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I just read on boston.com where a Tufts senior was struck and killed by two cars while walking near the intersection of Broadway and Wallace near Davis Square last night. Everyone be careful out there okay?

My sincere condolences to her family and friends. May she rest in peace.

Tufts senior is struck, killed while walking in Somerville
November 23, 2005

A Tufts University senior from Bulgaria was struck by two cars yesterday and killed while she was walking near Davis Square, police and a school official said.

A Tufts spokeswoman identified the victim as Boryana Damyanova, 22, of Sofia, Bulgaria. Damyanova was at Broadway and Wallace Street about 6:22 p.m. when she was struck by the vehicles, police said.

She was transported to Somerville Hospital, where she died.

Somerville Police Sergeant John Aufiero said both drivers remained at the scene of the accident, which occurred in what is known as a high-traffic area for both cars and pedestrians. Nevertheless, Aufiero, an 18-year veteran of the Somerville Police Department, told the Globe he could not remember a fatal accident at the intersection.

Alcohol was not a factor in the accident, Aufiero said.

No charges were filed last night. However, the accident is under investigation by Somerville and State Police.

Damyanova, according to her profile on facebook.com, a networking website for college students, had expected to graduate in May with majors in finance and international relations.

A profile written for a Tufts international relations colloquium in which Damyanova had participated in 2004 said that she planned to pursue a career in corporate law.

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Oh, man. I walked past there around 10pm, saw the cop cars and a fire truck with its hose unrolled, and wondered what was up. I'm so sorry to hear that's what happened.

Oh... that's awful...

Man, that's horrible.

I drive down B'Way on my way home from work every night and way too often I see someone get almost hit crossing in the crosswalks. Most drivers don't pay any attention to the crossings and cruise along well over the speed limit. It's so bad that I'll stop to let folks cross and drivers behind me have no idea why I'm stopping and swerve around me on my right and barreling across the crosswalk while the pedestrian is crossing in front of my car. I kind of figured it was just a matter of time before it happened. It's sad.

A little too late, but they should really have those crosswalk walk signs in the middle of the street so more drivers are aware.

I am probably going to get horribly flamed for saying this, but I'm hoping this tragedy will remind people that they should pay attention and stop blindly stepping out in front of traffic on Broadway.

I live in the area and drive frequently through the area where this happened. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times I've had to slam on my brakes because some happy-go-lucky kid decides that darting out in front of my car is the right time to get across the street. And yes, I go the speed limit, and yes, I am aware of the crosswalks and the pedestrian right of way.

A car is a couple thousand pound piece of metal that is hurtling at speed. It doesn't always stop "on a dime" even if you have the best brakes. Many drivers are aggressive and oblivious. The fact that there is a crosswalk means that the drivers should be paying attention, but the people crossing the road should ALSO pay attention instead of blithely stepping into the road and expecting cars to slow down. The crosswalk doesn't provide a magical barrier of protection against oncoming traffic.

Everyone needs to take their heads out of their asses, drivers and pedestrians alike.

I totally agree. It's up to both pedestrians and drivers alike to pay attention, but at the end of the day the pedestrian is always going to lose in a battle with a car so they should be extra cautious because they are the ones with the most to lose.

I'm especially sensitive to the issue because I have to walk across the Powderhouse Rotary at least twice a day. I'm always cautious, push the button and wait for the light to turn red. On average, I cross that rotary on foot 10 times a week. I see people run that red light at least half the time. Things have definitely gotten better since they have posted a more deligent crossing guard there in the morning but I still have to cross it without that person at night. I don't think I'll ever not be nervous crossing that rotary.

And I thought the same thing when I read this article this morning - I hope this is a wake up call to everyone that we need to be more careful.

When I drive through Powderhouse, I sometimes find that I simply can't pay attention to everything: traffic lights, pedestrians, other cars in the rotary, and other cars entering the rotary. (Is it only those four things? It feels like more, but probably just because pedestrians and cars can come from so many directions... which, come to think of it, is why it's harder when there's more traffic.).

This is why I try not to drive through Powderhouse.

OK, to be fair, I try not to drive much at all, but when I do drive, I tend to avoid Powderhouse. Alas, Davis isn't much better, but that's another story.

