Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog
Massachusetts’ Bike Week began with a fatal Boston bicycle accident that claimed the life of a 21-year-old man, the Boston Globe reported.
As we reported last week on our Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog, authorities are pleading with motorists to use caution as the spring and summer bicycling season begins. More than 700 serious cycling accidents occurred in Boston in 2008. Nationwide, 716 people were killed and more than 52,000 injured in bicycle accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In this case, the rider was killed in an accident with an SUV at a Newton intersection. In Authorities believe the cyclist may have ran the red light while traveling eastbound on Commonwealth. He collided with a Honda SUV driven by a 48-year-old Newton woman, who was northbound on Homer Street.
The Massachusetts bicycle accident occurred on the first day of Bay State Bike Week.
“This year already felt different to me, because in previous years you didn’t have so many fatalities so close together,” said David Watson, executive director of MassBike.
Many bicycle accidents can be avoided if riders and motorists practice respect and proper safety.
“There are hundreds of bike-related injuries reported every year and probably many more that are never reported,” Watson said. “While we can never eliminate the danger inherent in using a particular mode of transportation, there are ways we can change both the designs of our roads and the culture of those who use them to make the streets safer for bicyclists, motorists, and pedestrians.”
A Ride of Silence is scheduled for today at 7 p.m., beginning in Seven Hills Park, behind the Davis Square MBTA station in Somerville. Riders will cycle through Cambridge to Boston before stopping at the Charles Street entrance to Boston Common.