Cyclist Killed By Truck Driver

In another in a sad series of drivers of large vehicles killing cyclists,  Paula Sharaga age 69 was killed in Cambridge after being hit by a cement truck.

She was a peace activist, a librarian and will be missed sorely by her husband and family.

Details of the incident are still unclear, but what is clear is that whenever we hear of a pedestrian or cyclists being killed most of the time its someone driving a very large vehicle through a very crowded city.  Almost always the very large vehicle is lacking basic safety gear that would make the vehicle more safe in these situations.

How many people will need to die, before we make massive changes to what sort of traffic we allow in our cities, and what sort of safety equipment we require for them to have?  Large vehicles should have mandatory side guards, side mirrors, low mandatory speed limits, backup cameras, make them drive at non-peak traffic times, and for very very large vehicles mandatory front and rear safety vehicles to drive with them.

more here, and here.

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Cyclist Killed In Dorchester

A cyclist was killed by a truck driver in Dorchester today. More details when I get it.

(warning this article is written pretty poorly) Link

Edit:

The young man killed was 19 year old Antawani Wright, there is a gofundme to help pay for his funeral costs.

More info about this lovely young man here here and here.

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Driver Found Who Murdered Rick Archer, Ghost Bike Ceremony And Protest Tonight!

Rick Archer

From the globe:

The man allegedly responsible for a hit-and-run crash that claimed the life of a bicyclist in Back Bay last month is due to appear in Boston Municipal Court Wednesday to face at least one criminal charge.

Bicyclist Rick Archer, 29, was riding his bicycle near Commonwealth Avenue and Clarendon Street at 3:19 a.m. on April 30 when he was hit by a car whose driver then sped away. Archer died two days later in an area hospital.

From the BPD:

UPDATE: BPD Investigators Apprehend Suspect Wanted in Connection to Fatal Hit-and-Run Incident in the Back Bay: Eight days after a cyclist was struck and killed riding his bike in the area of Commonwealth Ave and Clarendon Street, BPD Homicide Detectives have arrested the individual responsible for the accident. After an extensive and comprehensive investigation, officers arrested Malone Kidanemariam, 25, Boston and charged him with Leaving the Scene of an Accident Causing Death. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court Court on Wednesday, May 10, 2017.

Said Commissioner William Evans, “I want to commend my investigators for all of their hard work and long hours in making this arrest. I also want to thank all the community members who provided help and made calls to our anonymous tip line. When a motorist strikes a pedestrian or cyclist in the City of Boston, the individual behind the wheel is expected to stop, check on the welfare of the person struck and call 9-1-1 for help. For whatever reason, the suspect in this case chose not to do that, and, given the charges he’s now facing, I would imagine he most certainly wishes he had.”

The facts and circumstances surrounding the original incident are as follows: At about 3:19 AM, on Sunday, April 30, 2017, officers assigned to District D-4 (South End) responded to a radio call for a cyclist struck in the area of Commonwealth Avenue and Clarendon Street. On arrival, officers located a male victim, approximately 30-years-old, suffering from what appeared to be life threatening injuries. The victim was transported to an area hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased.

The Boston Police Department continues to actively review the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident.  Anyone with information is strongly urged to contact detectives at (617) 343-4470.

Community members wishing to assist this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).  The Boston Police Department will stringently guard and protect the identities of all those who wish to help this investigation in an anonymous manner.

There is a ghost bike going to be installed for Rick tonight.

A Ghost Bike Memorial ceremony will be held for Rick Archer, the cyclist who was killed in a hit and run crash this past weekend. Rick was an activist, both for bike advocacy and humanitarian relief efforts. While he was a talented cyclist, he along with so many other riders have expressed the need for a safer riding environment in the city of Boston.

This event is not only to honor the memory of Rick Archer, but to ride in his name and make a statement. We want to raise awareness and make the drivers of the city as well as city officials know, that cyclists are human beings, and their lives MATTER.

Reverend Laura Everett will be leading a beautiful ghost bike ceremony for Rick, where some of his closest friends will speak about the wonderful individual that he was.