So, back to Powderhouse: am I the only one who finds that there are just way too many demands on my attention there? Am I an exceptionally bad driver, am I exceptionally aware of my limitations, or am I just plain normal? Or maybe it's just that I learned to drive in an area without rotaries, and in another 10 years I'll be comfortable enough with rotaries to start learning how to handle the pedestrian-enabled variant.

There's no denying that the Powderhouse Rotary is poorly designed and that there are a lot of things vying for your attention from many different directions. As both an every day pedestrian and occassional driver through that rotary, it's just a bad scene no matter what role you're playing.

However, I'm a pedestrian who waits for the light to turn red. If drivers paid attention to the red lights, they wouldn't need to worry about seeing me the pedestrian, other cars in the rotary or other cars entering the rotary. Admittedly, I'm one of a few pedestrians who do that for this rotary. But I'd like to believe that if more drivers paid attention to the lights, more pedestrians would wait for the light. I'm probably wrong though. But that just goes back to my comment earlier - drivers and pedestrians both need to be aware, pedestrians more so because they will always lose in a battle with a car.

And more than once, people have looked at me like I was crazy because I was waiting for the light only for them to bolt out in front of a car and then run for their life when they realize the car isn't slowing down for them. I'll take looking like a fool waiting for the light over being a fool trying to outrun a car any day.

Going the speed limit is way too fast. That's the limit. It's unfortunate that our speed obsessed society has started equating the idea of the speed limit as being the recommended speed. The most appropriate, and legally required, speed is one that allows you to safely stop when you are required to. If that means you go 5 mph when coming up to busy intersections (crosswalk or no) where there is lots of pedestrian traffic, then you go 5 mph, or slower.

In the city, as well as in residential areas and business disctricts outside the city, being a pedestrian is the norm. If you want to step outside the norm, and choose to drive a car, or a bike, or anything else that can go faster than is appropriate or safe for conditions, then you have to be responsible for driving in a way that fits in with the norm. If you don't feel like you can drive safely, than find a better option.

If you don't feel like you can drive safely, than find a better option.

The only better option I can think of is teleportation, but they haven't invented that yet (as far as I know), so I'll continue to drive as carefully and mindfully as I have been.

It is everyone's responsibility to realize the consequences of their actions.

It's unfortunate that our speed obsessed society has started equating the idea of the speed limit as being the recommended speed.

When you consider police cars routinely drive at or above the posted speed limit sign, how do you expect civilians to follow the law?

Because the majority of cops are hypocritical retards?

The President of this country has explicitly condoned and enabled the slaughter of thousands of innocent Iraqi's, does that mean it is OK for me to kill people as well?

same here. i drive that road at least 3x a day and i see kids RUN into the street as if i can stop instantly as soon as i see them.

this is VERY sad, but maybe it will remind pedestrians to look both ways and proceed when they can not cuz they think they have the right of way.

First of all, there is a crosswalk on Broadway at Wallace. That's where I cross on my way to and from work, for exactly that reason. I've only had this job for a month now, but the number of times cars have obliviously sped by (and would have hit me if I hadn't assumed they wouldn't stop) is insane. And I don't dart out into traffic -- I'm talking about standing just outside the line of traffic, staring directly at the oncoming car who has plenty of time to stop but whose driver doesn't even look around enough to see me. Several times I've actually stood there WAVING MY ARMS UP AND DOWN and they still don't see me.

Now, I could rant up and down about the idiot pedestrians around here, too (hello? when the cars have the green light then DON'T WALK, you morons), but given my experience at that exact intersection, I don't assume anything here.

As I commented here earlier, I see this happen to folks like yourself all the time. As a driver (Who is courteous, or I'd like to think I am at least. Heh.) living in the area, I am especially cautious on that stretch of B'Way. Most drivers are completely oblivious, you're right.

I actually emailed the city after seeing that boston.com story. I think having some sort of sign in the crosswalk itself may help to make these clueless folks a little more aware of their surroundings.

I was once told by a police officer that you can file complaints with the RMV about moving violations, and they might even ticket the person. I keep meaning to try this to see what happens, but I always forget to get the license plates. If we started a movement, the results could be interesting.

