The demise of a 55-year-old Florida girl, struck and killed whereas using a Bluebike by a driver of a field truck in Cambridge, has prompted biking advocates to name for security upgrades to massive vehicles and metropolis streets.
The crash occurred Friday afternoon round 4:30 on the intersection of DeWolfe and Mt. Auburn streets, near Memorial Drive alongside the Charles River, the place the bicycle owner and truck driver collided into one another.
Preliminary investigation outcomes steered “both the truck and the bicycle were traveling in the same direction on Mt Auburn Street and the truck was turning onto DeWolf Street at the time of the crash,” in keeping with Middlesex District Lawyer Marian Ryan and Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow.
First responders took the sufferer, whose id has not been launched, to a close-by Cambridge Health Alliance, the place medical personnel pronounced her lifeless Friday night. The truck driver remained on scene, Ryan and Elow stated in a joint assertion.
Advocacy group Cambridge Bicycle Security reported that the truck, missing aspect guards, turned proper because the bicycle owner traveled straight throughout the intersection, in keeping with the hyperlocal Cambridge Day.
“We are heartbroken to hear of the fatal crash involving a person riding a bike in Cambridge,” the group said in an X put up Saturday. “We extend our deepest condolences to their family and friends.”
“Cambridge Bicycle Safety remains committed to a future where no one needs to endure such tragedies,” the group added. “We have more to do to improve our infrastructure to make our streets safe for everyone who travels on them.
City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, in an X post Friday night, highlighted how he sponsored a truck safety ordinance in 2020 that added side guards and other safety features to trucks, “but it was only legally able to apply to City vehicles and trucks that do business with the City.”
“Devastated to learn that a cyclist in Cambridge was killed this afternoon by the driver of a truck without side guards,” Sobrino-Wheeler said. “We need state and federal truck safety legislation to cover all trucks.”
Earlier than Charlie Baker handed his place to Maura Healey, the previous governor signed a street security invoice on one in all his final days in workplace that requires massive tractor-trailers purchased or leased by the state to be geared up with lateral protecting units.
The regulation doesn’t go into impact till 2025.
“Why are side guards not required on all box trucks and tractor-trailers when we have known for decades that they save lives?” a Somerville resident posted in response to Friday’s crash below the X account ‘Somervillennial.’
The mother and father of a 5-year-old Andover lady who died in Might 2023 after being struck by the motive force of a tractor trailer at a busy intersection in Merrimack Valley city are pushing for aspect guards to be required on all vehicles.
An investigation into the tragedy discovered the motive force not at fault, Essex County District Lawyer Paul Tucker introduced final November. The driving force didn’t face any felony costs.
The driving force was stopped on the intersection and didn’t see Sidney Mae Olson touring on her scooter within the crosswalk under, the investigation discovered. The driving force was not impaired by any substances and instantly got here to a managed cease after the collision, the DA stated.
Sidney’s mother and father Eric Olson and Mary Beth Ellis are calling on enterprise house owners to “update your trucks with the safety guards, cross-over mirrors, and backup cameras now required on state-owned trucks and proven to help drivers spot people like Sidney.”
“If those trucks are going to be getting off the highway and mixing in our small towns, having those safety measures is essential to keep us all safe,” Mary Beth Ellis advised the Herald at a one-year remembrance occasion in Might.
