A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday near Wollaston Beach in Quincy, Massachusetts, and was rushed to a Boston hospital with serious injuries. The driver remained at the scene as investigators worked to determine what led to the crash.
The collision happened at the intersection of Quincy Shore Drive and Billings Street, just off the beach, according to nbcboston.com. The outlet reported that the victim was taken to a Boston hospital with serious injuries and that authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash. A Massachusetts State Police spokesperson told WCVB that the pedestrian was transported to the hospital with serious injuries and that the driver remained at the scene, though whether the driver will face any charges is unclear.
Drivers Urged to Steer Clear of the Area
With the investigation ongoing, motorists were being asked to avoid the area around the crash site, per WCVB's reporting. The station's report did not specify when the roadway reopened or how long the investigation into the circumstances of the crash is expected to take.
This is not the first time a pedestrian has been seriously hurt along this stretch of shoreline. In August 2020, a 68-year-old man from Canton died at Boston Medical Center after being struck by a vehicle near Wollaston Beach, according to the Boston Globe. That earlier crash happened around 11:20 a.m. while the man was crossing Quincy Shore Drive, the Globe reported.
A Pattern of Dangerous Intersections Citywide
Quincy has several intersections that have drawn scrutiny for crash totals involving pedestrians and cyclists. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation maps the most dangerous 5% of crash locations statewide for motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, according to the Patriot Ledger. That analysis, which relied on motor vehicle crash data from 2018 to 2020 and pedestrian and bicycle crash data from 2011 to 2020, ranks locations by the number and severity of accidents, with fatalities and serious nonfatal injuries weighted more heavily.
Among the intersections flagged in that ranking, Beale Street and Newport Avenue recorded 39 motor vehicle crashes between 2018 and 2020, including six injury crashes and one serious or fatal injury, the Patriot Ledger reported. The same intersection logged 43 pedestrian and bicyclist crashes from 2011 to 2020, with 32 resulting in injuries and seven classified as serious or fatal. Squantum Street and Hancock Street saw 35 motor vehicle crashes in the 2018-2020 window, four causing minor injury, plus 31 pedestrian and cyclist crashes over the longer decade-long span, 19 of which caused injuries including four serious or fatal outcomes.
Not every dangerous intersection stays that way. After Quincy changed the traffic-signal phasing at Furnace Brook Parkway and Hancock Street, that location fell out of the state's top 200 crash clusters, the Patriot Ledger noted. It remains unclear whether the Quincy Shore Drive and Billings Street intersection has appeared in any of the state's historical crash rankings or maps.
Statewide Numbers Underscore the Risk to Walkers
Pedestrian injuries are tracked closely at the state level. A Massachusetts public health report cited figures of 119 pedestrian deaths, 525 nonfatal injury-related hospital stays and 2,553 nonfatal injury-related emergency department visits tied to pedestrian injuries, according to a mass.gov special emphasis report. Separately, the state's crash-mapping program notes that because pedestrian and bicyclist crashes are relatively rare in the data, its clustering analysis draws on the most recent ten-year closed crash period rather than a shorter window.
For now, the extent of the injured pedestrian's condition beyond serious injuries has not been disclosed, and the identities of both the pedestrian and the driver involved in Tuesday's crash have not been released. Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances that led to the collision near Wollaston Beach.
