As THE parent of a Boston University student who likes to use her bike to get to classes, I’m deeply distressed about the second fatal accident involving a BU bicyclist within a few weeks.
Commonwealth Avenue serves two functions that do not mix well: It’s a major traffic artery of the city and it’s a key part of the BU campus, used daily and hourly by thousands of students to make their way on foot and bike across the several miles from Kenmore Square to Babcock Street. This is a stretch that spans eight MBTA stops.
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The police blocked the intersection for hours, standing around staring at the ground and playing at their version of CSI, but surely must have come to some conclusions about who was at fault. Did they? Apparently not. In this case, the bicyclist would appear to have been going too fast and not paying attention to potential hazards. The fact that he failed to notice a huge truck making a turn would tend to support this theory. This not a matter of blaming the victim; as much as the loss of this life is tragic, the blame does not necessarily fall upon the truck driver. Careless bikers need to remember that while they can see cars, trucks and buses, those drivers can’t always see you. This whole section of Comm ave. is one to be avoided for a number of reasons. These include B.U. students jaywalking, bicyclists flouting the traffic laws, and drivers trying to make sense of the traffic patterns and lights.