Hannah Frilot, age 20, was hit by a car on North East Street July 31, 2014
The Commonwealth came to terms with Cynthia May in Hampshire Superior Court this morning in the accidental death of UMass student Hannah Frilot almost two years ago, or perhaps I should say Cynthia May came to terms with the Commonwealth.
Click to enlarge/read
Obviously there's a h-u-g-e difference between someone who acts with intentional malice and the person who simply makes a mistake.
And we're all entitled to a second chance. Something victims like Hannah never get.
If only the road had better lighting and road markings
ReplyDeleteIf only the driver knew to look out for UMass students walking/ bike riding throughout Amherst at all hours (sometimes dressed in dark colors)
If only the sidewalk was not overgrown and was available for pedestrians (seems it still needs attention this summer)
A horrific accident- My thoughts are with the student's family and friends as well as the driver
In court, the side of the road was described as a bike lane and the presence of a sidewalk was mentioned (There is one in the area but it is quite short)
ReplyDeleteNot a true depiction of the road.
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/07/cape_cod_woman_admits_fault_in.html#incart_river_home
This is a tragedy on many levels, most of all for the victim's family.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't understand why reports of the accident state that the students were walking in a bike lane. There is no bike lane at the scene of the accident, only a narrow shoulder. This is not a safe place to bicycle and certainly not a safe place to walk three abreast (two people and a bicycle) in the middle of the night.
If the town wants to insist that there is a bike lane on North East street, they should actually install one.
OMG- The 2011 photo on Google maps shows a bike lane symbol within the narrow shoulder markings of the road (Mass Live posted it) Who thought that was a good idea?
ReplyDeleteHopefully the marking of that narrow space as a bike lane has been long abandoned!
That photo (and another that shows a realistic view of the area) actually shows cars straddling the white line (during the day with clear conditions)
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3807402,-72.4995343,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdc895PR_4f5DPhYfj26TLQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1
That poor girl died because of misplaced priorities in this town.
ReplyDeleteIt is a Scenic Road, so it will never be safe to drive on unless we change the town bylaws. Making this road safer to add a bike lane would require removing hundreds of Sacred Street Trees, a scenario the Tree Warden is unlikely to support never mind the residents. The Sacred Street Trees take precedence over public safety as was recently demonstrated when one particularly dangerous Sacred Street Tree prevailed at a Sacred Street Tree Hearing.
Sometimes I think Amherst DPW is even afraid to remove Shrubbery as they may be accused of killing innocent Plant Life. That is why our roads are overgrown. Take a drive through Hadley and you will see the shoulders cleared of vegetation for safety and visibility. That is how it should be. But never will here in the People's Republic.
Another good argument for replacing Town Meeting with a 9-member, at-large Town Council that hires a professional Town Manager. Eliminate the Tree Warden position entirely and get a full-time street sweeper with the money saved.
It's VERY sad indeed-interesting all the motorist-automatically take the position-that CARS own the road-it is a PUBLIC WAY-yes-kids,joggers, bikers, horses, dog walkers, baby carriages, mailmen, track & field-all use a public way-get off your high horses-road rage IS blaming the VICTIM on a public way- Amen !
ReplyDeletePhysics it's all just physics. Oh yes, common sense also.
ReplyDeleteThere was a consultant last year that said narrow streets are safer because they slow drivers down, what a crock. Tell me a wide road with bike lane is more dangerous, yeah right...
ReplyDeleteTree Warden a thing of the past. Where's the officer of Common Sense?
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons people don't trim back their sidewalks is the Town doesn't pick up landscape debris. Other towns, if there's an empty truck driving by they just stop and pick up sticks. In Florida it's a regular part of trash pickup.
ReplyDeleteI have no woods to dump my sticks and weeds, so my only alternative is to conceal them in black plastic bags and put them in the regular trash. So the compost police don't catch me. Well I suppose I could load them into my car's trunk and drive them over to the transfer station, a 15 minute drive each way. At least I'm sequestering carbon :-)
I love the idea of the Officer of Common Sense. Do you think we can really get one? Perhaps s/he could be the highest paid official in the Republic!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete/Was the victim sober? Coming from a "gathering" (party) at that hour, I think it a fair question.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to walking on the left side hthe road? That makes her negligent.
Or having safe roads & sidewalks
Bottom line -- if that girl had been walking with a lit flashlight, she'd be alive today. 50 years ago people were bright enough to walk with a lit flashlight, why not now?
Also, insurance not paying? WHY????
Something tells me they think they won't be liable at trial -- why???