Following the ceremony, we are calling on all cyclists to come out and Ride for Ricky. We will ride from his ghost bike ceremony site to City Hall, and actively disrupt a budget meeting being held by the Transportation Commissioner.

What we want – MORE FUNDING! During the disruption of this meeting we will ask for more funding for projects like vision zero, slower streets, and bike infrastructure:

http://www.visionzeroboston.org/
http://bostoncyclistsunion.org/advocacy-campaigns/bikebudget/

Did you know the city of Boston only spends $5 per person for cyclist safety while cities like San Francisco spend $75 per person! Yea I think it’s time we balanced the scales.

Tragedies like this can be avoided, and if you are a cyclist and are able, please come out and show your support. This will be televised and we will get the city to listen.

If you cannot be there and you feel inclined to help, you can donate to:
https://www.gofundme.com/rick-archers-memorial-services-fund

We hope to see you there. Thanks!

More from the Globe.

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Cyclist Murdered In Hit And Run, Police Still Looking For The Murderer

Rick Archer was hit around 3:30 a.m on April 30th in the Backbay, he has since died from his injuries.  The driver fled the scene.

They think they might have found the car, but are still looking for the driver.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (617)343-4470.  Or go here for more contact details.

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Cyclist Bernard Lavins Killed In Porter Square

Via:

A male cyclist was killed after a crash with an 18-wheeler truck in Porter Square during rush hour this morning, according to police. The incident happened around 8:08 a.m. on Massachusetts Avenue near Christopher’s restaurant, at 1920 Mass. Ave., in the direction of Harvard Square. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Both sides of Mass. Ave. near the crash will be closed for some time as investigators reconstruct the crash, according to Jeremy Warnick, communications director for the Cambridge Police Department.

1st vids fatal bike Ax investigation underway #Portersquare. Avoid area #CambMA pic.twitter.com/eLqJEddbsC

— Scott Tetreault (@BostonNewsMan) October 5, 2016

My heart goes out to his friends and family. It is very sad to see another fatality with a large truck, perhaps its time to think about banning them from the city during certain hours, or making it mandatory that they have more safety equipment, or in any way addressing this problem.

We can’t keep fixing problems AFTER someone dies.  We have to fix them before it happens.

Personally I would love to ban large trucks from the city, either during certain hours, or totally.  This is a problem that is solvable, we just currently value money over human life, so we have not fixed it yet.

More info when I get it.

EDIT:

The cyclists has been identified as 60 year old Bernard Lavins of Lexington.

There are also details emerging about the gruesome nature of the accident.

via:

Richard Fries of the advocacy group MassBike came upon the scene during his commute to downtown Boston.

“Suddenly I saw the aprons where they tried to conceal where the victim was, and then the moment you see that,” he said, speaking later in the day. “So many bike riders go through there.”

Fries estimates three out of 10 commuters in Porter Square are cyclists — and the intersection can be treacherous.

“This truck hit this cyclist square on … the body was 60 feet behind and the bike was wedged under this guy’s truck,” Fries said.

We must take proactive action on improving intersections and policies BEFORE these deaths occur. We can not allow cyclists to die in dangerous intersections before we take action.

Every time we hear about these things we learn that EVERYONE knew how dangerous a specific intersection was, and yet we did nothing until someone was killed.

Cycling is the future of transportation in this city, not single occupancy cars, and large trucks have no place in the city during most of the day (or ever). We must develop our policies and intersections accordingly.

EDIT:

Seems the safety record of the trucking company involved in this crash is pretty bad.

Porter Square cyclist death: Boston Globe whitewashes 4 Mitlitsky Eggs, mentions 2012 review not 60% inspection fail rate pic.twitter.com/fkj6tsTdz3

— Brett (@bikewazowski) October 6, 2016

An awful lot of violations for speeding, bad brakes, and driving while looking at your phone.

These things have real life consequences as we have tragically observed. I am really starting to think that large trucks should be banned from the city except during certain hours, and perhaps with an escort.

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