‘Carnage’: Survivor of Hingham Apple Store crash asks why more isn’t being done to protect people

HINGHAM, Mass. — It was a shocking scene in Burlington earlier this month when yet another car crashed through a storefront window.

This was tough to watch for a Halifax man who is still recovering from a similar crash he barely survived last year.

Steffen Ghelfi wrote us here at Boston 25 News asking why the state legislature isn’t doing more to make storefronts safer from these types of crashes.

Ghelfi was one of 20 people injured when a car drove right into the Apple Store in Hingham a year ago November.

“I didn’t see it coming. I heard a loud bang, a crash. Instantly I was displaced and crushed up against a wall and bleeding.”

One person was killed.

“There was carnage everywhere. Everywhere,” said Ghelfi.

Ghelfi broke both legs, tore his rotator cuff, fractured a couple of vertebrae, and had to have multiple surgeries. He still has not been able to return to work as an electrician.

Seeing the Burlington crash made Ghelfi mad. “When I saw it on the news, it kind of brought it all back and it upset me that it’s still happening.”

Mark Wright, a co-founder of the Storefront Safety Council, told Boston 25 News there are about 100 vehicle-into-building crashes every day. About half cause injuries and 8% are fatal.

Boston 25 News reported on efforts in 2019 to require certain buildings and retail outlets to install bollards. These are a series of solid pillars in front of buildings.

They can prevent, or at least slow down, a car headed for the front of a store.

“We have a tremendous problem with motorists driving poorly,” said State Representative Tommy Vitolo (D-Brookline).

Vitolo co-sponsored the bill in 2019, but it lost momentum as the pandemic took center stage.

Now, Vitolo thinks economic conditions have changed.

“It’s never a great time to impose additional costs on retail businesses. It’s especially not a great time now,” said Vitolo. He said many small businesses are still struggling post-pandemic and still struggling against online behemoths like Amazon.

He said storefront crashes now need to be part of a larger public safety conversation.

“Our pedestrian deaths are way up. Cyclist deaths are way up and everyone who’s driving acknowledges that everybody else on the road is a maniac.”

Wright maintains that bollards are a relatively low-cost investment that can yield priceless results.

“If you don’t put bollards in, you’re rolling the dice.”

Wright said only California has adopted statewide regulations for Bollards.

He added that about a half dozen communities across the country have implemented requirements on the municipal level.

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