Opposition from a state municipal lobbying group over laws that look to bolster security round massive vehicles has drawn the ire of elected officers in Cambridge, the place two cyclists have died after being struck in latest weeks.
All state-contracted vehicles have to be outfitted with facet guards, improved mirrors and backup cameras by January 2025, an order the Massachusetts Municipal Affiliation says is “not reasonable for cities and towns.”
The non-public nonprofit says it understands the necessity for “reasonable measures to help to reduce injuries and fatalities on our roadways.”
The laws, nevertheless, are “an unreasonable ask and considerable overstep of regulatory authority,” MMA’s govt director and CEO Adam Chapdelaine wrote in testimony to the state Division of Transportation.
A pair of Cambridge metropolis councilors took to social media after listening to MMA’s testimony throughout a MassDOT listening to on Friday.
“These regulations will save lives,” Vice Mayor Marc McGovern posted on X. “They would have saved the lives of Kim Staley and Minh-Thi Nguyen.”
Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler added, “@massmunicipal does not represent Cambridge or plenty of other municipalities on this. When they say they speak for ‘all cities & towns’ in Massachusetts against side guards and other safety features on trucks in municipalities, they don’t speak for us.”
Staley, 55, of Florida, died on June 7 when the motive force of a field truck struck her on the intersection of DeWolfe and Mt. Auburn streets, near Memorial Drive alongside the Charles River. The truck, which reportedly lacked facet guards, turned proper because the bike owner traveled straight throughout, in response to authorities.
Two weeks later, on June 21, Nguyen, a third-year physics graduate pupil at MIT, died at age 24, when a field truck driver struck her on the intersection of Hampshire and Portland streets.
A day earlier than Nguyen’s demise, MassDOT despatched a steering memorandum to contractors, subcontractors and municipalities, outlining the so-called “Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities.”
The regulation particularly requires “a motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit classified as a class 3 or above” to be outfitted with a lateral protecting system, convex and crossover mirrors, and backup cameras by Jan. 1, 2025.
It is going to apply to autos leased or bought by the state or working below a state contract after the brand new 12 months. Ambulances and different emergency medical autos, firetrucks, agricultural tractors and state-owned autos leased or bought earlier than 2023 shall be exempt.
Chapdelaine took exception to how the regulation consists of municipal contracts funded with state assist via MassDOT and requires that any suppliers contracting with municipalities should comply.
Chapdelaine estimated that 90% of every municipal DPW fleet alone would require retrofits that may value wherever from $2,500 to $5,000.
“We strongly support making necessary changes to reflect the true intent of the legislation and the legal underpinning of the updated state law,” Chapdelaine added in a press release to the Herald later Friday.
Charlie Baker signed the invoice on one in every of his final days within the governor’s workplace. It additionally requires drivers to keep up a four-foot buffer once they cross building staff, emergency responders, pedestrians and cyclists, and established a course of for municipalities to request decrease velocity limits on state-owned roadways.
To date this 12 months, 11 folks have been killed in crashes with massive vehicles throughout Massachusetts, in response to MassBike. Throughout the previous decade, 28% of deadly bike crashes have concerned massive vehicles, the group states.
Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Newton, have already enacted comparable necessities for his or her respective municipal businesses and contractors.
Charlotte Fleetwood, a senior transportation planner in Boston, mentioned the ordinance is “not perfect but we believe it has saved lives.” Town just lately bought encompass cameras for all of its massive fleet autos, and officers are working with MassDOT to measure blind zones, she mentioned.
Fleetwood is asking for federal motion to require massive autos be designed to be “inherently safer without these large blind zones and side cavities.”
In late March, a 4-year-old lady, Gracie Gancheva, of Denver, Colorado, died after being struck by a truck driver at an intersection close to Boston Kids’s Museum. Days later, a cement truck driver collided with and killed a 57-year-old man, Fernando R. Pizzaro, in a wheelchair at one other South Boston intersection.
“We need to end this harm, and we can do it,” Fleetwood mentioned.
House owners topic to the regulation should certify that their motorized vehicle is provided with the required units, with certification and vital documentation submitted to the Registry of Motor Automobiles.
House owners could apply for a waiver if their car can’t comply because of the design, operation or different security concerns.
The laws have blindsided municipal officers throughout the state, mentioned Bob Szocik, director of public works in Templeton, a city of roughly 8,000 in northern Worcester County.
“My heart goes out to all of the tragedies that have happened,” he mentioned, “but from the municipality standpoint, we have not been reached out and notified about this change.”
The dearth of notification will influence city budgets, Szocik mentioned. Templeton expects to extend its fleet with new vehicles in December, he added.
“Can I catch them and have them outfitted?” Szocik requested throughout MassDOT’s listening to. “Where am I going to get the extra money? It’s not fair to us in a short amount of time.”
Andover resident Eric Olson has turned tragedy into advocacy. His 5-year-old daughter, Sidney Mae, died in Could 2023 after being struck by the motive force of a tractor-trailer at a busy intersection in Merrimack Valley city.
An investigation into the tragedy discovered the motive force not at fault, Essex County District Lawyer Paul Tucker introduced final November. The motive force didn’t face any legal costs.
Olson has been pushing for facet guards to be required on all vehicles, encouraging MassDOT to offer incentives and grants to enterprise house owners to make their autos safer.
“Her death shows up as a number – one,” Olson mentioned. “But, its impact is far more rippling. … Every day, we put the livelihood and the well-being of truck drivers at risk by not properly equipping them with safety equipment. One crash can ruin a career and shatter a life.”
