Running your goddamn keyboard about shit you don't know shit about HAS CONSEQUENCES!

Like people repeatedly telling you to GO FUCK YOURSELF.

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SwirlyGrrl--you're a goddamned fucking bitch, who has no common decency. Your assholism knows absolutely no bounds. Why don't YOU go and fuck yourself.

People like YOU have a lot to do with why Donald Trump got to be President of the United States in the first place.

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No more of this sort of crap, 'kay?

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Why not tell SwirllyGrrl and Cinnamngrrl to stop giving me crap? Then, I'll lay off of them.

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cinnamongrl. It's not blaming the victim to say that bicyclists put their own safety and they own lives at stake when they bicycle on these multi-laned state highways, such as Route 28 and Land Boulevard, not to mention route 16 and 60.

Also, studies have shown that in fatalities that involves motor vehicles (i. e. trucks and cars) vs. bicyclists, that 80% of the time, the bicyclist has been at fault.

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Your comments are the absolute definition of victim blaming. If you were present at this accident and you walked up and we’re trying to help the victims and assist emergency medical two technicians with your comments be appropriate? No they would be evil. And they’re not less evil now that you’re sitting in your safe little house in front of your computer screen. That’s why it’s offensive Just like your comments about students whose houses burned down. I assume you can read so why don’t you research a subject before you pretend that you have qualified to express your opinion.

What study? Go ahead an give the author if you don’t know how links work.

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First of all, It's not victim-blaming to point out that these multiple-lane state highways (i. e. routes 23, 16 and 60) are not particularly safe to bicycle on. I've seen a number of people bicycling on route 28 (I live right near that highway, and drive on it quite often), and they don't realize that they're taking their lives in their hands when they bicycle on that highway.

It's not wrong to say that often enough, students engage in stuff that put themselves at risk of fire and other worse things, thus compounding problems already produced by slumlords, who failed to put in a second egress when they were supposed to do so, or to update the wiring of given off-campus residences that the students choose to live in.

I did research the horrific death due to smoke inhalation due to a fire in Allston a few years ago, and made my own conclusions; that while the landlady violated certain codes by not putting in a second egress like she was supposed to, that the fire department discovered that the fire was caused by improperly disposed of smoking material. The student(s) who'd been smoking in that house really shouldn't have been, either.

Therefore, regardless of what you think, I stand by what I've said.

.

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what is your "own research"? This is why I think you are just trolling these threads. Insurance companies, as well as government safety offices keep track of both fires and automobile crashes. These agencies seek the causes of such incidents with professional research. It is also possible that some of these studies conflict with each other. I have published links repeatedly on both subjects. You have failed to even read these links, much less offer criticism of their methods.

In this article that we are discussing, the State police clearly state that the bicycle was operating responsibly. Pretending that this stretch of road is a highway because it has a route number is ridiculous, when the speed limit is 25. It is extremely heartless and offensive to do it when someone has died. Wrong on the facts and beyond rude.

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Route 28 is a somewhat smaller state highway, but it's a highway nonetheless. I said that I was sorry that the bicyclist got killed, and I meant it. You're accusing me of being heartless, because I said that Route 28 is not a safe route to bicycle on. I live right near that route, so I know. A lot of cars drive up and down that highway, not just at rush-hour, but at all hours of the day and night. The speed limit on Route 28 is not just 25 miles per hour, but 35 miles per hour, which is fast enough. I've seen bicyclists riding on Route 28, both day and night, and they take their lives in their hands when they do so. One has to bear in mind that there are different types of highways. Not all highways are big ones like Route s 2 and 128, I-495, and I-90, for example.

I personally think YOU'RE beyond rude, nasty and arrogant. Don't bother to talk to me agin. Thanks.

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According to the State Police, that cyclist was not at fault. It is unfeeling to post your uninformed comments blaming cyclist for riding legally on this road. Only coming up with this suggestion in thread discussing someone's death means that victim blaming is your only goal. Where is rte 28 thirty five miles an hour? Unless marked otherwise, its 25. And in front of the Museum of Science it's 25. Ignoring fact is disrespectful.

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