12 Massachusetts communities saw over half of state’s fatal auto pedestrian crashes in 2021

BOSTON, Mass. — A new report highlights where deadly auto pedestrians crashes are happening most often in Massachusetts and who’s disproportionately falling victim.

A study by WalkBoston found that over half of the 75 deaths involving people hit by cars, trucks and other vehicles in 2021 happened in 12 Massachusetts cities and towns.

Boston and Springfield each saw 9 people killed over the course of last year - the highest number in the state.

The other 10 communities include: Lowell and Brockton (3/each), and Dedham, Framingham, Lawrence, New Bedford, Oxford, Saugus, Weymouth, Yarmouth (2/each).

35 communities had one fatal crash: Bourne, Braintree, Bridgewater, Brookline, Charlton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Everett, Fairhaven, Falmouth, Harwich, Leominster, Lynn, Marlborough, Marshfield, Mashpee, Medford, Methuen, Monson, Newburyport, Palmer, Peabody, Provincetown, Quincy, Raynham, Salisbury, Shelburne Falls, Somerville, Sterling, Taunton, Walpole, Waltham, West Springfield, Westfield, and Worcester.

36% of those lives lost were people over 65 years old.  That age group only represented 17 percent of the state’s population last year.

The report concluded that over half of last year’s deadly auto pedestrian crashes happened on streets with 30 to 35 mile per hour speed limits.

“These are our main streets. These are our neighborhood streets, and these are places where we really need to focus on slowing traffic down,” said Stacey Beuttell, executive director of WalkBoston.

WalkBoston recommends that Massachusetts communities consider possible solutions such as narrowing lanes and lowering speed limits on busy streets.

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