A Tufts student has been hospitalized after being struck by a car while crossing the intersection of Powderhouse Boulevard and Packard Avenue at approximately 8:30 p.m. last Thursday, Nov. 8.
According to an email the university sent out to the student body on Nov. 9 regarding the accident, the student was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. The Somerville Police Department told The Boston Globe that the car's driver is cooperating with the police's investigation of the incident.
The Powderhouse?Packard intersection has been the site of many similar incidents in recent years. Last September, two Tufts students were struck by cars at the intersection and required hospitalization, according to an article published last fall in the Daily.
In one of last September's accidents, senior Sara Honickman was hit at the intersection by a car making a left turn onto Powderhouse.
"Cars treat it like a main road and aren't cognizant of how many pedestrians there are," Honickman told the Daily at the time.
The City of Somerville, with input from Tufts, implemented safety updates at the intersection this fall. Those include painted crosswalks, new stop signs at the Packard Ave. approaches of the intersection and increased pedestrian crosswalk signage.
The intersection currently has flashing red lights and stop signs for traffic approaching Packard Ave., and flashing yellow lights, which in Massachusetts signal vehicles to proceed with caution, for traffic approaching Powderhouse Ave.
In the campus?wide email, the university stated that it is taking steps toward preventing future collisions at the intersection. Public Safety and the City of Somerville have yet to comment on their plans to improve pedestrian safety at the intersection, which borders Tufts' campus.
