Pedestrian Death Sparks Safety Concerns From Brookline Residents

BROOKLINE, MA — Brookline residents and town officials gathered at a vigil Sunday to mourn the loss of a pedestrian killed in a crosswalk earlier this month and rally for safer streets.

Patricia Arellano, 63, of Boston, died on Nov. 5 after being struck by a vehicle while in the crosswalk at the corner of Washington Street and Downing Road.

The driver has been traveling on Washington Street and turned right onto Downing Road when the accident occurred. Police say she remained on scene and was fully cooperative throughout the investigation. She was cited for failure to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Arellano’s death has caused concern among many residents and brought many existing traffic issues to the surface. At the Transportation Board’s Nov. 15 meeting, a moment of silence was observed for Arellano and several locals spoke about similar incidents, including a woman who was struck at the intersection of Longwood Avenue and Kent Street and a child who was struck at Stearns Road and St. Paul Street.

"Luckily these individuals were not killed, but they were injured, and pedestrians in crosswalks should be safe, but obviously last week in Brookline that was just not the case,” said Transportation Board Chair Brian Kane.

During the meeting, Kane suggested the adoption of a Vision Zero policy of “no humans killed by cars” by pledging a commitment of enforcement, design engineering, and money. He also requested that Transportation Director Todd Kirrane implement a pedestrian-exclusive crossing phase and an extension of pedestrian protected corners at Longwood Avenue and Kent Street, as well as monitoring of traffic backups into Boston on Longwood, on an experimental basis.

“Safer streets don’t just happen,” said Kane. “They need resources and they need people to implement the programs, and I just hope this is the last time that we have to do this and start with a moment of silence for someone killed in our streets are in our crosswalks or even struck.”

In response to the Arellano case, Brookline State Representative Tommy Vitolo said changing the infrastructure in some areas will help prevent crashes, but in others, speed is really the only thing that can be improved and drivers must be more cautious.

"The way we can all reduce the chances of tragic outcomes like this one is to drive our cars more slowly and more carefully whenever a person might be on foot, bicycle, or scooter nearby.”

“Sometimes the only answer is simply to drive more carefully,” he continued. "Even if in a familiar neighborhood, even when in a hurry, because our kids, our seniors and our entire community deserves that.”