I'm with you on this. So many times I've wished I was carrying a dozen eggs in my bag that I could hurl at offending cars. All the time, I watch people's faces as they drive by me, looking at me like I'm insane that I dare have the right of way. People who don't learn the state's traffic laws or are just so self-absorbed really shouldn't be driving.

On the other hand, when I rent a car, I have experienced the college students who wait for you to be about 10 feet away from them before they choose to dart into the road, no crosswalk at all.

I'm sad to hear about this. The poor girl and her family. I think we should start filing complaints.

I agree with all of this. I've seen plenty of idiotic drivers (and have my occasional shameful moments, alas), but I've also seen many, many idiotic pedestrians who don't seem to realize that they will lose a confrontation with 2000 lbs of motor vehicle. We need to look out for each other and we need to look out for ourselves. Being oblivious to one's surroundings is a poor trait in drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike.

I was wondering what was up with all the police cars and the street blocked off.

But we continue to let them happen. Why?

When will our society finally figure out that cars cause far more problems than they solve. When will we start making policies to make large, fast, and very deadly automobiles obsolete?

Honestly, I don't understand why anyone who lives in the city owns a car. I mean the whole point of the city is that everything you need is nearby or accessable by public transportation. At a minimum, cars just get in everyone's way in an urban area.

What's especially unfortunate is that when tragedies like this happen, many people think, well that's just a fact of life. Pedestrians should be more careful. It's crazy.

I agree that cars are unnecessary when living in a city to an extent, and I am all for using public transportation, etc. when possible in an effort to cut down on pollution, resources, and so on. But there are folks that have lengthy commutes to jobs that aren't subway/commuter rail accessible. Some people in the trades use their vehicle for work. There are plenty of reasons why people choose to own vehicles other than to "get in everyone's way."

Honestly, I don't understand why anyone who lives in the city owns a car. I mean the whole point of the city is that everything you need is nearby or accessable by public transportation.

Because the transit system is built on a spoke-model, which means that not only are there areas in the city you can't easily reach (45min+ commute minimum), but there are places further out you can't get to at all. It's hugely inefficient for many people because instead of just being able to move from one spoke to another, they have to go all the way in and all the way out.

Not only that, it's the height of hubris to assume everyone has a choice about whether they have a commute or not - people don't always get the perfect job with the minimal commute.

It's hugely inefficient for many people because instead of just being able to move from one spoke to another, they have to go all the way in and all the way out.

As someone who buys a bus pass each month, I think that most people do not realize that bus routes seem to run from spoke to spoke almost intentionally. I live near Davis and work near Lechmere. 87 and 88 run directly between these points. If I want to go to Harvard after work, I can jump on the 69 bus. Want to get over to the western part of the Green line? Hit the 66 bus from Harvard. Want to get to the orange line? Check out the 89 bus.

I lived in Medford on the 96 line, a good 40min by foot to Davis Sq. I had the mixed blessing to get a job at BU, in west campus. My commute (96->red->green b) was as much as two hours each way.

*dryly* As a fellow bus rider, I had no idea.

More seriously, my point still stands. The buses do not completely cover the spokes, and do not run anywhere near as frequently - years ago I took the 90 from Davis to Sullivan for work, and if I missed it, I was screwed, as it came all of once an hour. There are still areas that buses don't cover easily.

It's times like this that I envy the grid of Chicago and NY, which have much more comprehensive transit systems with fewer holes.

It's times like this that I envy the grid of Chicago and NY, which have much more comprehensive transit systems with fewer holes.

As someone who lived for a while in the Chicago area, I find this idea humorous. Have you seen the Chicago train map (http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/rail/rail.html)? Spokes all the way.

It was a joke among my friends that getting anywhere in the metropolitan area required going via the Loop.

Want to go from Western, on the Blue Line, to Midway? Via the Loop...

Heaven forbid you live on a Metra line (suburban rail) in Chicago - the L system does not go to Union Station. This would be like North and South Station not being on the T in Boston.

I have not spent quite as much time in New York City, but will agree they have a somewhat better system than Boston. Holding up Chicago as an example of a good system, though, is laughable.

My bad, I was talking about the bus lines in Chicago, as far as the grid - not the trains! I was there for two years - I know they suck.

