Amanda Phillips Dies After Being Hit By A Truck

As we mentioned yesterday there was a horrible crash in Inman Square.

Sadly Amanda Phillips has succumbed to her injuries and has died.

A 27-year-old woman was killed Thursday after she was hit by a truck while riding her bicycle in Inman Square, a four-way intersection often jammed with cars, pedestrians, MBTA buses, and bikers, authorities said.

Amanda Phillips of Cambridge was struck by a landscaping truck at 12:17 p.m. at the intersection of Hampshire and Cambridge streets, said Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan and Cambridge Police Commissioner Christopher Burke in a statement Thursday night. Phillips was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, they said.

…

“She was really one of the sweetest, smartest clients that I have,” Pinho said. “She was a really gentle girl.”

Phillips worked full time as a barista at Diesel Cafe in Somerville, had graduated from Harvard University, and planned on pursuing a career in health care, Pinho said.

The Diesel Cafe owners lamented Phillips’s death in a statement.

“We are all heartbroken,” Jennifer Park and Tucker Lewis said. “She was an amazing friend, employee, co-worker and human being. We are sure that the world is a little less without her.”

Phillips was a student at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, a graduate school in Charlestown founded by Mass. General, according to her Facebook page.

“She really loved to exercise. That was her big thing,” Pinho said, adding that Phillips also doted on her two pets, a dog and cat.

My heart goes out to her friends and family, we must not rest until our roads are safe for all users.

EDIT: I am getting reports that Amanda was doored and then flew into the path of a large truck, these are unconfirmed, but if true mirror what happened last year when a cyclists was doored and then hit by a bus.

The solution for this must be better designed bike lanes that have a barrier between the parked cars, the cyclists, and another one between the cyclists and the moving traffic. If there is not enough space for this infrastructure remove the on-street parking.

Our goal should be less car use, not more. All the research shows its better in so many ways. We can not continue to allow people to be killed by lazy people failing to look behind them before opening their god damn car door.

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Driver With 48 Priors, Arrested On Friday, Gets Car Back On Saturday, Kills Cyclist Sunday

What the fuck.  Seriously what do you have to do to have your car licence taken from you in this country.  It is a sadly true saying, if you want to kill someone and get away with it, just wait until they get on a bicycle.

I hope this asshole rots in prison for the rest of his life, but sadly I doubt he will.

Police say Edward King could barely stay awake when officers found him stopped in the middle of the road in Weymouth on Friday night, his legs hanging out of the car and traffic backing up behind him.
He appeared “confused and off balance” and was carrying a two-day-old bottle of prescription drugs that was already half-empty, police said.
He was arrested and charged with drugged driving, but King was back behind the wheel Sunday when, according to police, he was involved in a crash in Braintree that sent a bicyclist to the hospital with serious injuries. That bicyclist, 53-year-old William Donovan of Braintree, died Tuesday.
King, a 41-year-old Braintree resident, was arraigned Monday on two counts of driving under the influence of drugs and one count each of negligent driving, violating marked lanes and failing to yield to a bicycle. Those charges stem from both the Weymouth and Braintree arrests.
David Traub, spokesman for the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office, said police are investigating and could seek additional charges following Donovan’s death.
Weymouth police arrested King shortly after midnight Friday. He was released about an hour later after posting the $40 bail set by a Quincy District Court bail commissioner. Police say they seized King’s car and asked the Registry of Motor Vehicles to revoke his license after his arrest early Saturday morning. But King was able to pick up the car after a 12-hour hold expired on Saturday afternoon and the Registry did not process the department’s request until Monday when it revoked his license indefinitely.

King also had a long history of crashes and run-ins with the law before last week, according to court documents. In setting his bail, Judge Mark Coven said King had at least five crashes since 1990 and a total of 48 convictions, including 36 that sent him behind bars. King’s driving record shows five surchargeable accidents since 1991. That list includes an accident in Braintree in March and in Dorchester in April.(more here)

Getting drunk or high and running someone over with your car is no different than getting drunk or high and shooting someone with a gun. They are both pieces of metal under your control, and they can both easily kill someone.

Fuck this guy, and fuck the system that lets someone like this continue to get back behind a wheel.

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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.

————–

(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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Kelsey Rennebohm Ghost Bike Install And Remembrance Ride

Thursday 8:00pm
Huntington Ave & Forsyth St, Boston, MA 02115

Please join the greater Boston area bicycling community at Huntington and Forsyth at 8:15PM to place a Ghost Bike for Kelsey Rennebohm. Following that, we’ll ride to Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Details on the ride are tentative and dependent on some logistics and scouting the planned area, so please check back soon.

Independent of your RSVP status on Facebook, we request you privately RSVP here for an approximate headcount for logistics: http://www.doodle.com/x4smimtinvs8dwn6

Attendance on the ride requires respectful, non-confrontational conduct and following traffic laws wherever possible; on multi-lane roads, please stick to the right-most travel lane, and leave some room on the left side both as a buffer from cars and for corkers to pass. We are in the process of seeking assistance from Boston, Brookline, and Northeastern Police.

Please have at least a front light – ideally front and rear lights.

The family is unable to attend but has requested that we record photos and video, and post descriptions of the ride for them to see. You are invited to share your photos, videos, and comments here, on youtube, etc.

More info here.

I hate that I can remember going to more than one of these events….

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