Weather-wise, we had a beautiful day today in Boston, but it turned tragic for a 5 year-old boy and his family in Dorchester.
Chris Huynh was a struck by a car while crossing a street located in a Vietnamese neighborhood of Dorchester. Family members said the boy was crossing Whitten Street in that neighborhood to see his grandmother. According to witnesses, the boy suddenly emerged from between parked cars on one side of the narrow street, and was struck by an as-yet unidentified woman who was driving her car down the street. Whitten Street is a one-way street, and is extremely narrow, with apparently little to no room for a driver to swerve or take evasive action to avoid hitting a person or a child who might suddenly dart out in front of a moving car. According to neighbors, many children often play on this narrow street, and cars routinely drive far too fast down the street. Several neighbors spoke of several car-bike accidents having occurred there in the past.
Unfortunately, pedestrian-car accidents are nothing new to the Boston area. Many of the streets in this area, not only within the city of Boston but also in many suburbs, are narrow and difficult for car drivers to navigate. Throw in the fact that cars are often parked on one or both sides of streets like this, and this physical set-up is a disaster waiting to happen. As a Boston and Dedham, Massachusetts pedestrian-car accident attorney, I’ve seen far too many accidents like this happen, whether involving two-car accidents, or pedestrians. The resulting car accident injuries can be extremely severe, outcome can often be fatal.
The young boy in this accident was taken to a Boston hospital for emergency surgery. As of posting to this blog, there was no word on his condition. This unfortunate story reinforces the often-made point: Both drivers and pedestrians should be extremely careful whether driving or crossing streets. Parents and caretakers should monitor their children to make sure that they are safe.