Skip to Content
Streetsblog Massachusetts home
Streetsblog Massachusetts home
Log In
Crashes

Truck Driver Kills Bicyclist in Harvard Square

Brattle Street in Harvard Square next to the Out of Town News kiosk, shown in a May 2019 file photograph.

Update (Sept. 1): Cambridge Police have identified the victim as Darryl Willis, aged 55.

The driver of a large tractor-trailer truck struck and killed a man riding a bicycle in Harvard Square this morning, according to Cambridge Police.

In a press release, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan reported that the tractor-trailer driver was heading westbound on Massachusetts Avenue when they stuck their victim near the former Out of Town News kiosk.

News photographs of the crash scene from Ann Ringwood for Wicked Local Cambridge show a large tractor trailer truck stopped in the right lane on Massachusetts Avenue where the street curves northward to meet Brattle Street. Behind the truck, a wrecked bicycle lies in the painted bike lane.

The operator of the tractor-trailer reportedly remained on the scene and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Cambridge Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section are leading an investigation.

It's the second time in less than a year that a truck driver has killed someone in Harvard Square.

Last September, the driver of another large truck struck and killed Sharon Hamer, 67, a retired Boston Public Schools librarian, on Brattle Street just steps away from this morning's crash site.

A sketch of the City of Cambridge's proposed plans for the Harvard Square plaza, presented in a public meeting on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, would remove car lanes from both Brattle Street and Massachusetts Avenue.
A sketch of the City of Cambridge's proposed plans for the Harvard Square plaza, presented in a public meeting on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, would remove car lanes from both Brattle Street and Massachusetts Avenue.
A sketch of the City of Cambridge's proposed plans for the Harvard Square plaza, presented in a public meeting on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, would remove car lanes from both Brattle Street and Massachusetts Avenue.

Partly in response to that killing, City of Cambridge officials announced that they would expand the scope of a plaza reconstruction project to eliminate one lane of traffic from both Massachusetts Avenue and Brattle Street.

That plan (pictured at right) would not create physical protection for the Massachusetts Ave. bike lane, but it would give the bike lane an additional buffer, and could allow for a physically-protected bikeway in a future project.

That project had been expected to begin construction sometime in 2020.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Massachusetts

2026 World Cup Puts Foxboro Station Upgrades on the Fast Track

Most MBTA station renovations take years to complete, but the World Cup is coming to Foxborough in just 55 weeks.

May 22, 2025

Plunging Tesla Sales Undermine State’s EV-Focused Climate Strategy

The state's climate plan relies heavily on getting residents to buy new electric cars, but year-over-year Tesla sales in Massachusetts plunged by 29 percent in the first four months of 2025.

May 21, 2025

Photos: Bike to Work Day 2025

Hundreds of commuters – and quite a few people who joined the ride just for fun – joined convoys from all around the region to converge at City Hall Plaza before the workday began Friday morning.

May 16, 2025
See all posts