Cyclist Hit By Car In Northampton, To Be Removed From Life Support Today

I got this sad news today, its from a friend of mine. The cyclist community is connected in these ways, a friend of my friend is going to be dead soon, so young and so tragic. There is no reason this young man should be dead right now, all because of the failure of someone in a car to follow a simple traffic law. This has exact scenario has happened to all of us so many times a driver fails to yield to oncoming traffic, most of the time nothing happens. Remember drivers your carelessness can result in death or serious injury.

This morning I found out that someone I worked with last summer at the bike shop in Amherst got hit on Saturday night and was critically injured. He was not wearing a helmet. Tonight his parents are unplugging him because his brainstem, the thing that is responsible for keeping you breathing, etc., is destroyed.

He is 18.

I have no idea why he wasn’t wearing a helmet that night, I always used to see him wearing one.

When he dies, homicide charges will be filed against the driver and hopefully that will impact the way car vs. cyclist accidents/homicides are treated. He was hit by a driver making a left while failing to yield to oncoming traffic (him).

link to article

I dunno man, wear a helmet or don’t, but don’t think it could never happen to you. I am sure his parents never thought they would be unplugging their 18 year old son.

She latter told me over chat

people have no respect for human life i feel like i should wear a big sign when i ride
daughter
sister
cancer surviver
future medical professional

This is horrible…

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Cyclist Killed In New Bedford

This is just horrible.

A bicyclist was killed Wednesday evening when she was struck by a freight truck in the New Bedford Industrial Park, police said.

Dartmouth police said Cynthia Pacheco, 58, of New Bedford was bicycling with her husband on Samuel Barnett Boulevard around 6 p.m. when she was hit by a FedEx truck that was making a left turn onto Flaherty Drive.

Dartmouth Police Detective Robert Levinson said “it remains to be seen” whether the truck driver will face charges related to the incident. Levinson said he could not confirm if the victim was wearing a helmet when she was hit.

The accident happened in a section of the park that is in Dartmouth, Levinson said.

Pacheco was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, and then to Rhode Island Hospital, where she died from her injuries. Levinson said the Dartmouth police accident reconstruction specialist and the State Police are still investigating the incident.

No further information was immediately available. VIA

More info when I get it. My thoughts go out to her family.

Thanks Ron for the tip.

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Cyclist Killed In Collision With 18 Wheeler In Cambridge

Channel 4 reports the following happened last night.

CAMBRIDGE (CBS) – A bicyclist was hit and killed on the corner of Mass Ave. and Vassar in Cambridge Tuesday night.

The eighteen wheeler was making a right hand turn when it happened. The bicycle was stuck under the wheel of the truck after the accident.

The male victim was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police are not releasing his name.

More info when I get it…this is horrible.

Edit: more here

EDIT: photo, not graphic, but still sad. from this tweet

“Bicyclist struck and killed by a tanker truck in Cambridge by MIT. Truck was making a left onto Vassar St”

(Note, I think this tweet is wrong, it clearly looks like a right turn…but who knows)

EDIT: video from fox

Bicyclist struck and killed while riding in Cambridge: MyFoxBOSTON.com

EDIT:and more from fox

EDIT: Cyclist has been identified

The bicyclist who was struck and killed in a collision with a truck Tuesday evening was a 23-year-old man from Myanmar who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year, school and law enforcement authorities said today.

Phyo N. Kyaw, who lived in Cambridge, was cut down off his bicycle around 7:40 p.m. at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Vassar Street, a busy intersection teeming with bikers, pedestrians, and motorists near MIT, said Jessica Venezia Pastore, spokeswoman for the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

Kyaw was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

State Police accident investigators are trying to reconstruct whether there was criminal negligence in Kyaw’s death. The driver of the truck has not been charged.

Cambridge police said that since January 2010 there have been 27 accidents at the Massachusetts Avenue and Vassar Street intersection.

Kyaw received his degree in chemical-biological engineering from MIT in 2010. A native of Yangon, Myanmar, he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity and was involved at MIT in Camp Kesem, an overnight summer camp for children with a parent who has died of cancer, according to the university.

“This death, so tragic and so close to home, touches and concerns our entire community,” said MIT chancellor Eric Grimson. “Our thoughts go out to Phyo Kyaw’s family, friends, and classmates. We share their sense of loss and grief.”

State Police and Cambridge police are investigating the accident, with assistance from the MIT police.

MIT officials said student support and mental health services are being made available to all members of the campus community. Those affected by this death are encouraged to contact MIT’s mental health services at 617-253-2916.

At the scene of the fatality today, students and commuters described the intersection as busy, but generally safe.

“This is terrible,’’ said MIT graduate student Xin Zhao. “I’m shocked, actually. I don’t think this area is extremely dangerous.”

Joel Dashnaw, a Jamaica Plain resident who rides his bike regularly to work in Cambridge, said bicyclists in urban areas have to be vigilant about obeying the rules of the road and be aware of what is happening in front of and behind them.

“I am surprised and a little horrified,’’ said Dashnaw.

Bikers making the rounds today said they are used to the heavy traffic and do their best to follow the rules of the road. But accidents between bikers and vehicles, do happen, they conceded.

One pedestrian said he’s come close to being hit a few times while crossing the street.

“The cars won’t let me pass,’’ said the man, who would not give his full name.

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Fatal Crash In Newton

Another young kid, another fatal crash, still don’t know what happened.

A bicyclist who was not wearing a helmet died after colliding with an SUV at the intersection of Commonwealth and Lowell Avenues in Newton at about 5:20 p.m. Monday, according to Newton Police Lieutenant Bruce Apotheker.

According to Muriel Mazzarini, who said she was driving the car behind the SUV, the cyclist was traveling east on Commonwealth Avenue when he hit the tail end of the car, which was crossing Commonwealth Avenue from Homer Street onto Lowell Avenue. The witness said she saw blood on the victim’s hand and chest.

“The light turned green and I saw the bike coming down and he smashed right into the car,” she said. “I stopped the car and I got out and went to help. Other people came around and we were all dialing 911.”

More from Wicked Local and pictures here

It is not clear if someone ran a red light or not. What is clear is that someone did something very wrong. My heart goes out to this young mans family. It rips me apart to have to hear about such young people dying in such a way.

More info when I get it.

EDIT: Some people are preparing a ghost bike…I hate having to publish this.

EDIT: Found this pdf of meeting notes from a pubic meeting last year that seems to indicate there have been previous fatal crashes on this stretch of Comm Ave in Newton. I can’t know for sure if this is the same location, but could there be something wrong with the way the road is designed here? An excerpt below.

John Allen, 7 University Park, Waltham, spoke on the item as a representative of the MassBike Technical Advisory Committee. He urged the city to pay careful attention to the bicycle lanes at intersections on Commonwealth Avenue. There was a fatal bicycle accident at an intersection on Commonwealth Avenue.

EDIT: Here is Andy Von Guerard’s (the cyclists) facebook page, and here is his fathers with a heart breaking message at the top. It is always so strange to see these sort of internet time capsules. A little slice of time captured forever in what is usually a mundane part of our day…

EDIT: Some more discussion on other blogs about this. here and here.

Both of these sites raise troubling questions about just how strange this accident seems. I tend to agree, it seems very odd.

The Boston Globe also has an article here.

Sources seem to indicate he ran a red light and smashed into a car…this is very tragic and preventable. Be careful people, follow the law, and wear a helmet!

Another update here.

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Something You Never Want To See

They have installed a ghost bike for Tracy Milillo…be careful out there folks.

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