Female Cyclist Killed In South Boston

(picture via)

“It appears the TT was turning left from A St on West Broadway when the accident occurred ”

More here.

Another in a series of horrific and tragic events…more information when I get it. I hate posting these things, we must do better at protecting cyclists. My thoughts go out to her friends and family.

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(via)

Boston Police Investigate Fatal Pedestrian Accident in the area of W. Broadway & A Streets in South Boston

At about 3:50pm, on Monday, September 17, 2012, officers from District C-6 (South Boston) responded to an accident involving a bicyclist and a tractor trailer truck in the area of W. Broadway & A Streets. On arrival, officers located a female victim suffering from what appeared to be life threatening injuries. The victim, who had been riding a bicycle, was pronounced deceased at the scene. The operator of the vehicle remained on the scene and did make his identity known to responding officers.

The Boston Police Department is actively investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident. No citations have been issued at this time.

More news here (warning graphic description of crash)

Update more video here

They reveal that it was a woman in her 30’s. Tragically young. (note they mention this website, it pains me greatly that this is the sort of event that draws reporters here, and not the hundreds of happy events that occur all year long. Be safe out there everyone).

more video here:

WHDH-TV –

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Male Cyclist Killed In Dorchester This Morning

In sad news a man was killed on his bicycle this morning, the herald reports.

State police say a 63-year-old man riding his bicycle along Morrissey Boulevard has been struck and killed by a vehicle.

Authorities say the victim was on the outbound side of the road at about 12:30 a.m. Friday when he was struck by a pickup truck.

The bicyclist was thrown from his bicycle and suffered severe injuries and was declared dead at the scene.

The pickup trucks driver, a 47-year-old man, called 911 for assistance and stayed at the scene. He was eventually taken to Boston Medical Center with minor injuries.

No names were immediately released.

The crash remains under investigation and no charges have been filed.

A sad day. My thoughts go out to his friends and family. More info when I get it. As always feel free to post details in the comments.

UPDATE:

The driver has been charged with drunk driving via DotNews:

Michael Ahern, 46, of Dorchester, is scheduled for arraignment today on charges he ran over and killed a man riding his bicycle down Morrissey Boulevard early Friday, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office reports.

Doan Bui, 63, was pronounced dead at the scene following the 12:30 a.m. crash near Malibu Beach.

According to DA Dan Conley’s office, Ahern was arrested at his Adams Corner home on Sunday after a State Police investigation. Ahern called 911 from the scene of the Morrissey Boulevard crash and remained there until police and EMTs arrived. Ahern was also transported to Boston Medical Center and released shortly thereafter.

Prosecutors will formally charge Ahern with motor vehicle homicide, operating under the influence of alcohol, operating to endanger and speeding.

Ahern is a well-known building contractor who — along with his wife— recently opened a new restaurant, The Sweet Life, in Lower Mills. Ahern has also been a key partner in another popular Lower Mills eatery, The Ledge.

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Female Cyclist Killed By MBTA Bus On Huntington Ave

EDIT: The name of the cyclist has been released it was Kelsey Rennebohm, who died late Friday. She was a Seattle native who was enrolled in the counseling psychology master’s degree program at Boston College. (via)

More here

A female cyclist was killed when struck by an MBTA bus Friday night. This is not the first time someone has been killed at this location…its about damn time something is done to make this stretch of road safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

From CBS:

A woman cyclist was killed in a crash involving an MBTA bus Friday night in Boston.

MBTA Police say the accident happened on Huntington Avenue outbound at Forsyth Street.

Investigators say several vehicles were in close proximity to the accident site when it happened and it was not immediately clear which one had collided with the cyclist.

After a thorough investigation, police say they found evidence that the MBTA bus had made contact with the victim.

The bus operator has been questioned. No charges have been filed. The investigation is ongoing.

The victim’s name has not yet been released, but police said she was in her twenties.

With no breakdown lane or bike lane on much of Huntington Avenue, the stretch of road is notoriously dangerous for cycling.

From WCVB:

A woman who was riding her bike was struck and killed by an MBTA bus Friday evening, transit officials said.

The bicyclist, in her 20s, was killed while riding on Huntington Avenue near Northeastern University around 10:30 p.m.

The woman, whose name was not immediately released, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on Huntington Avenue at Forsyth Street.

“The bus operator has been questioned as part of this ongoing police investigation,” said spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

He said details of the accident remain undetermined and forensic experts are investigating.

A police spokesman said no citations have been issued and the investigation into what caused the accident is ongoing.

EDIT: update from The Globe

Officials are investigating the involvement of an MBTA bus in an accident that left a woman dead after she fell from her bicycle into traffic Friday night, police said.

“An MBTA bus was involved in the accident,” said Officer James Kenneally, a Boston police spokesman.

The victim was in her late 20s, Kenneally said. He said no charges have been issued at this time.