Others have responded with good info on buses, which, while not perfect, are quite capable of getting folks around the Boston area fairly effieciently. It's true that there are places that aren't so accessable, and that's something that should be fixed. But it won't happen if we, as a community, don't demand it. If you can't get to where you live, or work easily by the T, then let your elected and appointed officials know, and rally your neighbors to do so as well. Somerville, where I live, has terrible T access, and so a bunch of folks started a campaign called Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP, which I had a very, very small part in starting), to let the city and the T know that Somerville deserves quality public transportation. And it's working. There is a real committment now to bring a subway stop into Union Square as well as building the original Green Line extention out to Tufts in Medford (a project that had ling been stalled at the MBTA). The more we demand safe, responsible, reliable, and efficient public transportation optrions, the more we will have.

And, as far as your comment about hubris, I would say that you might want to reconsider, as I have absolutely no assumptions that anyone has the choice of having a perfect job with a minimal commute. I myself have never had a perfect job. But I have always had a minimal commute, since that is my only option. If my commute is not minimal, I cannot get to work, period. Thus I take the most appropriate job I can that is near where I live.

It's all about priorities. You can make sustainable and healthy society your priority, or you can make a perfect job and the status quo your priority. And, if you succeed at the former, you might be able to get the latter too.

I'm completely in favor of pushing for better and more extensive public transit options. You'll find no argument here.

And, as far as your comment about hubris, I would say that you might want to reconsider, as I have absolutely no assumptions that anyone has the choice of having a perfect job with a minimal commute.

Well, your comment I quoted about cars seems to suggest otherwise. Some people end up with jobs - pefect or otherwise - where they need a car, either because the T doesn't reach that far (as in the case of my wife), or because the commute time is ridiculous (1hr+)

I myself have never had a perfect job. But I have always had a minimal commute, since that is my only option. If my commute is not minimal, I cannot get to work, period.

It's not necessarily an issue between perfect job or minimal commute. My point is sometimes it's a choice between job-that-requires-commute and no job.

As someone who is completely transit bound, I've been lucky to find jobs I can get to. But if I had to (because of circumstance, whatever) take a job that required an insane T-commute, or going somewhere the T didn't reach, I'd have to consider getting a car.

"It's not necessarily an issue between perfect job or minimal commute. My point is sometimes it's a choice between job-that-requires-commute and no job.">

There are other options! Yes, you could choose to have no job (like happened to me for a year and a half recently which blew away all my husband's and my savings), moving to where jobs were, or finding other ways to survive/make money (like my mom, who chose to live in the middle of nowhere and can't legally drive a car does). Plus, when you live in a city there are pretty much always jobs, they just may not be ones you really want to do, but if that is the best option, you learn to live with a job you don't like, until you can find a better option.

My point being that for most people, if the options were:

a) blowing through your savings*
b) taking a job that either doesn't pay what you need to subsist or doesn't use your core skillset (ie a "just get by" job)
c) get a car to be able to get to a job that enables you to make a decent wage, etc.

most people would choose c, and it's certainly less ruinous in the long-haul than the alternatives. Living near the T/buses is definitely highly recommended (I do it!) but we still run up against that "holes in the grid" problem we mentioned earlier.

Obviously, it seems like you'd be willing to subsist rather than get a car even if it meant a better job and living situation - that's your right.

As far as your assertion there are pretty much always jobs out there that'll make cost of living, that's a bit too optimistic in my opinion. I was underemployed (temping, admin stuff) for 3 years, and I almost ended up having to move home because the jobs I could find were increasingly not able to allow me to live close to transit, and I have other friends who fell into similar circumstances. So we'll have to agree to disagree.

* been there, done that, feel for you both.

I grew up in NYC, and I cannot agree about your assessment of this area. I don't use my car very often (it's been over a month since I last put in gas (aside: boy, it's cheaper now!)), but I certainly use it and it'd be a pain to always go without.

It would be _fabulous_ if cities were designed in such a way that we could reduce the number of cars on the road substantially, but it's going to take a long, long time to get to that point. But, in addition to the comments above, there are also people who have physical limitations, making walking, bicycling, and even public transit impossible or too difficult to be worthwhile. Having said that, I spent my last year in the Somerville area sans car and didn't miss it (I used Zipcar for the rare occasions when bike and transit wouldn't do the job).

When will our society finally figure out that cars cause far more problems than they solve. When will we start making policies to make large, fast, and very deadly automobiles obsolete?

