Wow, that was so graphic! It sheds a lot of light on the problem with modern traffic though. My tow truck driver friend at https://towtruckkamloops.com/ who studies medieval travel was telling me how, despite problems like this, modern traffic is still the best traffic has ever been safe-wise. People back then didn’t have blinkers and stop lights. All we need to do now is protect bikers with rigorous regulations.

The truck didn’t overtake her, she was overtaking it, as it had its blinker on… I agree with where the fault was ruled to be

Heart wrenching

I travel through that same intersection daily on my bike, exactly where Anita was killed. All laws aside, as a cyclist, I never assume a vehicle is going to yield to me when I’m traveling straight past a right turn they may want to take, and I’d argue that any cyclist who does is living in fantasy world when it comes to how drivers actually behave on the road. I don’t think we can be one bit surprised when those situations turn out poorly.

Before I saw the video, I was wondering if that was the case here. It wasn’t. On multiple levels, the driver has culpability for what happened here. He was clearly speeding in an extremely congested area with heavy bicycle traffic. He overtook Anita and had an opportunity to see that she was there, regardless of whether she may have later been in his blind spot for a second or not. In order to make the turn with what looks like an unusually long trailer, he had to move to the middle lane, which Anita likely interpreted to mean he was actually traveling straight through the intersection.

The fact that this driver was operating a vehicle so long that had to cut to the middle of an intersection to take a right turn is HIS problem. The fact that there was a blind spot on the truck is HIS problem. Neither of these things make him any less culpable.

I really wanted to give the BPD, who I believe to be reasonable and professional in most regards, the benefit of the doubt in this situation. But having seen what happened, I just can’t understand their conclusion.

It is outrageous that this was blamed on the cyclist and not the truck driver. Unbelievable. Justice must be served. It is very rare for most cyclists to take the full lane in this sort of situation when there is so much space to the right. It should be safe for cyclists to ride where Dr Kurmann was bicycling. The truck driver should have taken proper care before turning and is primarily responsible for killing her.

At 0:46 in the video you can see where another cyclist is, stopped between the right and left lane. That is the proper place to be in that intersection if you are intending to go straight. So many vehicles turn right at that intersection it is very unsafe to be to the right of the right lane and try to continue straight without being acutely aware of what traffic is turning. Any cyclist who has been through this intersection, especially if it’s on a daily commute, should have learned this. It’s tragic that she made a mistake that cost her her life.

It is clearly visible that its truck driver’s fault. He was speeding. Vehicles should be slowed down while taking turns. The owner of truck might be wealthy person having known mates in police department. Boston police should review this case. Its a clear case of reckless driving.

This is truly horrible to watch. How is it possible the trucker did not see the bicyclist? I assume the police had access to the video. It seems obvious that the bicyclist would have assumed the trucker pulled to the left anticipating taking a left turn. Why would anyone think it was about to turn right? It should have slowed down in order to be able to turn right from the right lane. The driver was clearly going too fast and was being reckless. It’s shocking to know that the Boston Police Department is not willing to review this tragedy.

There’s a practical technological fix to this problem, which I haven’t seen anyone put forward: sensor on trucks to warn the driver of the impending conflict and perhaps to stop the truck automatically. Such sensors are already present on many vehicles. In the context of a large truck, the cost is very moderate.

If this is the page you are asking people to share, it might be helpful to add the same contact info you sent in your emails below the video. You will likely have a lot of traffic coming here and giving someone a quick access point to email the Suffolk Co Dist Atty and Boston PD right here would be helpful.

Why aren’t the Boston Police and the District Attorney protecting us? If you, a friend, relative or your child rides and please share, and contact the Boston Police Department urging them to reopen this case. Let justice prevail!

The trucker is absolutely negligent. By the time the bicyclist would have realized the truck was turning right it was too late. She was already in the intersection.

The trucker was at fault according to the following safety video put out by the American Truckers Associations Safety Management Council: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUuykWghNTk

According to the video, the truck driver had a responsibility to secure the right-hand lane to ensure no vehicles were to his right before he initiated the wide right turn. From the video: “To pull wide as you are making the turn, keep your trailer close to the right curb to block the right-hand lane to vehicles behind you.”

The trucker was at fault but cyclists can prevent this kind of crash. See http://cyclingsavvy.org/what-cyclists-need-to-know-about-trucks/