< Back to front page Text size – +

74-year-old kicyclist killed in downtown Boston crash

Print Posted by Andrew Ryan, Globe Metro Desk January 24, 2011 03:43 PM

Tweet
E-mail

loading video... (please wait a moment)

Requires Adobe Flash Player

Video by Brian R. Ballou / Globe Staf

The scene at Arlington and Tremont streets where a bicyclist was fatally injured in accident today.

By Globe Staff

Boston police say a 74-year-old man was killed while riding his bicycle in downtown Boston this morning.

Police had earlier said the man was a 34-year-old man. Late today, police said the victim was actually a 74-year-old man who appeared to be of Asian heritage.

The man's name was not released.

According to police, the bicyclist was struck around 8:10 a.m. near the intersection of Arlington and Tremont streets.

Police said the man was transported to Boston Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The cause of the crash is under investigation, police said.

In a statement, the Boston Cyclists Union called for a 20-mile-per-hour speed limit citywide. Director Pete Stidman said in the statement that the union does not know why today’s fatal crash took place.

However, he noted that a British government study found that a car striking a biker or pedestrian at 30 miles an hour has a 45 percent chance of causing fatal injury. The chance of a fatal crash drops to 5 percent when speed is capped at 20 miles an hour, he said.

“We encourage Mayor Thomas Menino to again try to convince the state legislature to reduce these speed limits,’’ Stidman said. “We urge the State House to take such a bill seriously.”