Fenway / Kenmore

The Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood is one of the most iconic in the City of Boston. It’s home to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Socks, the parks of Boston’s Emerald Necklace numerous colleges and institutions of fine art and science.

With a residential population of about 40,000 people, the streets are named after the Scottish cities and towns detailed in the literary works of Robert Burns. The name “Fenway” comes from the fens, or the marshes along the nearby Muddy River. “Kenmore,” meanwhile, surrounds Kenmore Square.

It’s also a region where a significant number of Boston bicycle accidents happen.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Allstate’s Best Driver’s Report ranked Boston the worst in the nation – 200^th out of 200.

At Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers and BikeAttorney.com, we know most bicycle-versus-car accidents are the result of negligence by the motor vehicle driver. This particular region is congested with all sorts of vehicles, including passenger cars, livery cabs, buses and delivery trucks. That inevitably means those on a bicycle are going to encounter more challenges.

The 2013 Boston Cyclist Safety Report, culled from data gathered by the Boston Police Department and Boston Emergency Medical Services department, reported Boston’s central core through Fenway/ Kenmore sees the highest number of crashes.

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean it has the highest crash rate, because we know that ridership in this area is especially high.

Some of the high-profile incidents that have been recorded in recent years include:

• A 36-year-old visiting scientist, Dr. Kanako Miura, an aerospace engineer, was on her bicycle when she was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver at Kenmore Square in 2013.
• An Allston couple on bicycles leaving Fenway Park after the 2013 Red Sox World Series win were struck and left for dead by a hit-and-run driver at Franklin and Lincoln Streets near the Massachusetts Turnpike. In their 20s, they were both seriously injured, but survived.
• A 23-year-old Boston University photojournalism graduate student cyclist was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer at the intersection of St. Paul and Commonwealth Avenue in December 2012.

These are just a sampling of the local incidents. The cyclist safety report indicated there were approximately 1,446 total police-reported bicycle accidents throughout the entire city between 2010 and 2012. Authorities concede this is a low estimate, as not all crashes are reported to authorities.

In the Fenway/ Kenmore neighborhood, there is a high concentration of cars, especially when there is a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.

The stadium, on Yawkey Way, seats 37,673 people. It’s been the home of the Boston Red Socks since 1912, and it’s the oldest Major League Baseball franchise stadium. In addition to professional games, the stadium hosts a four-college Beanpot Tournament each April.

During the Major League play-offs, parking lot owners have been known to charge $30 to $100 just for parking. The MBTA runs extra service, but Green Line cars are often filled to capacity. Most people have to wait several trains before being able to board. As an alternative, many people instead choose to bike to the park.

MassBike promotes the fact that the park is “only a baseball throw” from the Esplanade and Paul Dudley White Bikepath that runs along Storrow Driver. There is also a bike-ramp bridge that allows for easy access to the park, which offers free bicycle parking and bicycle valet services.

Cyclists coming from Arlington Center can ride along the Minuteman Trail to the Alewife Station, over to Concord Avenue to Huron and Sparks, then along Memorial Drive, past the Anderson Bridge and then to the Boston side of the Charles River. From there, cyclists can turn left on the bike path.

This concentration of vehicles and bicycles in close proximity heightens the chances of a bicycle accident.

Kenmore Square has been described as less of a square and more of a tangled mess of confusing intersections with heavy traffic and aggressive Boston drivers.

Traffic safety experts have characterized this area as one of the “most poorly-conceived “sharrow” stitches (bicycle share lanes) in the city.” On one portion, the bike lane switches arbitrarily from the right to the left shoulder, which means cyclists have to hop lanes through traffic – and this is one of the busiest lanes for commuters.

If you are injured in a bicycle accident in the Fenway/ Kenmore section of Boston, call our offices today.

Contact the Boston Bicycle Accident Lawyers at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers and BikeAttorney.com at 617-777-7777.