The accident occurred around 10:25 p.m. on the outbound side of Huntington Avenue at its intersection with Forsyth Street, said Joe Pesaturo, an MBTA spokesman, in an email Saturday.

“The preliminary investigation is focused on an MBTA Route 39 bus that was in the area of the accident at the time the 911 call was received,” Pesaturo said.

Police questioned the driver of the bus, he said.

“Like others, he was interviewed by police,” Pesaturo said.

The accident occurred near the Northeastern University campus, but the victim had no relation to the university, said Renata Nyul, a spokeswoman for the school.

Boston police could not say whether the victim was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.

Pesaturo would not comment on whether the bus driver was aware of any involvement in the accident.

“Investigators are working to establish facts,” he said.

The intersection where the accident occurred was blocked off by police tape Friday night leaving a stretch of Huntington Avenue closed.

The incident is under investigation by transit and city police.

EDIT: The Mayor has made a comment (via)

“That’s the third accident we’ve had where somebody has lost their life and I’ve asked the transportation department to take a look at that roadway to see what we can do to make it safer for cyclists and automobiles,” said Boston Mayor Tom Menino.

I am glad that at least there is the appearance of action, it will be up to all of us to make sure they follow through with this.

EDIT: The BCU is reporting she may have fallen into the street, I agree with them that bike lanes + reduced speed would go a long way to making this road better.

Eyewitnesses to the crash told the police that Rennebohm appeared to have lost her balance and fallen off her bike from the sidewalk and into the path of a Route 39 MBTA bus, according to Boston Police Department sources familiar with the investigation.

This new information puts a different spin on events for many cyclists who may have assumed that Rennebohm’s injuries were received while riding her bike in the street. At the same time, it doesn’t mean that the instincts of those who are demanding bike lanes on Huntington Avenue are wrong. In fact, the way the accident happened highlights a secondary benefit that bike lanes have for pedestrians—-that of creating a buffer space between moving traffic and people on the sidewalk. It may also, as details unfold, speak to the need to reduce speeds on the street.

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Changing The Way We Talk About Fatal Incidents

This summer has seen the tragic deaths of three young cyclists in the Boston area. I have had the displeasure of writing articles about them all. Covering these incidents (for lack of a better word) I have noticed a general trend in the way people talk about these events.

All one has to do is browse the comment section of any of the news stories about these crashes (including on this site), and you will see that the reactions to these deaths seem to fall into a couple general categories.

In no particular order they are:

Blame the/all motorist(s)
Blame the infrastructure/laws
Blame the/all cyclist(s)
Defend the/all Motorist(s)
Defend the/all cyclist(s)
Express sympathy (for the motorist, or the cyclist, or both)

I am stuck that people talk a lot but don’t actually say anything. What I mean by that is that people get so focused on one aspect of their argument that they miss the chance to actually learn much from these deaths. And learn we must, it is simply unacceptable that these young people are dying on their bicycles. When anyone dies on a bicycle, we all are diminished, no matter what way we choose to travel around town.

It is no wonder that these conversations seem to so quickly spiral down into general bickering. Whenever someone has died, saying anything that even remotely sounds like criticism of the recently departed sounds heartless. Similarly anything that even remotely sounds like it trivializes the death also sounds crass and cruel. These young people have paid the ultimate price for some form of carelessness (be it on their part, or someone else’s), piling on “you should have worn a helmet” seems pretty low.

But where does that leave us? Is it really Us vs Them? As cyclists are we forced by our shared camaraderie and decency to always blame motorists? Can we really not have a conversation about these issues because the specter of death looms so large that we are unable to discuss the topics in a fact based way? I don’t know, but I hope not.

Ever since Eric Hunt died and I met his father I have been thinking about these issues. Over and over in my head I have been thinking about safety, infrastructure, helmets, how we convince people to follow rules, if following the rules is the answer…in short I have been highly confused and seeking a cogent way to change the behavior of people I see as acting dangerously, both cyclist and motorist. Now that two other young people have died tragically early in life, my confusion has only grown.

This is not going to be a blog post where I wrap this all up in a neat package. I don’t have an answer to my own questions, and am not sure I have had enough time to allow my emotions to calm down so I can think rationally about these things.

Here is what I think I know. We have an infrastructure and a culture that is not conducive to safe bicycling. We have road users of all classes (pedestrian, motorist, cyclist) that are breaking the law in large numbers. We have several safety options available to us as cyclists (helmets, following the rules). It is unclear how effective these options are, but there does some to be some evidence that shows that it is better to avail yourself of them rather than avoid them. And finally we have road users of all kinds engaging in behaviors that are unsafe for themselves and others.

So when a cyclist dies in a fatal car on bike accident, and is not wearing a helmet, what do we do? How do we discuss this incident in a respectful manner? How do we learn from an incident like this without belittling the loss of a human life? What can we learn? How can we avoid such an incident in the future? Is this even the thing we should be talking about? Again, I don’t know.

