WORCESTER — After the city recently declared a “traffic safety and traffic violence crisis” following a series of serious, high-profile traffic accidents, Worcester’s accident statistics are in focus, as the city saw more accidents in the first half of the year than in previous years.
A new study from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau also examines the city’s relatively high number of accidents among vulnerable road users over much of the past decade and how road design may have contributed to that number.
There were 2,726 accidents in Worcester in the first six months of 2024, according to the state Department of Transportation’s Impact accident data portal, which the city used to calculate its previous accident numbers for the crisis declaration.
While 303 additional accidents were recorded in July, a city spokesperson said there was a delay in the state’s data because accident reports have yet to be completed and many of the accidents from the last three to four weeks may not currently be reported.
Of the 2024 accidents in the first half of the year, 45 resulted in serious injuries and four were fatal.
So far in 2024, 67 accidents involving pedestrians, 22 accidents involving cyclists and 11 accidents involving cyclists have been registered.
Here are the total accident numbers for the first six months of the last five years: 2,414 in 2023, 2,292 in 2022, 2,158 in 2021, 1,597 in the COVID-19-affected year of 2020 and 2,601 in 2019.
In the first six months of the last five years, the following serious and fatal accidents were recorded: 52 accidents with serious injuries and four fatal accidents in 2023; 45 accidents with serious injuries and four fatal accidents in 2022; 56 accidents with serious injuries and three fatal accidents in 2021, 30 accidents with serious injuries and one fatal accident in 2020 and 35 serious accidents and one fatal accident in 2019.
In early April, City Manager Eric D. Batista and Mayor Joseph M. Petty declared a “traffic safety and road violence crisis” in Worcester following several accidents. Recent accidents include the following:
- On June 25, a one-year-old girl was hit by a car on Lincoln Street and suffered a head injury.
- On June 27, 13-year-old Gianna Rose Simoncini was fatally struck by a motor vehicle while crossing the street in the area of 370 Belmont St. between Plantation Street and Lake Avenue.
- On July 19, a man on an electric stand-up scooter was struck by a vehicle traveling east on June Street between Edgewood and Carlisle Streets. A 26-year-old man named Jacob Tetreault was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. He is expected to survive, according to police.
- On July 26, a 13-year-old girl suffered serious injuries after being struck by a car in the area of 164 Shrewsbury St. The victim, Ayuen Leet, is in a coma, according to her family. Van Nguyen, 18, was cited for endangering the roadway, speeding and failure to yield to a pedestrian in the roadway.
- On April 11, a 40-year-old woman was hit by a car while walking on Greenwood Street. Police say she is in critical condition.
The Research Bureau also released a new report on Tuesday titled “Towards safer roads: identifying risk factors for non-motorists in Worcester.” Paul Matthews, managing director and CEO of the Research Bureau, said the report had been in the works months before the spate of serious crashes occurred over the summer months.
“We hope this report and our analysis can help enrich the public discussion and consideration within the city about how best to respond,” Matthews said.
The report examines risk factors that create dangerous conditions on city streets for vulnerable road users, defined by the report and the state as pedestrians, bicyclists, wheelchair users, skateboarders and other road users who do not use vehicles. Matthews points out that the designation also includes some road users who may not have been as prominent a decade ago, such as electric scooter users.
The report uses data from the Department of Transport from 2012 to 2019. According to the report, there were an average of 184 accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists each year during this period, accounting for 47.3% of all fatal collisions.
Two studies cited by the research bureau underscore Worcester’s level of danger for vulnerable road users compared to other cities in the state. A 2017 analysis conducted by Boston law firm Sweeney Merrigan and data visualization firm 1Point21 Interactive found that Worcester has the most dangerous intersections in Massachusetts, with 50 intersections experiencing more than five pedestrian crashes between 2001 and 2014 – the highest number in the state.
A 2022 report by Walk Massachusetts found that while Worcester reported a lower absolute number of pedestrian fatalities in 2022 than Boston (seven versus 12), the fatality rate per 100,000 residents was nearly twice that of Boston (3.40 versus 1.83).
“It’s not good that our death rate is almost twice that of Boston,” Matthews said.
Between 2012 and 2019, pedestrians accounted for 61.5% of all crashes involving vulnerable road users and 91.4% of fatal crashes. Cyclists accounted for the second largest share of crashes involving vulnerable road users at 24.2%, the report said.
During this period, there were clear demographic differences in the likelihood of being seriously injured or killed in an accident. Residents over 65 were involved in only 5.8% of accidents involving vulnerable road users, but in 32.4% of fatal accidents.
Residents aged 19 and under were also disproportionately involved in accidents involving vulnerable road users: they represented 16% of the total population but 27% of accident victims.
Arterial roads – roads with more lanes, higher speed limits, and greater vehicle volume than secondary roads, but more pedestrian access and traffic than freeways – accounted for only 20.9% of all city-operated roads, but 81.8% of all deaths or serious injuries of vulnerable road users occurred on such roads in Worcester.
Studies cited by the research bureau have found that on stretches of road with a total of three or more lanes in both directions, the likelihood of fatal crashes involving vulnerable road users is much higher than on major roads with fewer than two lanes. Differences in roadway and carriageway width also correlate with the number of serious crashes involving vulnerable road users, with wider roads potentially posing a greater risk.
“On wider roads with multiple lanes, cars statistically travel faster and there are more accidents involving pedestrians and vulnerable road users,” said Matthews.
There is also a link between the use of road medians, particularly rigid medians with clear barriers between the road and the median, and a reduction in the number of serious accidents involving vulnerable road users.
In 2022, the research bureau released the city’s 1936 redlining map. Redlining is a discriminatory practice that denies investment in communities deemed “hazardous” based on 1930s ratings by the Federal Home Owners’ Loan Corp. In the two areas rated “hazardous,” 6.4% of street segments had at least one serious accident, while in the highest-rated neighborhoods, 1.5% of street segments had at least one serious accident.
In addition, city blocks with the highest environmental justice rating were more than seven times more likely to experience a major accident than blocks without this rating.
The research office also examined proximity to Worcester Regional Transit Authority bus stops and found that 71.4% of fatal or serious pedestrian and bicyclist crashes in the city occurred within 300 feet of a bus stop. The report calls on the WRTA to consider this proximity when allocating stops.
While accidents obviously have tragic consequences for victims and their families, the report also examines the financial and social costs of pedestrian and cyclist accidents.
The report cites studies that found that when residents feel safer on the streets, they are more likely to be engaged in the community, be happier, and use more sustainable transportation. Improved traffic safety in other cities, such as Dubuque, Iowa, has led to an increase in new businesses and rising property values.
Based on data from MassDOT and the Federal Highway Administration, the research office estimates that the cost of crashes involving vulnerable road users in 2019 will be $493,644,552 (in 2024) due to factors such as high costs for damages, medical treatment, and lost earnings.
Matthews addressed downtown to discuss the need to stay ahead of the curve on traffic safety policy. He said the city is making serious efforts to address this through initiatives such as Complete Streets, Vision Zero and the Mobility Action Plan. He hoped the study would help residents understand the traffic safety policy discussion.
“We have a lot of foot traffic, a lot of people living downtown that didn’t live there 20 years ago,” Matthews said. “We need to make sure that city policies and investments in streets and sidewalks and the WRTA’s approach to bus stops, etc., keep pace with what’s happening as our city grows.”
