By adamg on Tue., 3/18/2025 - 10:13 am
NBC Boston reports the man was hit on the westbound side of Rte. 9 this morning in front of the former Atrium mall in Newton sometime before 7 a.m.
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End yet…
By tjridesbikes
Tue, 03/18/2025 - 12:36pm
Cyclists and pedestrians are loathed by drivers. It’s insane that we’re ok with cars killing tens of thousands of people per year, but god forbid we implement proper pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.
Crosswalk?
By Anonymous
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 8:28am
Not many details, but I found where the photo from the article was taken -- it's on the Westbound side of Rte 9 at the entrance to The Shops at Chestnut Hill just before one would get to Moody St. Rte 9 in this area has walls in the median to prevent pedestrians from crossing mid-block. This site has a crosswalk.
Writing this as a person who jaywalks and crosses against the light with gusto, this is not a place to do either. The victim was definitely near a crosswalk, no telling what signal the light was showing. It's also a place where people tend to speed, and the speed limit is 40 mph.
What Driver?
By blues_lead
Tue, 03/18/2025 - 1:08pm
Literally zero mention or allusion to the fact that someone must have been driving the car.
Because we refuse to hold drivers accountable.
SOP
By BostonDog
Tue, 03/18/2025 - 5:12pm
I don't think the police ever release names of people before they are arrested or charged in any crime.
In MA it's a high bar to be charged with manslaughter for killing someone with a car. You basically need to be caught DWI or leaving the scene after stopping and presumably neither is the case here. (I don't agree with the law.)
Fault
By SteveE
Tue, 03/18/2025 - 7:48pm
Sure, but the point blues_lead is getting at is they didn't even bother to mention a human being the perpetrator. "The vehicle involved remained on scene". Did the driver though, the potential criminal who is innocent until proven guilty?? What a bizarre phrasing. This report already has the media's usual framing as "tragic unavoidable accident". Sometimes vehicles are "accidentally" steered off the road and kill people, oh well...
But also, Adam, you wrote that a pedestrian was hit and killed, but didn't say by what. We have to click on the link to find out. Falling debris? A person walking by with a bat? It's really sad because for most people it's naturally assumed that it's a driver that did it, because it's far too common for drivers to kill people walking and biking along our roads.
We never know the reasons why crashes happen immediately after they do. It could be distracted driving, it could be a mechanical failure, it could be the design of the road. Let's be honest, this story is more about NBC Boston letting people know there could be "traffic" here because of it. Obsessions with temporary road closures and detours that affect people for like 5 seconds, yet someone is dead and they can't be bothered to wait for more information to be released. They'll never write a follow up story about the outcome of this because frankly they don't find the actual incident newsworthy, just it's momentary impact.
Obviously the vehicle remains
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 4:34pm
Obviously the vehicle remains at the scene for the duration of the investigation. Mostly is just thing where the lowkey give the driver a medal for not fleeing the scene, which is infuriating.
that's not the point
By Anonymous
Tue, 03/18/2025 - 10:03pm
Cars don't hit people, drivers do. From reading the article, the station makes it sound like a self-driving car hit the person.
At least it doesn't say "accident", I suppose.
The problem is they are
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 8:54am
The problem is they are unlikely to arrest them, since the police are trained to biased in favor of cars.
I didn't ask for a name, or mention the police
By blues_lead
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 10:32am
I was talking about how the author wrote the piece. How simple to say "The driver remained on the scene" rather than "The SUV"
Passive voice
By Bostoneer
Tue, 03/18/2025 - 2:16pm
Our media in this country will contort themselves in knots with bizarre framings and poorly constructed sentences rather than acknowledge a driver of a car (to say nothing of who that was) hit and killed someone and they do it thousands of times a year (over 40,000 vehicular deaths in the US last year).
Drivers are out of control …
By Lee
Tue, 03/18/2025 - 8:05pm
…. on Route 9. It’s heart attack inducing just trying to cross the street or walk beside it in many places.
I hope the victim had minimal suffering.
Cross the street? Walk?
By lbb
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 9:58am
It's hell to even drive there. It's completely psychotic. I do whatever I need to to avoid it.
I'm willing to bet that the
By Don't Panic
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 1:09am
I'm willing to bet that the pedestrian was just trying to cross Boylston street.
Who would have to pay the price of building a pedestrian bridge like the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge to the Hatch Shell in that area?
Drivers should pay.
By Lee
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 9:18am
But they barely pay anything already.
Pedestrian Bridges are Anti Pedestrian
By Anonymous
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 9:51am
One shouldn't have to walk for 10 minutes and go half a mile out of their way because drivers just can't be expected to obey the traffic laws.
Agreed.
By Lee
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 1:44pm
Not to mention that some pedestrian bridges only have stairs and are unusable for anyone with a mobility issue.
It depends on what the
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 4:35pm
It depends on what the clearance needs to be.
The Arthur F. is actually
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 4:40pm
The Arthur F. is actually pretty nice.
Build a footbridge
By Footy Footbridge
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 7:08am
The property taxes from all of those surrounding businesses should pay to build a foot bridge. Simple. The people that will use it would be their customers or employees.
Maybe..
By doorcoach
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 11:10am
..we should get the details of what actually happened - it's worth noting that there are 2 controlled intersections in that area, with pedestrian crossing cycles (one at the entrance/turn to Wegmans and the CH Mall, and one at Langley Rd, but NOT in front of the former Atrium Mall) - did the pedestrian try to cross with the light, or just try to dart across rt. 9 somewhere else? ..makes a big difference, I think.
Looking for ways to blame the victim?
By Lee
Wed, 03/19/2025 - 1:46pm
No one deserves to die for crossing a street, no matter where or why they cross it.
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