A Hubway Cyclist Was Struck by a Trash Truck in the South End

Photo by Steve Annear

A cyclist was taken to Boston Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries on Tuesday after being extracted from underneath a trash truck at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Columbus Avenue.

The accident, the second of its kind in recent weeks on that particular stretch of Mass. Ave., involved a Sunrise Scavenger “rubbish” vehicle and a male on a Hubway bicycle.

Details about how the crash occurred were not immediately available, but the truck was positioned in such a way that it appeared as though it was making a right hand turn onto Columbus from Mass. Ave. The hubway bicycle was just behind the vehicle’s right front tire; it’s wheel bent, and the seat completely snapped off from the frame.

Police on scene, who did not give their names, said they thought the cyclist was “OK” when asked if the accident resulted in a fatality.

A worker at New York Pizza, which is on the corner of the intersection where the accident happened, said the cyclist was “awake” when emergency responders came to the scene to transport him to a nearby hospital.

Columbus Avenue was completely blocked off to traffic, and Mass. Ave. was blocked off from St. Botolph Street to the corner where the crash took place. Only light pedestrian foot traffic was passing through the cordoned off section of the South End, as investigators worked the scene to figure out the sequence of events leading up to the collision.

Officials from the Boston Fire Department, who were on scene hours after the accident, said that they had to use special equipment including wood blocks and cribbing to extricate the cyclist from underneath the large truck.

The truck is run by Sunrise Scavengers, a new collection hauling and disposal company that entered into a contract with the city effective July 1. The company only collects trash and recyclables in specific parts of Boston. According to the schedule on the city’s website, the truck was in the South End neighborhood to collect both trash and recyclables today.

Tuesday’s accident was the second time this month that a cyclist was taken to the hospital after being hit by a truck on Mass. Ave near the South End.

A female cyclist suffered a serious leg wound after witnesses said she was pulled under a truck carrying lumber in front of Symphony Hall on July 8.