Deep inside me something says that there must be a middle ground of respectful inspection and introspection that leads to some greater understanding of safety. There must be a way we can change the world and ourselves to make us all safer. It would be a monumental tragedy if we learn nothing from these deaths.

I am reluctant to leave the comment section for this post open, as I fear that this conversation will also degrade into the lowbrow bickering that has sprung up so many other places, but I feel confident that you will all discuss how we can change the conversation from “Us vs Them.”

So I ask you all, how can we learn from these fatal crashes, how can we make ourselves safer, how can we convince fellow road users of all stripes to be safer when they operate their chosen form of vehicle, what can we do so that no more young people will end up dead? How can we do it in such a way that is respectful to the memory of our fellow cyclists who have died? I don’t know the answer, but I am going to keep thinking about it.

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This Is A Tragedy, Not Only Because Of What Happened, But Because It Could Have Been Prevented

This little girl is at her parents funeral, both of whom were killed when they were struck by a truck in Texas while riding a tandem. I look at this picture and frankly it brings me to tears, the row of cyclists like an honor guard and that tiny little bike pin on her dress makes me cry even as I write this. You can read the details on this story here.

As hard as it is to take a step back from such a visceral shock to our emotions as a situation like is I am going to try. This poor little girl is going to spend the rest of her life without a mother or father because of a crash that most likely could have been avoided. In popular language we call them Car accidents, or bike accidents, but in reality almost all crashes are avoidable. Either through better infrastructure, better upkeep of vehicles, better behavior, avoiding drunk driving, better choices etc. There is very little reason that we should ever have to read about people like that little girl.

If you drive a car, or know someone who drives a car you need to take a good hard look at that little girl. She is all alone, and will never grow up with the love of a mother or father, because a truck struck and killed both her parents. The driver of which is not being charged because the police claim he “lost control” of his truck. Which personally I don’t understand. I mean if you lose control of your vehicle and kill two other people isn’t it your fault no matter why you lost control? On top of that if the road had been designed for safer bicycle use it would have been harder for the truck to have struck the couple. If education would have been better drivers would have been more careful around cyclists. If this driver had been charged with vehicular homicide it would have sent a message to other drivers. If laws had been better the speed limit might have been lowered in this area… The list goes on and on, there are so many things that could have been done to make this situation come out different, I find it shocking that it be called an accident.

If you drive a car, and you find yourself honking at cyclists, driving close to them on purpose, harassing them, or even failing to pay attention while talking on your phone or making turns, you could be the cause of another picture like the one above. If you ride a bicycle and you run red lights, take unnecessary risks, and behave in an aggressive way you might also be to blame. But what both groups need to understand on a very deep level, is that most of these behaviors are driven by the absolutely inane desire to “get where you are going faster.”

Cars honk at cyclists, and endanger them so they can get to the next red light several seconds faster. Bikers run through intersections and blow past stop signs endangering themselves and pedestrians simply to get to the next stop several seconds faster. None of which makes any damn sense. Drivers honk at cyclists for “slowing them down” and cyclists hate this. Cyclists run red lights and drivers hate this. But the thing is all these behaviors are driven by the desire to go faster. The result of which is little girls with no parents.

And that is where I stop being even handed and start addressing only motorists. I am talking to the Monique Spencer’s of the world here. Several studies and a lot of personal experience has led me to conclude the vast majority or crashes are being caused by motorists failing to yield to cyclists when turning, opening doors into their path, and striking them when pulling out of driveways and side streets. You might get up in arms about the red light running, and the rest, but all the data seems to point to a very clear thing. Motorists kill cyclists because they fail to be safe around them.

It is going to be hard for motorists to accept this because they react in a visceral and illogical way to cyclists running red lights (yet another reason for cyclists to stop doing it), but the vast majority (in some studies as much as 90%) of crashes are caused by motorists. I have the following simple list of things that you can do as a motorist to make cyclists safer, and to save yourself the tragic consequences of killing someone.

• Before you make a right hand turn do your best to look behind and to the side of your vehicle to make sure no cyclists are there.
• When making a left turn remember that you have to YIELD to oncoming traffic, including but not limited to cyclists.
• Do not pass a cyclist then quickly turn in front of them.
• Before pulling out of a driveway or side street scan the sidewalk and the side of the road for cyclists IN BOTH DIRECTIONS. I know it is wrong but some Cyclists ride the wrong way down the street, and don’t always ride in the center of the lane where you might be looking.
• Before opening your door look behind you.
• The next time you are tempted to honk or harass a cyclist remember that they are a human being, and that even if they appear to be doing something wrong, killing them, or harming them will not help you go faster, or help them change behavior.
• SLOW DOWN. Speed is not a value, being late is not as bad as being a murderer, being slowed is not as bad as hurting someone, and being delayed for a couple of seconds is not as bad as being an asshole.

If all else fails take another look at that little girl, look into her eyes, and remember that everyone is someones mother or father or brother or sister or son or daughter…

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