As of 6:15 PM on Tuesday, September 16, the roads have reopened, after being closed for most of the afternoon, at Mill and Walnut Streets. It appeared as though three motorcycles were headed north on Walnut Street and one of them hit a dump truck that looked as if it had been making a left turn from Mill onto Walnut. A State Police accident reconstruction team arrived at the scene to do their investigation. Writing on the door of the dump truck identified it as belonging to D&S Landscaping of Newton.
Got caught in the traffic. Had the police posted it on TWITTER or FACEBOOK? I would have gone a different way to avoid the area, but I had no knowledge of the accident, until I got caught on Comm Ave east bound near city hall.
Yes, they did. The road closing announcement was posted shortly after the accident (1.57PM) on Twitter [@newtonpolice] and Facebook [MA Police Department]. It was also communicated on Nixle – its email and text advisory service.
It was bad timing, but when is it ever good for an accident? All in all, the police on the scene seemed to be doing their best in redirecting the school traffic (this was JUST before the high school let out).
WAZE or Google traffic would’ve revealed the jam right up to the minute, but because of the timing, the impacts of the jam covered quite a large area … I saw those two guys sitting on the corner … I hope the 3rd rider is okay.
Nixle and the NPD Twitter and Facebook pages are very effective ways to get timely information about traffic, public safety and other urgent situations that affect Newton residents. I highly recommend them.
I join Greer in hoping the motorcyclist, who was taken to BIDMC with serious injuries, will be okay. Without assigning responsibility for the accident, I hope every driver takes a moment to look twice for motorcyclists before turning. Here is a PSA worth watching.
After reading the post and seeing the pictures, it’s unsettling to learn that someone’s primary concern here would be the ensuing traffic jam and/or how well it was communicated via social media. America’s love affair with the automobile sure has created a lot of insular people focused on their own routines and not much else.
Thanks Michael for making me feel terrible. I do know that someone was hurt, and I do hope that they are okay. I was just asking to find out if in the future I should be checking FB and Twitter more carefully. I am sorry if I sounded insensitive. It was meant to be a question and getting information. I am sorry.
Hi NewtonMom, that wasn’t my intention. The juxtaposition of the pictures and the comments about the traffic jam were upsetting…I was just reflecting on the possibility that one of these days that picture of the motorcycle could just as easily be my own bicycle lying in the middle of Beacon St. and then (if I’m lucky) I’ll end up lying in traction in Newton-Wellesley reading people’s complaints about the traffic jam I caused. The current state of automotive transport really sucks, in so many ways. And every day I have run-ins with motorists trying to zip through Newton as quickly and efficiently as possible, so I think I automatically lumped you in with those rude and aggressive masses but I’m happy to see that I was incorrect. Sorry for pontificating.
I’m curious as to who’s being targeted when traffic reports are disseminated via social media, though – are these exclusively the people who haven’t gotten into their cars yet? Or would most of the audience be people who are already driving, sneaking a peak at their smartphones whenever they get the chance?
BIDMC is the #1 trauma center for these types of accidents, I am told. They sure took great care of my husband when he had his motorcycle accident. I am thankful every day that he came out of it alive and am grateful every day that he has regained almost all of his mobility. The rider is in good hands. I hope they have as good results as we did.
@Michael – I got the announcement on my phone (from Nixle) while safely at my desk. Which allowed me change plans for a trip to the area – besides avoiding getting stuck, the last thing first responders need is more cars in the area to deal with.
Off topic, and unrelated to primary thoughts of concern for those involved in the above accident…
Glad to see the NPD experimenting with social media, but I haven’t found Nixle to be all that great. Rather than issuing geocoded, timely alerts, I’ve found that Nixle is underutilized and only useful very rarely, for city-wide things like this, where twitter or facebook seems at least as effective. I’d like the police to be able to issue immediate alerts when there’s a break-in or violent crime within a certain distance of my home, as has happened recently, but without geocoding, that could be too noisy to be useful. Instead, it’s used only sparingly, and sometimes for public service announcements that again discourage me from treating the feed as critical information. (Looking at the feed now, there’s the Mill St accident, and nothing else since a medication take back a week and a half ago and various other accidents, about 1 or 2 per month)
If we are going to talk about motorcycle safety , we should also make sure that the law states that they must also follow traffic laws. The initial reports that we have heard is that the three cyclist were way above the speed limit weaving in and out of traffic starting well past city hall north to mill street, the location of the accident is a notorious for its blind exit from Mill street. Take a look at the pics of the impact area on the truck and its location to see that the initial reports look to be true. It also seems through social media that the cyclist is recovering and was very lucky.
As a motorcycle rider I cant stress enough how important it is that those in cars pay attention. Im less concerned with the motorists “zipping around in a hurry” than I am with people texting or enthralled in some phone converaation oblivious to the world around them. Let this also serve as a PSA to not craw up the rears of bikers, thats one of my huge pet peeves. A fender bender in a car can be fatal on a bike.
I’m not trying to displace potential blame from the riders. Certain types of bikes and age groups tend to coincide with certain riding styles, and dump trucks don’t exactly come out of nowhere. In this case it may very well be on the rider, but often its the other way around.