Arcosanti (http://www.arcosanti.org) is where your dream comes true.

I don't think that anyone chooses to own a motor vehicle jsut to "get in everyone's way"! I certainly wasn't implying that. I don't think people really think about it that much. I think it's somehow just an automatic assumption that having a car is a good thing.

And as far as long commutes, that is their choice. I've never had a job I couldn't walk to or take public transportation to. I can't imagine why anyone else would, at least not in the city.

It's all about priorities. If we as a society make it a priority to make personal automobile use unecessary then it will become unnecessary. We can chose to make better policies that encourage efficient, inexpensive, and comfortable public transportation, and work towards designing independently sustainable communities, walkable neighborhoods, and better small vehicles (like covered pedal powered vehicles and small electic vehicles that can't go faster than is nominally safe for condtions). It's not impossible, it's just not something most people have put much thought into.

Sorry, that was supposed to be a reply to Dirty Devlin's comment.

(deleted comment)

"Not really... I have a job that's fourteen miles from my apartment in Medford."

That was your choice to live and work where you do. That's the choice I'm talking about. You may not like the other work/housing options avaialable to you as much as your current ones, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

In my case, I don't like where I live right now at all (The rent gobbles up most of my paycheck, the neighbors are mean, there is no wildlife, the T is nearly useless here, and the landlord doesn't seem to care two licks about my safety), but it's close to where I work, so I'm here for the time being. I'm hoping to change that soon, and I'm planning to find a way for me to be able to work from home, so I can move to a location that I am more comfortable in.

If you've never had a job that you couldn't walk to or take public transportation to, then you've been fortunate. Some people take jobs where they can get 'em...

I am not at all fortunate, on the contrary, I don't have the option to live far away from where I work, since I would not be able to get to work. Thus, I have to take a job near where I live, or live near where I work. People who can work far from where they live, are the ones who are fortunate, since they have far more job/housing options than I.

It is nice for you that you are in a field where jobs are so copious or conveniently located, but not everyone is. I'm a Latin teacher. I eliminated a tremendous number of jobs from consideration because they were outside of biking range of my home, but even so, I don't really get to choose to be somewhere accessible. My job is not accessible by public transit (unless you consider walk to Alewife, T to State, walk to bus with very intermittent schedule, bus to school accessible). I do bike it most of the time, even in rain or snow, but sometimes it's just 10 degrees out, or there's 6 inches of snow on the ground and it's still falling and they should've called a snow day but didn't, and it's not safe; hence, car.

OK, sure, I could have chosen to be a software engineer like everyone else and had my husband's half-mile commute (except that I would have hated my job). Or I could have chosen to live on-campus (except that my husband would have gone mad). Or I could have bought a house close to where I work (except then my husband would have had the long commute, and, oh yeah, I can't afford a house in Newton anyway). Or I could have rented an apartment near where I work (except, again, my husband with the long commute, and both of us living a long way away from our friends or other non-work things we might care to get to).

What I'm saying is, length of commute may be a choice, but that doesn't mean it's an easy or even a feasible choice, and people may have plenty of other priorities which are just more important. Your life may contain a number of luxuries (such as the field you have the aptitude/credentials to enter, or the lack of a spouse who might have a job in a very different place, or friends who all live near your work) which enable you to make this choice at low cost, but that doesn't mean others have the same luxury.

As I said, it's all about priorities. I don't have any "luxuries" that allow me to live near where I work, I make it a priority to live near where I work. And that means the kind of job I take and the income I make come second to the accesability of the job. If that means I earn $15,000 a year, and have do something that I'm overqualified for, than so be it. That's what I mean by priorities. Sounds like your priorities are different. That's your choice, and if you are happy with it, then good for you.

That's tragic. May she rest in peace.

It's a wide street and no one ever stops. I always ran across and wished they would put a light there.

I live right in Davis and I heard all of the fuss I went out there and found out from by standers what happened. It was Horrible, ruined my whole night, I know that sounds corny but I just can't stand to hear about people getting hurt and/or dying. I guess she was only like 22 to. What a shame.

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Speaking as a driver and a pedestrian here...

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Tragedies like this never have to happen.

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There is always room for improvement.

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Choice.

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Fortune doesn't befall me.

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