CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - A crash that left a bicyclist dead after she struck the open door of a parked car in Cambridge three years ago was “unavoidable,” according to a report from the Middlesex District Attorney, and no charges will be filed against those involved.
On June 23, 2016 Amanda Philips, 27, of Somerville, struck the open door of a 1999 Jeep Cherokee that was parked on Cambridge Street while riding her bike and flew into the road, where she became lodged under the rear tires of a dump truck traveling in the other direction.
Philips was transported to the hospital but died later that day.
Investigators reconstructed the collision, looked at surveillance footage and interviewed witnesses, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan’s Office.
The investigation concluded that the driver of the Jeep, a 47-year-old Somerville man, had opened the door prior to Philips striking it, and because Philips entered the road from the sidewalk behind the Jeep, she would not have seen the door and the man would not have seen her coming.
A witness also told investigators the door was open for “a couple seconds” before Philips left the sidewalk to get on the road. Investigators also determined the driver of the truck, a 66-year-old Woburn man, was obeying the speed limit and could not have avoided Phillips.
“Investigators ultimately concluded that the collision with the landscaping truck was unavoidable,” the press release reads. “Based on the investigation, Ms. Phillips may have been more visible to other persons in the area, including the owner of the Jeep had she been riding her bicycle consistently in the rightmost travel lane as directed by the painted markings on the road surface instead of the sidewalk.”
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