Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Board of Selectmen hear about bicycle safety from officials residents, cyclists, and family of one cyclist killed on Wellesley streets.
Improving Wellesley's bicycle safety does not look to be an easy task, officials reported Tuesday night, but residents and Selectmen say it is worth it. The Board of Selectmen heard from a number of town officials, residents, and area cyclists who had a number of thoughts on biking in the town. Many expressed gratitude to the Board and the Police Department for their work around town, but said that the town does not feel safe for cyclists. Said Town Executive Director Hans Larsen, "In reacting to the tragic bike accident, and following the investigation of that accident, I have chosen to begin a conversation with the Board about what additional steps it can take with regard to safe-guarding the bicyclists and pedestrians in town." Town …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The Board of Selectmen will hear updates on bike safety and the Washington Street reconstruction project at tonight's meeting.
The Selectmen will hear new plans tonight, which have beaten one of the Town Meeting warrant articles to the punch. At 7:30 p.m. tonight, the Wellesley Board of Selectmen will hear an update on bicycle safety, according to an announcement on the Town website yesterday. Part of the discussion will also focus on Washington Street's reconstruction efforts. The Board will also hear public input, and is inviting comments by email at sel@wellesleyma.gov. There are also two articles on the Wellesley Town Meeting Warrant about bike safety. Articles 37 and 38 focus on bike riding and allowing children to cycle on Weston Road sidewalks. According to a Patch announcement posted by Town Meeting Member Robert Edwards, part of tonight's meeting will …
Friday, March 1, 2013
NECN's BroadSide examines the Weston Road hit-and-run crash and the verdict with cycling advocates.
We may never know why the grand jury elected not to indict in the hit-and-run crash that took the life of 41-year-old Alex Motsenigos, but some suggest it is a larger issue than one case. The incident was a topic of discussion on NECN's BroadSide with Jim Braude earlier this week. He sat down with David Watson, executive director of MassBike, and Josh Zisson, a lawyer who writes the Bike Safe Boston blog. Both spoke to the Globe in their report on the outcome. The failing, Watson told Braude, was not on the police or prosecutors, but on the members of the grand jury connecting more to the driver of the truck, Dana McCoomb. He supposed a lack of empathy could have been a factor. The grand jury proceedings are secret, so Zisson could not …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Before the crash, Patch readers voted the Weston Road-Linden Street intersection one of the most dangerous in Wellesley.
A Massachusetts grand jury returned no indictments against truck driver Dana McCoomb in the Weston Road hit-and-run from last year. The Boston Globe reports that the area cycling community is reacting with anger to this case. During the trial, Wellesley Police Chief Terrence Cunningham tells the Globe he got the impression that one juror did not understand that, in this situation, the driver of the truck was obligated to yield to the cyclist. “Personally, I don’t feel they [the grand jury] followed the law,” Chief Cunningham said to the Globe. “But that’s the process.” Warning against speculating on the jury's decision, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey added that he thinks there may be an overall bias against cyclists, …
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Civil suit filed on Jan. 30 against driver of truck involved in hit-and-run crash in Wellesley last August.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Civil suit filed on Jan. 30 against driver of truck involved in hit-and-run crash in Wellesley last August.
There were no indictments, but there may be a civil suit against the truck driver involved in last summer's Weston Road hit-and-run crash. The grand jury came in yesterday on last August’s fatal crash on Weston Road, and police are closing the case, saying there are no further options to pursue criminal charges against the driver after the grand jury elected not to indict. Cyclist Alexander Motsenigos' family, however, is not giving up yet. The Globe reports that his family has filed a wrongful death suit against the driver of the truck. In a statement posted on the Swellesley Report yesterday, the Motsenigos family thanked the Wellesley Police Department for their work on the case, and that "if the truck driver had used even basic …
Police closing case against driver of vehicle involved in hit-and-run which killed a Wellesley cyclist last year.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Police closing case against driver of vehicle involved in hit-and-run which killed a Wellesley cyclist last year.
The grand jury is in on last August’s fatal crash on Weston Road, and police are closing the case. A statement from the Wellesley Police Department indicates that the case is now closed, and there are no further options to pursue criminal charges against the driver after the grand jury elected not to indict. Police say they have spent three months investigating the crash, including a systematic reconstruction with trucking experts. Wellesley and State police, as well as the District Attorney's office believed there was probably cause to seek charges against the driver of the 18-wheeler. A press release from the police department indicates police and the DA had brought forth charges motor vehicle homicide, precautions for the safety of…
roger weinreb
6:04 pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Weston Road / Wellesley Street is the most obvious "culprit". A possible suggestion would to be limited the GVW allowed on that roadway. On the occassion(s) where it is necessary for a vehicle exceeding the limited GVW said vehicle could be escorted by local constabulary as a "special detail". The project requiring a vehicle exceeding the GVW would bear the fiscal responsibility for the "special … more ›