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

Driver Kills 50 Year-Old Woman In Brockton

Police cars block West Chestnut St. in Brockton after a driver struck and killed a 50 year-old woman walking on the street Wednesday morning.

Police cars block West Chestnut St. in Brockton after a driver struck and killed a 50 year-old woman walking on the street Wednesday morning. Photo courtesy of WBZ.

A driver who claims she was blinded by the morning sun, yet continued driving anyhow, struck and killed a woman walking along West Chestnut Street in Brockton early Wednesday morning.

Officials have identified the victim as Chafang Wu, a 50 year-old Brockton resident. Wu appears to have been walking along the southern side of West Chestnut Street, where there is no sidewalk, when the driver struck and killed her just before 7 a.m. at the intersection with Ash Street, near the city's Kennedy Elementary School.

Guy Pierre, a witness, told WBZ that the driver blamed the morning sun.

"She said (because of) the sun, she could not see when she hit that person," said Pierre.

In spite of the glare, the driver evidently continued to drive at a speed sufficient to kill Wu and break a roadside utility pole in two.

Police have so far not filed any charges against the driver, who remains unidentified.

Brockton, one of the most racially diverse cities in Massachusetts, also ranks among the commonwealth's most dangerous cities to be a pedestrian.

Drivers have killed 10 bicyclists or pedestrians in Brockton since 2019, and inflicted non-fatal injuries on another 193 victims in the same period.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Massachusetts

Photos: A Walk Audit In Brockton

"The street is communicating how we should be driving. And it's not safe for pedestrians, or for anyone," said Iolando Spinola, a Brockton resident and program manager for WalkMassachusetts.

May 29, 2025

TransitMatters Hires Transportation Policy Expert Caitlin Allen-Connelly as Its New Executive Director

Caitlin Allen-Connelly has been the TransitMatters board secretary and was also a Senior Advisor on Transportation at A Better City, a regional business organization.

May 29, 2025

‘We Need Each Other’ – Mourners Remember Crash Victims, Demand Safer Streets

"We are here tonight because we know we can do better. We must do better," said Gina Gancheva, whose 4-year-old daughter Gracie was struck and killed outside of the Boston Children's Museum last spring.

May 26, 2025
See all posts