davis_square | (no subject)

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.