Safety advocates concerned about deadly summer crashes

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Residents in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts are calling for safer roads following a number of serious crashes this summer.

A crash in Newport Monday night killed a 52-year-old resident while he was walking in a crosswalk on Broadway.

In Fairhaven, Ryan Almedia is accused of leaving the scene after hitting 29-year-old Alexis Alvarez who was on a moped on Main St. Saturday night.

Alvarez died at the hospital.

“Everyone is just saddened and shocked we hate to see a loss of life in any way and this one was particularly tragic and our prayers and our hearts go out to the family of the victim,” said Will Gardener with the Fairhaven Livable Streets Committee.

Since May 29, ABC 6 News has covered 14 crashes involving either a pedestrian, bicyclist or scooter in Southern New England.

Eight crashes have been deadly and five have been hit-and-runs.

“You have a responsibility as a driver and as a human being to render aid when you hit someone with your car,” said Dylan Giles with the Providence Streets Coalition.

Giles said we need more safe places for people to walk and bike across Rhode Island.

“Ultimately, we want to make it so it’s not possible to hit someone with your car or it’s a lot more difficult,” Giles said. “Because nobody leaves the house wanting to hit someone and kill someone with their car.”

Gardner said he’s working to make his town safer by learning from recent incidents.

“There are small things that we can try tomorrow that can make a major difference in the safety of that road,” said Gardner.

For example, in the case of the deadly crash on Main St. near the Route 95 overpass in Fairhaven, Gardner said the area is caught in a dangerous in-between.

“It’s not a highway,” Gardner said. “There’s houses alongside of it, there are people walking along the street, there are businesses there, there’s a lot of people entering the road and at the same time it’s designed for speed and I think it’s that combination of a regular road in a neighborhood with a highway road design where you often see crashes like this happen.”

Of the five hit-and-runs, two are still unsolved.

On July 1, 25-year-old Aliana Ciacciarelli was hit and killed on Pleasant View Ave. in Smithfield when a tractor-trailer truck hit her after she fell off her bicycle.

Police are still investigating.

In Coventry, an anonymous donor is offering a $1,000 reward as police search for the driver of a minivan that hit and seriously injured paramedic Miranda Hennessy.

Hennessy is now recovering.