No Charges Filed In Somerville Bicyclist's Death

SOMERVILLE, MA — Authorities will not file charges in a 2016 crash in Cambridge that killed a bicyclist from Somerville, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said. Amanda Phillips, 27, died June 23, 2016 when she was thrown into the street and run over by a landscaping truck after hitting an open car door, according to the DA.

The Middlesex District Attorney's office released its findings after concluding its investigation Tuesday. Phillips was riding down Cambridge Street when she struck the driver's side door of a 1999 Jeep Cherokee parked in a marked space, authorities said. The door was opened just before Phillips hit it.

"The investigation also concluded that the owner of the Jeep was likely not able to see Ms. Phillips in the roadway prior to opening the door," District Attorney Marian Ryan's office said in a statement. "The investigation revealed Ms. Phillips entered the roadway from the sidewalk behind the Jeep and that the owner’s view was likely clear of the bicyclist before he opened the door. Investigators further concluded that Ms. Phillips likely would not have seen the open door from her position on the sidewalk before entering Cambridge Street."

Phillips's bicycle overturned after she collided with the door, throwing her into the path of a landscaping vehicle heading west down Cambridge Street, authorities said. Phillips was lodged under the right rear tires of the truck. She was not immediately alert but became responsive before being taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries later that day.

Investigators determined the truck driver was properly operating the vehicle and did not see Phillips before she ended up in the road, the DA said.

"Based on the way Ms. Phillips entered the roadway, and that she was struck by the rear tires of the car, the operator of the truck could not have avoided the crash," Ryan's office said.

Investigators concluded the crash was "unavoidable" and will not seek criminal charges or civil infractions against either driver.